- CHAPTER I Filing Procedure of the Patent Applications
- SECTION 1 General Provisions
- SECTION 2 Filing the Patent Application
- Rule 3 – Filing the Patent Applications with The State Office For Inventions and Trademarks
- Rule 4 – Time Limits
- Rule 5 – Representation by Authorized Representative
- Rule 6 – Official Language
- Rule 7 – Confidential Character of the Patent Application Secrecy
- Rule 8 – Minimum Requirements for Registering the Patent Applications in the National Register
- Rule 9 – Date of the Regular National Filing
- SECTION 3 Patentable Inventions
- SECTION 4 The Patent Application
- Rule 12 – The Patent Application Form
- Rule 13 – Description of Invention
- Rule 14 – Description of an Invention Relative to Biotechnologies
- Rule 15 – Claims
- Rule 16 – Drawings of the Invention
- Rule 17 – Requirements Concerning the Form of the Patent Application
- Rule 18 – Other Documents Attached to the Patent Application not Conditioning the Date of Filing
- SECTION 5 International Applications Filed by the Procedure of the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT)
- Rule 19 – The State Office for Inventions and Trademarks – Receiving Office
- Rule 20 – The State Office for Inventions and Trademarks – Designated Office
- Rule 21 – The State Office for Inventions and Trademarks – Elected Office
- Rule 22 – Treating the International Applications Revised by The State Office for Inventions and Trademarks as a Designated Office
- CHAPTER II Examination of the Patent Applications
- SECTION 1 Preliminary Examination
- SECTION 2 Publication of the Patent Application
- SECTION 3 Substantive Examination of the Patent Applications
- Rule 28 – Conditions for Starting the Substantive Examination
- Rule 29 – Disclosure of the Invention
- Rule 30 – Prior Art
- Rule 31 – Unity of Invention
- Rule 32 – Examination of the Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Patentable Invention
- Rule 33 – Improvement Patent
- Rule 34 – State Office for Inventions and Trademarks Notifications
- SECTION 4 State Office for Inventions and Trademarks Decisions
- SECTION 5 Attacking the State Office for Inventions and Trademarks Decisions by Administrative Procedure
- SECTION 6 Issue of a Patent
- CHAPTER III Protection by a Patent for New Varieties ofPlants and New Animal Breeds
- Rule 39 – Definitions
- Rule 40 – Competences
- Rule 41 – Conditions for the Existence of a Patentable Invention theSubject-Matter of Which is a Variety or Breed
- Rule 42– Filing and Publication of the Patent Application
- Rule 44 – Tests for Varieties and Breeds
- Rule 45 – Examination of the Patent Applications the Subject– Matter of which is a Variety of Plant or Animal Breed
- Rule 46 – Rights and Obligations Resulting from the Protection of Varieties and Breeds by aPatent for Invention
- Rule 47 – Exceptions to the Breeder's Right
- Rule 48 – Obligations of the Patent Owner
- CHAPTER IV Dispositions for Applying Article 5 of the Law – Employees' Inventions
- CHAPTER V The Remuneration of the Inventors According to Article 66 of the Law
REGULATIONS FOR IMPLEMENTING THE PATENT LAW
(No. 64/1991)
CHAPTER I Filing Procedure of the Patent Applications
SECTION 1 General Provisions
Rule 1 – Granting the Patents for Invention
The patents for invention are granted according to the provisions of Law no. 64/1991 of October 11, 1991 by meeting the conventions, treaties and agreements to which Romania is a party.
These implementing regulations set out the manner of applying the Law concerning the patents for invention.
Rule 2 – Definitions
The terms used within these implementing regulations have the following meaning:
– law means the Patent Law (No. 64/1991);
– OSIM means The State Office for Inventions and Trademarks;
– inventor means the person who created the invention;
– successor in title means any natural or legal person to whom either the right to be granted a patent for invention or the rights deriving from an issued patent have been transferred;
– applicant means the natural or legal person applying for the grant of a patent for invention;
– patent owner means the person to whom the right conferred by the patent belongs;
– employer means the legal person having a legal status;
– publication means to be rendered available to the public;
– patent attorney is a person skilled in giving assistance in the field of industrial property (inventions, marks, designs, models, a.s.o.), who legally carries out this activity;
– authorized representative means the patent attorney who may also have the quality of representation in the procedures before The State Office for Inventions and Trademarks;
– patent application means a written application containing the explicit demand for the grant of a patent for invention;
– description means the written presentation of the invention in the conditions of Art. 18 from the Law;
– claims mean the presentation of the subject-matter of the demanded protection and of the elements of novelty of the invention;
– regular filing means the patent application attended by the description of the invention, claims and, if required, by the explanatory drawings;
– priority means the date of the first filing of the patent application, irrespective of the competent national authority where the application filing was performed under the Paris Convention.
SECTION 2 Filing the Patent Application
Rule 3 – Filing the Patent Applications with The State Office For Inventions and Trademarks
(1) All the patent applications filed with the General Registry of the State Office for Inventions and Trademarks shall be analyzed on the date of filing.
(2) Filing of a patent application with The State Office for Inventions and Trademarks may be performed as follows:
(a) directly to the General Registry of The State Office for Inventions and Trademarks that is open to the public on any working day;
(b) by mail, posted by registered letter with acknowledgment of receipt.
In both situations, The State Office for Inventions and Trademarks acknowledges to the applicant the receipt of the patent application and the conditions in which it was received.
(3) Filing of the patent applications belonging to the field of the national defense and security that were created in the territory of Romania is performed according to the legislation in force.
(4) The other applications and documents filed with the General Registry regarding the procedures to which the patent applications are submitted, shall be analyzed subsequent to the date of filing thereof, the answer of the State Office for Inventions and Trademarks being notified to the petitioner within 60 days.
(5) Any letters or documents filed with the registry referring to a patent application or a patent for invention shall indicate the petitioner's name and address for mailing, as well as the filing number of the application or of the patent of invention to which they refer; otherwise, The State Office for Inventions and Trademarks does not comply with the request, these being definitely filed and disposed of, or returned, if the petitioner is identifiable.
(6) If there are registered amendments or completions to the description, claims and/or to the drawings of the patent application filed with The State Office for Inventions and Trademarks, this fact shall be mentioned by the manifest indication “completion to the patent application no.... /dated......” and the typed pages from the description, claims and/or drawings containing the required amendments or completions will be filed; otherwise, they shall be returned to the applicant.
(7) When the law or the implementing regulations make provisions that an application or a document should be filed in a certain form, this application or document shall be filed as prescribed.
If the patent application or any other document does not comply with the prescribed conditions, The State Office for Inventions and Trademarks notifies the applicant about the defects, providing a period of time for the rectification, except for the case provided for in Rule 8(4) when the patent application shall be returned to the applicant.
All the notifications of the State Office for Inventions and Trademarks shall be justified and shall contain the legal ground.
(8) The State Office for Inventions and Trademarks shall inscribe on the application the receiving date, the number from the General Registry and the documents received under signature. A copy of the application thus filled in shall be immediately returned to the applicant as acknowledgment of the receipt. The receiving date and the number from the General Registry of The State Office for Inventions and Trademarks shall be legibly written.
(9) The returned application copy shall indicate the shortcomings found out by The State Office for Inventions and Trademarks upon filing the patent application and the period of time within which they are to be remedied.
(10) Upon filing a patent application with the State Office for Inventions and Trademarks, the applicant will state precisely that he is entitled to be granted a patent for invention, will indicate the legal ground which gives him this title, or, will file the necessary documents which can prove this fact.
(11) When during the time elapsed from the filing of the patent application till the issue of the patent a court decision established that another person than the applicant or his successor in title is entitled to the issuance of the patent, The State Office for Inventions and Trademarks will execute that decision.
(12) The filing fee is to be paid by the applicant at the time the patent application is filed with The State Office for Inventions and Trademarks. When the applicant has paid the filing fee prior to filing the patent application, he shall state this precisely in the application and a copy of the payment document shall be attached therewith.
(13) If, upon filing the patent application, the applicant has not paid the filing fee, this fee shall be paid within three months from the date of the national regular filing, with a legally established increase; otherwise, the patent application is deemed abandoned and it is rejected.
(14) Any payment document failing to contain the identification data of the patent application or of the patent for invention (at least the application or the patent number) is disposed of as witness document and the amount of money will be returned only if the payer may be identified by name or address. In case of returning the amount of money this will be diminished by the cost of the post services.
Rule 4 – Time Limits
(1) Periods expressed as days contain the calendar days and do not include either the day when the period started or the one when the period ended. The periods expressed as years, months or weeks will end on the day of the year, month or week corresponding to the starting day.
(2) The period which beginning on the 29–th, 30–th, 31–st of the month ends in a month not having such a day, will be deemed to end on the first day of the following month. The period ending on a legal holiday or when the service is suspended will be extended up to the end of the following working day.
(3) The periods start to elapse from the date when the documents of the procedures are communicated, by communication being meant the date when the notification of The State Office for Inventions and Trademarks was registered at the post office.
(4) The documents of the procedures sent by mail to The State Office for Inventions and Trademarks are deemed to be fulfilled within the prescribed time limit if they were registered at the post office prior to the end thereof.
(5) An application demanding for an extension of the time limit for answering to the notification of The State Office for Inventions and Trademarks shall have the date of the post office or of the General Registry of The State Office for Inventions and Trademarks within the prescribed time limit and will depend upon the reasons for which this extension is required.
The State Office for Inventions and Trademarks shall notify the applicant in writing about the acceptance or the rejection of the demand for extending the time limit.
(6) Failure to fulfil the documents of the procedures within the legal time limits does not entail the sanctions provided for by the law and the present implementing regulations if the applicant can prove that he was hindered by some circumstances beyond his will and if he fulfils the procedure within two months from the termination of the cause.
Rule 5 – Representation by Authorized Representative
(1) Filing of the patent application with The State Office for Inventions and Trademarks or the applicant's representation in the procedures before The State Office for Inventions and Trademarks can be made by an authorized mandatary with the residence or premises in Romania.
(2) Where the applicant of the patent of invention is represented by an authorized mandatary, this can affix his signature upon the patent application on the basis of a written power of attorney.
(3) In the procedures before The State Office for Inventions and Trademarks, the foreign applicant or owner may be represented only by an authorized patent attorney.
(4) According to Article 43 of the Law, the patent attorney may assure assistance, upon request, to Romanian or foreign natural or legal persons and may represent them before The State Office for Inventions and Trademarks, according to the provisions of the contract concluded with the customer.
The representation is assured by the empowerment and within the limits of the mandate established by contract with the persons concerned, in view of obtaining, defending and claiming the rights regarding the inventions, industrial designs, trade and service marks or other industrial property rights. Representation of the natural or legal persons before The State Office for Inventions and Trademarks is made by written power of attorney.
(5) The juridical assistance of the applicant or of the owner before law courts is conditioned by the qualification of attorney or legal adviser.
(6) The patent attorney shall observe only the provisions of the law and shall be obliged to act in good faith and with professional integrity.
He shall not disclose the data and information received from the customer. The information given by the customer to the patent attorney in view of exercising his function of representation shall not be considered as disclosure.
(7) A national of Romania with the residence in Romania may be a patent attorney provided that he should meet cumulatively the following requirements:
– has a graduate diploma of an institution of technical and juridical higher education;
– has at least 5 years of service in the technical and juridical professions;
– has no criminal records;
– enjoys a good reputation;
– was declared to have passed the examination organized for this profession by The State Office for Inventions and Trademarks.
(8) The profession of patent attorney may be practised only after the persons having passed the examination are registered, upon their request, in the National Register of Patent Attorneys and after they registered themselves at the Town hall of Bucharest, the Finance Department based on the registration voucher issued by The State Office for Inventions and Trademarks.
The patent attorneys' list is published in the Official Bulletin of Industrial Property.
(9) The examination for the profession of patent attorney is taken before a board consisting of 5–7 members whose president is the director of The State Office for Inventions and Trademarks. The members of the board are appointed by the board of directors of The State Office for Inventions and Trademarks.
The members of the board may be specialists having at least 5 years of activity within The State Office for Inventions and Trademarks, university teaching staff, experts.
(10) Practising the profession of patent attorney is not compatible with the quality of employee of The State Office for Inventions and Trademarks.
(11) Striking off from the National Register of Patent Attorneys is carried out upon request by the person involved and by The State Office for Inventions and Trademarks, when that person does not meet one of the requirements stipulated in para.(7).
(12) Infringement with guilt by the patent attorney of the professional obligations and of the norms of conduct is an infraction of discipline and is sanctioned, where appropriate with: warning, temporary striking off for a period of up to 5 years or definitive erase from the National Register of Patent Attorneys.
The disciplinary sanction is established and applied by a board appointed to this end by the management of The State Office for Inventions and Trademarks. The striking off sanction may be appealed against in the court within 30 days from the communication of the court decision.
Striking off is performed only after the court decision remains irrevocable.
Rule 6 – Official Language
All the patent applications and the correspondence referring thereto will be drawn up and submitted to The State Office for Inventions and Trademarks in Romanian.
Rule 7 – Confidential Character of the Patent Application Secrecy
(1) The data contained in the patent application are confidential up to the publication thereof by The State Office for Inventions and Trademarks, the disclosure thereof without the consent of the inventor or of his successor in title being forbidden irrespective of the way in which the persons got knowledge of them and whatever their quality may be (representatives, patent attorneys, any person in the situations provided for in Articles 5 and 18, para.2 of the Law).
Disclosure prior to the publication of the patent application is punished according to the Penal Code.
(2) The State Office for Inventions and Trademarks ensures the confidentiality of the patent applications from the date of filing thereof with the General Registry of The State Office for Inventions and Trademarks up to the publication thereof in compliance with Article 23, Article 44, paras 1 and 3 and are sanctioned according to Article 60 of the Law.
(3) In compliance with Article 44, para 2 of the Law, the secret character of the descriptions of the inventions belonging to the national defense and national security fields is assigned by the Ministry of the National Defense, Ministry of Internal Affairs, Romanian Intelligence Service, by their representatives officially appointed.
(4) The representatives of the Ministry of National Defense, Ministry of Internal Affairs and of the Romanian Intelligence Service have the obligation to observe the legal provisions and the commitments signed with The State Office for Inventions and Trademarks with regard to handling, confidentiality and keeping secret the patent for invention.
The secret character is assigned only for the patent applications from the national defense and national security fields, within 15 days from the date of the regular filing, by stamping the word “secret” onto the patent application documentation and the clearly legible signature (family name and first name) of the representative who assigned this character; otherwise, The State Office for Inventions and Trademarks follows the procedures provided for in these implementing regulations.
(5) The institution which assigned a secret character to a patent application, within 60 days from the date of assignation, shall pay an annuity for the maintenance under secrecy status and shall inform the applicant.
(6) The Ministry of National Defense, Ministry of Internal Affairs or The Romanian Intelligence Service will be able to maintain a description under secrecy only for the time limit for which the annuity corresponding to the maintenance under this status was paid. The secret status ceases by non-payment of the fee or by a written decision of the Ministry of National Defense, Ministry of Internal Affairs or the Romanian Intelligence Service, from the date of receiving thereof by The State Office for Inventions and Trademarks.
(7) In compliance with Article 44 para 2 of the law, The Ministry of National Defense, Ministry of Internal Affairs or Romanian Intelligence Service will pay an equitable compensation to the patent applicant established by contract during the whole period of maintenance of the invention under secrecy.
(8) The Ministry of National Defense, The Ministry of Internal Affairs or Romanian Intelligence Service will assign a secret character to the patent applications resulting from their enterprises, in accordance with the provisions of the legislation in force concerning the protection of the state secret.
(9) The State Office for Inventions and Trademarks will assure the required conditions for keeping, access, handling or any other activity concerning the patent applications which were assigned the secret character, in compliance with the provisions of the legislation in force concerning the protection of the state secret.
(10) Foreign patents may be applied for in respect of the inventions which are the subject-matter of the patent applications only after the expiration of a time limit of 30 days from the date of the regular filing.
Rule 8 – Minimum Requirements for Registering the Patent Applications in the National Register
(1) The patent applications meeting the provisions of Article 15 of the law and of these Implementing Regulations will be registered in the National Register of Patent Applications.
The date of filing with The State Office for Inventions and Trademarks of the patent applications is the date they were received at the General Registry.
(2) In compliance with Article 15 of the law, The State Office for Inventions and Trademarks registers a patent application in the National Register of Patent Applications, if at least the following documents are submitted:
(a) a request written in Romanian which should contain an explicit demand for the grant of a patent for an invention whose title is mentioned, and also the identification data of the applicant;
(b) a text which at first sight should seem to be the description of the invention.
The registration of the patent applications in the National Register of Filed Patent Applications is made in the sequence of the filing numbers and dates with the General Registry of The State Office for Inventions and Trademarks.
(3) The number in the National Register of Filed Patent Applications and the date of filing are written on the application and on the first page of each copy of the description as well as on the envelope, when the application was sent by mail.
This number is the number of the patent application and will be used in the whole correspondence.
(4) In case the provisions of para 2(a) and (b) are not fulfilled cumulatively, the applications are received, they are not filed in the National Register of the Patent Applications and the documentation is returned, The State Office for Inventions and Trademarks keeping a witness copy. The witness copy is kept in a confidential status and may be consulted by the applicant.
Rule 9 – Date of the Regular National Filing
(1) All the documents provided for by Article 14 para 1 of the Law, filed with the State Office for Inventions and Trademarks form the regular national filing.