OFFICIAL GAZETTE OF ROMANIA, PART I, No. 456/18.VI.2008
IMPLEMENTING REGULATIONS
TO
THE PATENT LAW NO. 64/1991
as republished
CHAPTER I
Filing Procedure of the Patent Applications
SECTION 1
General Provisions
ARTICLE 1
Invention protection by patent
The patents shall be granted according to the provisions of the Patent Law no.64/1991, as republished, by meeting the provisions of the conventions, treaties and agreements to which Romania is a party.
ARTICLE 2
Definitions
(1) For the purposes of these Regulations, the terms and phrases below shall mean as follows:
a) law - Patent Law no. 64/1991, as republished;
b) International Bureau - the International Bureau of the World Intellectual Property Organization;
c) BOPI - the Official Industrial Property Bulletin- Invention Section;
d) Strasbourg Agreement - the Strasbourg Agreement concerning the International
Patent Classification of 20 March 1971, amended on 28 September 1979, to which Romania adhered by the Law no. 3/1998, published in the Official Gazette of Romania, Part I, no. 10 of 14 January 1998;
e) Budapest Treaty on the International Recognition of the Deposit of Microorganisms for the Purposes of Patent Procedure, signed on 28 April 1977 and modified on 26 September 1980, to which Romania adhered by the Law no. 75/1999;
f) Patent Cooperation Treaty - the Patent Cooperation Treaty adopted at the Diplomatic Conference in Washington on 19 June 1970, ratified by Romania through the decree no. 81/1979.
g) state examiner in the industrial property field - the specialist within the State Office for Inventions and Trademarks, hereinafter named OSIM, having as basic attribution to examine the applications for the grant of the protection titles.
(2) For the purposes of the present Implementing Regulations the terms and phrases defined in the law have the same meaning.
ARTICLE 3
Time limits
(1) The time limits shall be expressed in days, months or years. - (2)
- The time limit expressed in days shall not contain either the day when the period started or the day when the period ended.
- (3)
- The time limit expressed in months or years, shall expire in the relevant subsequent day of the month or year corresponding to the starting day.
- (4)
- The time limit starting on the dates of 29, 30 or 31 of the month and expiring in a month not having a day with the same number shall be deemed to end on the last day of the month; the time limit which expires on a statutory holiday or when the office is closed for the public shall be extended until the end of the first working day that follows.
5) The time limit for the response granted in the OSIM notifications sent by mail shall be calculated starting with the eighth day of communication, considered as being the date when the notification reached the recipient.
- (6)
- Where the interested person brings evidence that the OSIM document was received after more than 8 days of the date of communication, the time limit under paragraph (5) shall
be extended by the duration of the delay, but not more than three months.
- (7)
- The communications sent by mail to OSIM shall be deemed to have been received in due time, provided that they were handed over to the post office before the date when the time limit has ended.
- (8)
- The extension of a time limit granted by OSIM pursuant to Art. 27 paragraph (2) of the Law shall be accepted provided that the following conditions are fulfilled cumulatively:
a) by a written request signed by the applicant or patent owner, and transmitted, where appropriate, by the professional representative, there is justifiedly demanded, before the expiration of the time limit, the extension thereof by at least 2 months;
b) the proof of payment of the legal fee is submitted at the time of filing the application with OSIM. - (9)
- OSIM shall notify the applicant, patent owner or the professional representative thereof the acceptance or rejection of the request for the extension of the time limit.
- (10)
- The request for the extension of the time limit, according to paragraph (8) cannot be rejected before having notified the applicant, patent owner or the professional representative, as the case may be, the reasons of rejection and before granting the same a maximum two-month period for sending the observations.
SECTION 2
Patent Application Filing
ARTICLE 4
Filing the patent application
(1) Filing a patent application may be performed by any person: a) on paper carrier directly to the General Registry of OSIM or by mail, or; b) by electronic means, while observing the provisions of Art. 5. - (2)
- OSIM shall mark , on the application, the date of filing, the filing number and the name of the person who made the filing and confirm to the applicant the receipt of the application filed pursuant to paragraph (1) and the received documents; a copy of the filled
in application form shall be returned, on paper carrier, to the applicant or to the professional representative, as the case may be.
- (3)
- The patent applications belonging to the field of the national defense and security, that have been created within the territory of Romania, shall be filed by observing the provisions of the special law and according to Art. 7.
- (4)
- The patent application is allotted a number and a filing date, provided that the provisions of Art. 15 paragraph (1) of the Law or Art. 15 paragraph (1) or (8) of the Law are fulfilled; the number allotted successively and the filing date are entered in the National Register of the filed patent applications and both are written down on the patent application form and on each page of the description as well as of the claims and drawings, even if they are filed subsequently.
- (5)
- The number in the National Register of Filed Patent Applications shall be used in all OSIM notifications and in the communications of the applicant or of the interested person, in connection with the procedures the patent application undergoes.
- (6)
- The patent application filing fee is due by the applicant at the time of filing the patent application with OSIM; if the applicant has paid the filing fee before submitting the patent application, he shall specify that in the application, attaching a copy of the payment document thereto.
- (7)
- If upon filing the patent application the applicant has not paid the filing fee, this fee may be paid within 3 months from the filing date; otherwise, the patent application shall be deemed to be withdrawn according to Art. 28 paragraph (4), letter f) of the Law.
- (8)
- Any communication or payment document received with OSIM shall contain the identification data of the petitioner, for correspondence, as well as the number of the patent application or of the patent; in case OSIM cannot identify the patent application or the patent, the documents shall be classified as witness copy and the amount of money shall be refunded after subtracting the bank or mail service cost, only if the payer is identifiable.
ARTICLE 5
Filing and processing the patent applications filed by electronic means
(1) The requirements relating to filing and processing the patent applications filed by electronic means shall be established by the instructions issued by the Director General of OSIM, and shall be published in the Official Gazette of Romania, Part I.
(2) The instructions shall establish the conditions relating to filing
the patent applications submitted by electronic means and processing the same, such as: a) acknowledging the receipt; b) means for authenticating the documents and the identity of the parties that
communicate with OSIM; c) material conditions concerning the presentation of the component parts of the patent application, according to the provisions of Art. 20. - (3)
- When the Patent Cooperation Treaty and its Implementing Regulations, the European Patent Convention or the instructions provide that documents, notifications, communications or correspondence should be transmitted to OSIM and from OSIM, to another national office or to an intergovernmental organization, in the electronic form, this means of transmission shall mutually be agreed upon by both parties.
- (4)
- Where the application or other documents concerning the application are filed on paper carrier, OSIM may accept that a copy thereof in the electronic form be also transmitted by the applicant.
ARTICLE 6
Official language
(1) The official language of OSIM shall be Romanian. - (2)
- The patent application as well as the abstract shall be filed with OSIM, in the official language, which is also the language for all the procedures concerning the patent application or the patent.
- (3)
- When OSIM is the receiving office, within the meaning of the Patent Cooperation Treaty, the provisions of Art. 29 paragraph (5) shall apply.
- (4)
- The documents and materials generally consisting of publications, used in the proceedings before OSIM, according to the provisions of Art. 27 paragraph (4) and Art. 53 and Art. 54 of the Law, respectively, may be filed in any language, and in such cases OSIM may require the filing of the translation thereof into Romanian.
- (5)
- When a name, denomination, address or registered office are written, in the patent application form, with other characters than the ones of the Latin alphabet, these shall have to be indicated with letters of the Latin alphabet, either by transliteration or by translation into Romanian; the applicant, patent owner or any interested person shall decide the words to be transliterated and the words to be translated.
ARTICLE 7
The invention as information or as classified information
1) The information relating to or in connection with inventions created by Romanian citizens or by natural persons having the residence on the territory of Romania, and filed with OSIM as patent applications by the national route or as international applications, based on the provisions of the Patent Cooperation Treaty, shall not be public until the date of the publication thereof in BOPI, or up to the date stipulated in the Treaty.
2) Upon filing with OSIM a patent application for inventions created by Romanian natural persons on the territory of Romania, the applicant shall declare on his own responsibility in respect of using classified information in the patent application documentation.
(3) According to Art. 40 (2) of the Law, the task of assigning the state secret character to the information contained in the documents concerning the inventions in the field of the national defense or national security, for which the Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Interior and Administration Reform, Romanian Intelligence Service manifested their interest, vests in them within 60 days from the filing date.
4) Upon the recommendation by the representatives of the Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Interior and Administration Reform or of Romanian Intelligence Service in respect of attributing the state secret character to patent applications which do not belong to the national defense or security, OSIM shall invite the representatives of the entitled institutions to say their opinion in respect of the character of information in the patent application. In the situation when, within 30 days from sending the invitation, the representatives of the entitled institutions fail to say their opinion, this information shall be deemed not to be classified. - (5)
- Where the information relating to an invention is classified by the habilitated institutions, the patent application is subjected to the provisions stipulated by the Law, while observing the legal provisions concerning the classified information.
- (6)
- The representatives of the Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Interior and Administrative Reform, Romanian Intelligence Service or of other entitled institutions have the obligation to ensure transmittal, transport and storing of the documents that contain such information, based on the agreements signed with OSIM and on the provisions in force concerning the classified information.
- (7)
- The information relating to or in connection with patent applications filed with OSIM, and classified as state secret will be protected according to the secrecy level attributed by the issuer, this having the obligation to notify OSIM about any change of the classification level and of the time period for which they were classified.
(8)The institution that classified the information relating to or in connection with the inventions as state secrets shall pay, into the account of OSIM, the annual fee for maintaining the patent application to the secrecy level assigned, within 60 days from the date of assigning the secrecy level, and within the same period of time, it shall notify the applicant about the secrecy level assigned and the time limit for which the information was classified; the applicant may lodge an appeal to the authority that classified said information. The decision concerning the appeal shall be communicated to OSIM by the interested person within 30 days from the date of making the decision. - (9)
- The Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Interior and Administration Reform, the Romanian Intelligence Service and other authorized institutions may keep the copy of the description, claims and drawings of the patent application attached to the notification that
OSIM transmitted, as a consequence of classifying the information, according to paragraph (8), for the whole period for which the corresponding fee for maintaining the invention in the “state secret” level has been paid.
- (10)
- The authorized institution that has classified the information relating to or in connection with the invention shall notify OSIM of the declassification or passing thereof to a lower secrecy level, and OSIM shall deal with the invention according to the new secrecy level, or as unclassified information as the case may be.
- (11)
- Pursuant to the provisions of Art. 40 paragraph (2) of the Law, the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Interior and Administration Reform, the Romanian Intelligence Service or another authorized institution shall grant an equitable material compensation to the applicant or owner of the patent that contains information classified the patent application which has been assigned the state secret status or to the patent owner, said compensation being established by contract for the whole period of maintaining the invention in this category; any litigation concerning the contract shall be solved by the law court.
- (12)
- In case of their own inventions, the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Interior and Administrative Reform, the Romanian Intelligence Service or another entitled institution, in the position of applicant, shall classify the information relating to or in connection with the invention prior to transmitting and filing the patent application with OSIM.
- (13)
- OSIM shall ensure the required conditions for keeping records, holding, handling and multiplying the information classified as state secrets contained in an invention or of the ones referring to them, depending on the secrecy level assigned, pursuant to the provisions of the special regulations.
- (14)
- Where a patent application in the biotechnological field contains information classified as a state secret, the related microorganism deposited with an international depository institution, in order to comply with the provisions of Art. 18 paragraph (2) of the Law, shall have the same secrecy level.
- (15)
- In order to classify the information contained in the patent applications filed with OSIM as state secret, to declassify or to pass it to a lower classification level, the representatives of the qualified institutions shall have access to all the information concerning
the invention, and in case of an invention from the biotechnological field, also have access to the microorganism or to samples of the microorganism deposited to an international depository institution.
- (16)
- Any person within OSIM that has knowledge about information classified according to the provisions of Art. 40 paragraph (2) of the Law or who perform works by using this information, shall be informed of the assigned secrecy level.
- (17)
- If the applicant states, according to the provisions of Art. 27, that the disclosure of the invention that is the subject-matter of the patent application occurred in the conditions of the provisions of Art. 11 of the Law and the information relating to or in connection with the invention is classified, OSIM notifies the issuer relative to the necessity of declassifying the information.
- (18)
- Where the information relating to the patent application classified as state secret has not been declassified by observing the provisions of Art. 25 paragraph (2) of the Law, the patent application shall be declared as deemed to be withdrawn, according to the provisions of Art. 28 paragraph (4) letter f) of the Patent Law.
- (19)
- When the information relating to or in connection with the invention that is the subject-matter of the patent application has been classified as restricted documents, the director of the legal entity having the position of applicant shall declassify the information with a view to publishing the application, and shall request the publication in writing with OSIM.
- (20)
- Failure to declassify the information provided for in paragraph (19), the patent application shall be declared as being withdrawn and the information will be maintained with OSIM as being classified as “restricted documents” up to their declassification by the issuer.
ARTICLE 8
Filing date
- (1)
- With a view to granting the filing date, in application of the provisions of Art. 15 paragraph (1) of the Law, the part of the application provided for under letter c) of this paragraph is filed in Romanian, or in a foreign language, in the conditions provided for by Art.
16 paragraph (1) of the Law.
- (2)
- The description according to Art. 15 paragraph (1) letter c) of the Law may also be a reference in Romanian language to a patent application previously filed with an office and this reference shall include:
a) number of the previously filed application;
b) denomination of the office where the patent application has been filed;
c) application filing date.
- (3)
- Where, according to the provisions of Art. 15 paragraph (1) letter b) of the Law, OSIM can contact the applicant, but the documents provided for in Art. 15 paragraph (1) letter a) and/or c) of the Law have not been filed, OSIM shall notify the applicant on the ascertained drawbacks and grant a two-month time period, from the date of filing at least one of the documents, for submitting the missing documents.
- (4)
- In the situation under paragraph (3), the patent application filing date is the date on which the documents specified in the notification are filed with OSIM.
- (5)
- If, within the time period granted in the notification under paragraph (3), the missing documents have not been submitted, the patent application is deemed not to have been filed and this shall be communicated to the person who filed the documents, also indicating the reasons for which the patent application was dealt with in such a way.
- (6)
- In the situation provided for under paragraph (5), OSIM shall return the documentation keeping a copy thereof, as a witness copy, that shall not be published and may be consulted, at the OSIM headquarters, by the person who submitted the documents, following to a written request.
- (7)
- Where, upon establishing the filing date, OSIM ascertains that a part of the description is missing, according to Art. 15 paragraph (2), it shall notify the applicant who is asked to submit the missing part within 2 months from the date of sending the notification, but not more than 4 months from the date on which at least one of the documents provided for in Art. 15 paragraph (1) of the Law has been filed with OSIM.
- (8)
- The missing part of the description may also be filed with OSIM on the applicant’s own initiative, within 4 months from the date on which OSIM has received at least one of the
documents referred to in Art. 15 paragraph (1).
- (9)
- Where the applicant files the missing part I the Romanian within the time limit referred to in paragraph (7) or (8), OSIM shall consider that missing part as included in the description, the application filing date shall be the date on which the missing part has been filed with OSIM, and the applicant shall be notified accordingly.
- (10)
- Where a priority of an earlier application is claimed and the missing part is contained in the earlier application whose priority is claimed, the applicant shall, for the purpose of according the filing date, submit the following:
a) the missing part in the Romanian language, within 4 months from the date when at least one of the documents provided for in Art. 15 paragraph (1) of the Law has been filed with OSIM;
b) a copy of the earlier patent application containing the missing part, with the precise indication thereof, within the time limit referred to under letter a);
c) a copy of the earlier application, certified by the office where the application has been filed and the filing date of the application whose priority is claimed, within 4 months from notification, but not more than 16 months from the date of the claimed priority;
d) a translation into Romanian of the earlier application, if this has not been filed in Romanian.
(11) When applying the provisions of paragraph (10) the following shall be observed: a) the missing part of the description shall entirely be found in the earlier application; b) where the earlier application has already been filed with OSIM, the applicant shall
file only the missing part, within the time limit referred to in paragraph (10) letter a);
c) the documents referred to under the provisions of Art. 15 paragraph (1) shall contain explicit reference to the earlier patent application whose priority was claimed in the patent application.
(12) Where the requirements referred to in paragraph (10) are complied with, the filing date shall be the date established according to the provisions of Art. 15 paragraph (1) of the Law.
(13) Where the missing part of the description is filed within the time limits provided for in paragraph (7) or (8), but OSIM ascertains that it does not belong to the earlier patent application whose priority was claimed, the filing date of the application will be the date of filing the missing part, and OSIM shall notify the applicant accordingly, indicating the reasons therefor. - (14)
- If within one month from the date of the notification concerning the according of the filing date, under the provisions of paragraph (9) or (13), the applicant communicates to OSIM the intention of withdrawing the part that initially was deemed to be missing, the patent application filing date will be the date on which the provisions of Art. 15 paragraph (1) of the Law are complied with.
(15) The copy of the earlier application referred to under the provisions of paragraph
- (10)
- letter b) shall contain: the description, claims and, where appropriate, the drawings; where the earlier patent application does not contain claims and drawings, these shall be submitted within the time limit provided for in paragraph (10) letter a).
- (16)
- The request for filing the missing part or for withdrawing the filed missing part is deemed being filed only subject to payment of the fee for filing the missing part of the description of invention with a view to establishing the filing date or, as the case may be, of the fee for the withdrawal of the filed missing part.
- (17)
- The filing date of a patent application resulting from dividing an original application is the same as the filing date of the original application.
- (18)
- Where the provisions of Art. 66 paragraph (2) letter b) of the Law apply, the new patent application shall have the same filing date as the original patent application.
ARTICLE 9
Regular national filing
- (1)
- All documents referred to in Art. 14 paragraph (1), filed with OSIM, constitute the regular national filing of the patent application.
2) The patent application filing referred to in paragraph (1) produces the effects of a regular national filing as provided for in Art. 4 of the Paris Convention.
- (3)
- Where the requirements referred to in Art. 15 paragraph (1) of the Law are fulfilled and there are filed the documents provided for in Art. 14 paragraph (1) letters d) and e) of the Law, OSIM shall notify the applicant that the patent application filing produces the effects of a regular national filing.
- (4)
- The provisions of paragraphs (1) and (2) also apply to patent applications resulting from dividing a patent application which do not comply with the provisions of Art. 19 paragraph
- (1)
- of the Law.
- (5)
- In case of foreign applicants who file, according to Art. 16 paragraph (1), the description, claims and/or drawings in a foreign language, the patent application filing produces, from the date of filing, the effects of a regular national filing, provided that the certified translation of said documents in the Romanian language is filed with OSIM in three copies, within 2 months from this date; failing to file the translation or to pay the filing fee therefor, the application shall be rejected, according to the provisions of Art. 28 paragraph (2) letter a) of the Law.
- (6)
- In the application of the provisions of Art. 15 paragraph (7) of the Law, where the claims and, where appropriate, the drawings were not filed on the date of filing, these may be filed with OSIM within two months from the filing date, subject to payment of the legal fee, and in this case the patent application produces the effects of a regular national filing starting from the filing date.
- (7)
- Where the claims are not filed according to the provisions of Art. 15 paragraph (7) of the Law, the patent application shall be declared to be withdrawn, according to Art. 28 paragraph (4) letter e) of the Law .
- (8)
- Where reference to drawings is made in the description and claims, but the drawings have not been filed with OSIM on the date of filing or within the time limit referred to in paragraph (6),OSIM shall notify the applicant:
a) of the requirement that any reference to drawings in the description and claims should be considered to have been eliminated, with the proviso of filing with OSIM the description and claims, modified by eliminating the reference to drawings therefrom, within two months from the notification, but not more than 4 months from the filing date; or
b) of the fact that OSIM should carry on the examination procedure only for the parts of the description not making reference to drawings, in which case the applicant shall file the redrafted description and claims with OSIM, within the same time limits provided under letter a).
(9) The applicant failing to respond to the notification referred to under paragraph (8), within the granted time limit, the patent application shall be deemed to have been withdrawn.
ARTICLE 10
Conventional priority and claiming the same
- (1)
- The conditions for and the effects produced by claiming a priority are the ones stipulated in the Paris Convention.
- (2)
- By the declaration referred to in Art. 20 paragraph (4) of the Law, there is claimed the priority of one or more earlier national, regional or international patent applications filed in or for any State Party to the Paris Convention or for any Member State of the World Trade Organization.
(3) The declaration provided for under paragraph (2) shall indicate:
a) the date of filing the earlier application;
b) the number of the earlier application;
c) the denomination of the State party to the Paris Convention or of the Member State
of the World Trade Organization, in which the earlier application has bee filed, if the earlier application is a national application; d) the denomination of the authority that granted the regional patent, pursuant to the provisions of the regional patent treaty, where the earlier application is a regional application; e) the denomination of the receiving office where the application has been filed, where the earlier application is an international application. - (4)
- Where the earlier application, according to paragraph (2), is a regional or international application, the claiming of priority may also indicate one or more States party to the Paris Convention, for which the earlier application was filed.
- (5)
- Where the earlier application filed on the basis of a regional patent Convention originates in a State that is neither a party to Paris Convention nor a member of the World Trade Organization, the claiming of priority shall contain at least one State party to the Paris Convention or a Member State of the World Trade Organization for which the earlier application was filed.
- (6)
- More priorities of earlier applications originating in various States may be claimed in a patent application, with the proviso of complying with the stipulation of Art. 20 paragraph
- (5)
- of the Law.
(7) The priority claiming fee shall be paid for each priority:
a) within 4 months from the application filing date, if the priority claiming was made on
that date; or b) at the time of opening the national phase. - (8)
- Failure to pay the priority claiming fee in the legal amount and time limit provided for in paragraph (7) leads to the non-recognition of priority.
- (9)
- In a patent application claiming one or more priorities of earlier applications according to the provisions of paragraph (1) or (6) , the claiming of any of these priorities is also recognized in the conditions in which the application contains one or more features not contained in the application or applications whose priority is claimed, provided that, in both cases there exists a unity of the invention, according tot the provisions of Art. 19 paragraph
- (1)
- of the Law.
- (10)
- Where one or more priorities are claimed in a patent application, only that part of the subsequent application filing contained in the first application or first applications filing shall be recognized, according to the provisions of Art. (9) for the parts not contained in the application or applications whose priority is claimed, the subsequent application filing generates a priority right in the conditions of the Law.
- (11)
- Where some features of the invention from a subsequent application wherein a priority was claimed, cannot be found in any claim drafted in the earlier application, the priority may still be recognized, if these features obviously result from the assembly of the earlier application.
- (12)
- The applicant may avail himself of the right of priority derived from a first filing of a non-unitary patent application, no matter if the patent application was divided or not in the country of origin.
- (13)
- Where a patent application results from dividing a patent application, the applicant benefits of the right of priority claimed in the divided application.
(14) The claiming of more cascade priorities is not recognized.
- (15)
- The data contained in the declaration according to paragraph (2) may be corrected if:
a) a request signed by the applicant or by the professional representative thereof, explicitly requesting the correction of the data, is filed within two months from the expiry of the twelve-month time limit from the date of priority;
b) the fee for publishing the correction of the data relating to claiming of priority is paid within 4 months from the date of filing the patent application or of opening the national phase.
(16) In a patent application having the filing date within the twelve-month time limit from the date on which the priority of an earlier application could have been claimed, the priority may, according to the provisions of Art. 22 paragraph (1) of the Law, be claimed within 2 months from the expiry of the twelve-month time limit calculated from the filing date of the earliest application whose priority was claimed.
(17) The priority claimed according to paragraph (16) may be recognized only if:
a) a request signed by the applicant or by the professional representative thereof, explicitly requesting the addition of priority claiming, is filed at the latest within two months from the expiry of the twelve-month time limit;
b) the fee for claiming the priority after the date of filing the patent application is paid at the time of claiming the priority.
(18) According to the provisions of Art. 20 paragraph (7) of the Law, priority may be recognized only where :
a) there exists a request signed by the applicant or his professional representative which explicitly requests the reinstatement; when on the date of filing there was not claimed the priority of the earlier application, the request shall be attended by the priority claiming;
b) the request referred to under letter a) is filed within the two-month time limit from the expiry of the priority period;
c) the request referred to under letter a) presents the reasons for failure to file the patent application within the priority period and a statement or other proof can be attached for sustaining the reasons;
d) the fee for claiming a priority is paid at the time of filing the request under letter a). - (19)
- The provisions of paragraphs (17) or (18) shall be applied if the request referred to in paragraph (17) letter a) or paragraph (18) letter a) is filed before the applicant requests the publication of the application according to the provisions of Art. 23 paragraph (3) of the Law, or before OSIM complies with a request for withdrawal or takes a decision of rejection.
- (20)
- If the provisions of paragraph (18) are not fulfilled, OSIM shall decide the nonrecognition of the priority according to the provisions of Art. 22 paragraph (4) of the Law.
ARTICLE 11
Internal priority
- (1)
- For a subsequent patent application the applicant shall file with OSIM the internal priority document within 5 months from the application filing date.
- (2)
- The internal priority document is issued and attached by OSIM to the subsequent patent application which claims the internal priority of an earlier application at the applicant’s request and subject to payment of the fee for the issuance of a priority certificate.
- (3)
- The fee for claiming the internal priority shall be paid within 4 months from the subsequent application filing date.
- (4)
- Failure to claim the internal priority in the subsequent application, failure to submit the priority document or to pay the internal priority claiming fee leads to the non-recognition of the claimed priority.
SECTION 3
Subject-Matter of the Invention
ARTICLE 12
Product - (1)
- The product referred to in Art. 7 paragraph (1) of the Law is the subject-matter of an invention in so far as it constitutes the solution to a technical problem.
- (2)
- Product may be an object having determined properties, technically defined by its constructive or component parts, by elements connecting the same, by its constructive shape or the shape of its component parts, by materials used for making it, by the constructive, position and functional relationships between the component parts or by the functional role thereof.
(3) Products within the meaning of the provisions of paragraph (1) and (2) may be:
a) devices, installations, equipments, machine-tools, apparatuses or assemblies of apparatuses operating together or relating to working means for carrying out a manufacturing or working process;
b) electric, pneumatic or hydraulic circuits;
c) chemical substances, including intermediates defined by the component elements and their relationship, symbolized by chemical formulae, by the significance of the substituting radicals, molecular structure, steric isomerism, molecular weight or by other features which individualize or identify them;
d) means or agents, chemical substances indicating the purpose they are used for;
e) physical or physical-chemical mixtures defined by the component elements, the quantitative ratio between them, structure, physical-chemical properties or other properties individualizing them and making them applicable to solving a technical problem. - (4)
- Where the product cannot be defined according to the provisions of paragraph (2), it may be defined by its manufacturing process.
- (5)
- The product referred to under Art. 7 paragraph (1) of the Law, as a subject-matter of a biotechnological invention is defined according to the provisions of Art. 68 paragraph (3) and paragraph (7).
- (6)
- The product as a subject-matter of a computer-related invention is defined in the provisions of Art. 44 paragraph (12).
ARTICLE 13
Process
- (1)
- The process is the subject-matter of a patentable invention, according to the provisions of Art. 7 paragraph (1) of the Law, in so far as it constitutes a solution to a technical problem.
- (2)
- The process according to paragraph (1) represents a logical succession of stages or steps, defined by their carrying on order, by initial conditions, such as the selected raw material, parameters, technical conditions for carrying on and/or employed technical means and by final products or results.
(3) The process according to the provisions of paragraph (1) consists of: a) a mechanical, physical, chemical technological activity with the effect of obtaining
or modifying a product; b) a working method characterized by operating steps; or c) a new use of a known product or process.
(4) The process referred to in Art. 7 paragraph (1) of the Law as a subject-matter of a biotechnological invention is defined in Art. 68 paragraph (3).
SECTION 4
Patent application
ARTICLE 14
The component parts of the patent application
- (1)
- According to Art. 14 paragraph (1) of the Law, the patent application contains a form requesting the grant of a patent, accompanied by a description of the invention, one or more claims and, where appropriate, drawings to which reference is made in the description and/or claims.
- (2)
- The patent application shall be accompanied by other documents: abstract of the patent application, the power of attorney for appointing the professional representative, the priority document, authorization for transfer of the priority rights, document proving the deposit
of the biological material with an international depository authority, the document for designating the inventors, the document for transmitting the right to be granted the patent, exhibition certificate.
ARTICLE 15
Patent application form
(1) According to Art. 14 paragraph (1) letter a) of the Law, the request for the grant of a patent may be filed with OSIM, on a printed form comprising:
a) explicit request for the grant of a patent for invention;
b) title of the invention drawing up the subject-matter of the invention in a clear and
concise manner; c) all indications necessary for establishing the applicant’s or applicants’ identity, as the case may be; d) designation of the inventor, if this is different from the applicant, indicating the place of work thereof at the moment of creating the invention.
(2) The form under paragraph (1) shall contain a list indicating: a) its total number of pages and the number of pages of the description, claims, drawings and abstract;
b) the denomination of other documents appended to the form, such as: power of attorney in the original or a copy of a general power of attorney, priority documents, a list of nucleotide sequences presented in a format that can be read by means of the computer, a document relating to the payment of the fees, a document relating to the deposit of a microorganism or of other biological material, document wherethrough the applicant designates the inventors, the document wherethrough the applicant proves his entitlement to file the application and to be granted the patent, authorization concerning the assigning of the priority right, as well as the number of pages of each document;
c) the number of the figure in the drawings indicated by the applicant to accompany the abstract upon publication; the applicant may justifiedly request the publication of two figures, and in this case he will indicate the numbers thereof. - (3)
- The list referred to in paragraph (2) shall be filled in by the applicant, and OSIM shall check and register the presence of the documents declared as being filed.
- (4)
- The form in paragraph (1) shall be drawn up in Romanian and shall be filled in in three copies by printing, typing or in hand writing.
- (5)
- The indications referred to in paragraph (1) letter c) are: a) where the applicant is a natural person, the name, first name, domicile and State whose citizen he is;
b) where the applicant is a legal entity, the official complete denomination, the headquarters thereof, the State whose nationality he has, as well as other official data concerning the legal existence of the legal entity.
- (6)
- If there are more applicants and these are not represented before OSIM by a professional representative, one of the applicants designated for the correspondence with OSIM shall be indicated in the application; otherwise OSIM shall have correspondence with the first applicant indicated in the form.
- (7)
- Upon request by the applicant, OSIM shall forward the correspondence to another address indicated by the applicant.
(8) The patent application form referred to under the provisions of paragraph (1) may also include:
a) identification data of the professional representative;
b) claiming of a priority according to the provisions of Art. 10;
c) reference, in the Romanian language, to an earlier patent application filed with an Office according to the provisions of Art. 8 paragraph (2);
d) indication of the procedures that the applicant wants to be undergone by the application, of which expressly the following: the publication of the patent application according to the provisions of Art. 23 paragraph 3 of the Law, drawing up a search report according to the provisions of Art. 24 of the Law, substantive examination according to the provisions of Art. 25 of the Law;
e) indication of the number and filing date of the original application from which the application was divided.