Industrial Design Application Procedure in Romania

According to Article 12 of Romanian Law No. 129/1992, industrial design applications must be filed with the Romanian State Office of Inventions and Trademarks (OSIM).

OSIM will only conduct a formal examination upon receiving a design patent application. If the design application meets the formal requirements, it will be published within no more than 4 months from the date of application.

According to Article 10 of Law 129/1992, a Romanian design patent application must include the following:

• Request for registration of design
• Applicant's name, address and nationality
• Number of designs
• A brief description of the products included and their characteristics
• Designer Name
• Declaration that the author has waived the right to be cited in the application or in the design publication
• Design images, in triplicate (for paper only)

Review and Appeals Process

The Romanian design patent application is handled by the OSIM Design Examination Office. The design must meet the following conditions:

• The industrial design is the industrial design defined in Law No. 129/1992
• The design is novel
• Unique appearance design
• Design is not determined solely by technical functions
• The design does not violate public policy or moral principles

OSIM must make a decision on the application within 12 months from the date the application was published.

The applicant may appeal against the decision of OSIM to the Board of Appeal of the Romanian National Office for Inventions and Trademarks within 30 days from receipt of the decision.

The applicant may appeal the decision of the Appeal Committee to the Bucharest Court within 30 days of receiving the decision. In accordance with the Romanian Civil Procedure Code, a further appeal may be made against the decision of the Bucharest Court to the Bucharest Court of Appeal.

Opposition Rules

According to Article 21 of Romanian Law No. 129/1992, any interested party may file a written opposition request against the published design within 2 months from the date of publication of the application. OSIM will convey the opposition letter to the applicant. The applicant may submit a reply to the opposition within 2 months from the date of receipt of the opposition letter. OSIM must make a decision within 3 months from the date of submission of the opposition request.

For decisions made by the National Office, applicants can appeal to the Appeal Board of the Romanian National Invention and Trademark Office within 30 days of receiving the decision. For decisions made by the Appeal Board, applicants can appeal to the Bucharest Court within 30 days of receiving the decision. In addition, according to the provisions of the Romanian Civil Procedure Code, applicants can appeal against decisions made by the Bucharest Court to the Bucharest Court of Appeal.

Average authorization time

If the design application meets the formal standards of the Romanian Design Law, OSIM must publish the design and model parts in the Official Industrial Property Gazette within 4 months from the time of application. The OSIM Design Examination Office must make a decision on the application within 12 months from the date of publication. The authorized design will be issued a design patent certificate within 30 days.