1. Definition of the design
2. What kind of design can be registered?
3. What kind of design cannot be registered?
4. What kind of design can be protected?
5. How can an design be registered in Romania ?
6. Who can apply for the registration of an design at the State Office for Inventions and Trademarks?
7. May several designs be registered by means of a single application ?
8. How long will the procedure of the registration of a design last ?
9. Is the design filed at the State Office for Inventions and Trademarks published?
10. Which are the fees for the registration of a design ?
11. What are the rights deriving from the certificate of registration of a design?
12. Does the registration of a design ensure protection abroad?
13. After filing the application at the State Office for Inventions and Trademarks, when shall the protection of the design against counterfeiting be secured?
14. Can the design be marked with a special indicative ?
15. Can I talk to other persons about the designs I created?
16. When can the designs registered at the State Office for Inventions and Trademarks be disclosed by manufacture and sale ?
17. How can one know whether an design has been registered ?
18. Who can assist technically and legally the creators or businessmen in order to get protection of designs in Romania and abroad?
19. What is the legislation in force concerning the protection of designs?
20. Where can one get further information regarding the registration of designs?
Amount and time limits concerning the payment of fees for designs
1. Definition of the design
“Design” means the appearance of the whole or a part of a product resulting from the features of, in particular, the lines, contours, colours, shape, texture and/or materials of the product itself and/or its ornamentation;
“Product” means any industrial or handicraft item, including inter alia parts intended to be assembled into a complex product, packaging, get-up, graphic symbols and typographic typefaces, but excluding computer programs;
“Complex product” means a product which is composed of multiple components which can be replaced permitting disassembly and re-assembly of the product.
2. What kind of design can be registered?
The new appearance of a product in two or three dimensions having individual character can be registered as a design.
“Design” means the pattern (two-dimensional forms), e.g. textile, paper, labels, etc.
“Model” means a three-dimensional shape e.g. electrical appliances, furniture, footwear, etc.
A design shall be considered to be new if no identical design has been made available to the public before the date of filing of the application for registration of the design for which protection is claimed, or, if priority is claimed, the date of priority.
Designs shall be deemed to be identical if their features differ only in immaterial details.
A design shall be considered to have individual character if the overall impression it produces on the informed user differs from the overall impression produced on such a user by any design which has been made available to the public before the date of filing the application for registration or, if a priority is claimed, the date of priority.
In assessing individual character, the degree of freedom of the designer in developing the design shall be taken into consideration.
3. What kind of design cannot be registered?
The designs of which is determined by a technical function and those the purpose and appearance of which are contrary to morality or public order.
Also, can not be registered the design which does not correspond to the definition.
4. What kind of design can be protected?
Food products, clothes (fashion designs) and small – ware articles; travel items, boxes, umbrellas and personal items; brushes; unmanufactured textile items, natural or synthetic fibre fabrics; furniture; housekeeping items, labour saving devices and tools, made of metal; packing and vessels for transportation and storing of merchandise; watchmaker’s and other measurement devices, control and signal instruments; decorative items; transportation and elevating means; apparatus for generating, distributing and transforming the electric power, recording apparatus, transmission apparatus, devices for processing information, cars, photographic, film and optical items; music instruments, printing and stationery items; machines and items for offices; materials for arts and training activities; equipment for sale and advertising activities, lighting signal indices; games, toys, tents and leisure items; guns, pyrotechnique items, items for hunting, fishing and for controlling harmful organisms, installations for distribution of fluids, sanitary installations, installations for heating, for ventilation and air-conditioning; solid kinds of fuel; material and apparatus for medicine and laboratories; buildings and construction elements; lighting units; tobacco and items for smokers; pharmaceutical and cosmetic products and items, beauty items and devices; devices and items intended to avert and to extinguish fires, to avert accidents and for rescue; items to look after and to keep animals; machines and apparatus to prepare food and drinks; varia.
5. How can a design be registered in Romania ?
The registration of a design in the Register of Designs shall be made as a consequence of the decision to accept the application for registration, taken by a board of the specialized department of OSIM. A regular deposit is mandatory to that purpose.
For the deposit, a (standard) request form for design registration is needed; OSIM provides it free of charge.
The application, as filled in by the person seeking protection, may be filed directly at OSIM, by mail, or using the electronic means, such as online filing.
The application shall contain:
applicant’s name and address;
a graphic representation and an indication of the product;
representative’s name and address ( where appropiate );
a short description of the characteristic elements of the new appearance of the product;
creator’s name and address.
The application shall be annexed:
representative’s power of attorney ( where appropiate );
copies of the graphic reproductions of the design;
a proof that the registration and publication fees were paid.
6. Who can apply for the registration of a design at the State Office for Inventions and Trademarks?
Any natural or legal person entitled to the grant of the certificate of registration (creator, merchant, association, foundation) can apply for the registration of a design.
7. May several designs be registered by means of a single application ?
Yes. Several designs may be registered in a multiple deposit, comprising several designs intended to be incorporated in articles included in the same category of goods, according to the International Design Classification.
A simple deposit comprises a single design.
A multiple deposit comprises two to 100 designs.
Low registration fees are to be paid for a multiple deposit.
8. How long does it take the procedure of the registration of a design?
The decision to accept or to refuse an application shall be taken by a Board within six months of the publication of the application. The publication of the application shall be made within five working days of the date on which the regular deposit was made.
9. Is the design filed at the State Office for Inventions and Trademarks published?
Yes. The application for the registration of the design and the graphic representation thereof shall be published in the Official Bulletin of Industrial Property, the Design Section (B.O.P.I. – D.M.); subscriptions shall be made directly at the State Office for Inventions and Trademarks.
10. Which are the fees for the registration of a design ?
The design fees are presented in the annex.
11. What are the rights deriving from the certificate of registration of a design?
The certificate of registration of the design shall confer on the owner an exclusive right of exploitation in the territory of Romania, as well as the right to forbid third parties to perform the following acts without his consent : reproduction, manufacture, sale or offer for sale, use, importation or storage for the purpose of selling, offering for sale or using the industrial design or the article in which it is incorporated.
12. Does the registration of a design ensure protection abroad?
No. The protection of a design in other states shall be acquired by applying for its registration in every state of interest.
13. After filing the application at the State Office for Inventions and Trademarks, when shall the protection of the design against counterfeiting be secured?
The protection against counterfeiting shall be secured from the date of making the regular deposit at the State Office for Inventions and Trademarks for all the designs filed and published in B.O.P.I. – D.M.
14. Can the design be marked with a special indicative ?
Yes. The owners of certificates of registration of designs may apply the “D” sign onto the goods, accompanied by the owner’s name or the serial number of the certificate.
15. Can I talk to other persons about the designs I created?
Disclosure of the design shall not be taken into account if it was made by the creator or his successor in title and if it occurred within the 12 months preceding the date of registration.
16. When can the designs registered at the State Office for Inventions and Trademarks be disclosed by manufacture and sale ?
The manufacture and sale of products incorporating designs shall not be prevented in any way; on the contrary, the protection can be applied for even 12 months after the public disclosure by sale.
17. How can one know whether a design has been registered ?
By performing a search of the reference materials at the State Office for Inventions and Trademarks, in a certain field (class) and over a certain period of time.
18. Who can assist technically and legally the creators or businessmen in order to get protection of designs in Romania and abroad?
The State Office for Inventions and Trademarks authorized a group of industrial property attorneys according to international usage.
The list of industrial property attorneys is published in the Official Industrial Property Bulletin.
19. What is the legislation in force concerning the protection of designs?
– Law no. 129/1992 of the Protection of Designs, republished in the Official Gazette no. 242/04.04.2014.
– Governmental Decision no. 211/2008 for approval of Implementing Regulations of the Law no. 129/1992, published in Official Gazette no. 181/2008.
– Law no. 44/1992 on the accession of Romania to the Hague Agreement Concerning the International Deposit of Industrial Designs, published in the Official Gazette no. 95/1992.
– Law no. 15/2001 for ratification of the Geneva Act of the Hague Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Industrial Designs, published in the Official Gazette no. 103/2001.
– Law no. 3/1998 on the accession of Romania to the Locarno Agreement establishing the international classification for industrial designs, published in the Official Gazette no. 10/1998.
– Government Ordinance no. 41/1998 concerning the fees in the field of industrial property, published in the Official Gazette no. 43/1998.
– Decree no. 1775/1968 for ratification of Convention Establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization, published in the Official Gazette no. 1/1969.
– Decree no. 1777/1968 for ratification of Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, published in the Official Gazette no. 1/1969.
– Law no. 133/1994 for ratification of Marrakesh Agreement Establishing WTO (Annex 1C – TRIPS Agreement), published in the Official Gazette no. 360/1994.
20. Where can one get further information regarding the registration of designs?
Information on and forms for the registration of designs can be obtained from the State Office for Inventions and Trademarks, 5, Ion Ghica Street, sector 3, Bucharest, at the Designs Division, phone 004021.306.08.00/extension 210 fax 00401.3123819, e-mail: postavaru.alice@osim.ro
– CP7 – Harmonisation of product indication project