ROMANIA LAW AND PRACTICE Contributed by: Raluca Vasilescu, Cabinet M. Oproiu and Ioana Gelepu, The Office Litigation & Enforcement
1.4 Term of Each Intellectual Property Right Patents have a maximum term of 20 years from the filing date. Utility models have a maximum term of ten years from the filing date. 1.5 Rights and Obligations of Owners of Intellectual Property Rights Owners have the exclusive right to exploit the patent or utility model. This right includes the right to prevent third parties from exploiting the patent or utility model and the right to license the technical solution. Owners have the obligation to pay the renewal fees. 1.6 Further Protection After Lapse of the Maximum Term Supplementary protection certificates are availa- ble under the Regulations of the European Union for the protection of pharmaceutical products (Regulation 469/2009 and Regulation 2019/933) and for plant protection products (Regulation 1610/96). 1.7 Third-Party Rights to Participate in Grant Proceedings The European Patent Office (EPO) procedure provides the possibility, starting after the grant of the patent, to lodge an opposition within nine months from the date of publication of the grant. The national procedure provides the possibility to lodge an opposition within six months from the date of publication of the grant – this pro- ceeding takes place at OSIM. The opposition or revocation proceeding ends with a decision that can be appealed. Once the patent has been granted (that is, outside the opposition/revoca- tion procedure above described), the patent can be invalidated following an invalidation proceed- ing in the Municipal Court of Bucharest as court of first instance. European patents validated in Romania are treated as national patents.
1.8 Remedies Against Refusal to Grant an Intellectual Property Right The remedies against refusal to grant an indus- trial property right are represented by appeal proceedings for both the EPO and OSIM pro- cedures. 1.9 Consequences of Failure to Pay Annual Fees The patent is deemed abandoned if the annual fees have not been paid in a timely manner. Res- toration of rights is possible if the owner can prove that the reasons for non-payment were beyond the owner’s control. The time limit to submit a request for restoration of rights is two months from the cessation of the reason for fail- ure to pay but not later than 12 months from the original deadline. The fees are difficult to predict because they depend on the annuity amount; in any case, they would be more than EUR3,000. 1.10 Post-Grant Proceedings Available to Owners of Intellectual Property Rights Once granted, the patent can be limited at the request of the owner by lodging a request to amend (which includes limiting) said patent. The amendment or limitation produces effects for third parties upon publication. National law uses the term “full or partial renunciation of pat- ent rights”. The limitation of a European patent is requested to the EPO and must be enforced in the same countries where the patent was initially validated. 2. Initiating a Lawsuit 2.1 Actions Available Against Infringement The main substantive proceedings that can be brought before courts are as follows:
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