ROMANIA LAW AND PRACTICE Contributed by: Raluca Vasilescu, Cabinet M. Oproiu and Ioana Gelepu, The Office Litigation & Enforcement
infringing acts). In practice, however, this step is rarely used or granted.
a monetary value – in general, it does have a monetary value. When the plaintiff requests damages, there is a formula by which to calcu- late the court fees depending on the value of the damages claimed. 8.3 Responsibility for Paying the Costs of Litigation The winning party can request – but is not obliged to request – that the losing party reim- burse trial costs. See 6.2 Rights of Prevailing Defendants for the categories of costs that can be obtained. 9. Alternative Dispute Resolution 9.1 Type of Actions for Intellectual Property Alternative dispute resolution, which includes mediation and arbitration, is not typically the first choice for settling disputes in Romania. As regards arbitration, there is a debate regarding its applicability to intellectual property matters. 10. Assignment and Licensing 10.1 Requirements or Restrictions for Assignment of Intellectual Property Rights There are no restrictions when assigning indus- trial property rights. It is highly recommended that the new owner records the assignment with OSIM. 10.2 Procedure for Assigning an Intellectual Property Right If the owner decides to record the assignment with OSIM, an original of the assignment docu- ment or a notarised copy must be submitted at OSIM together with the power(s) of attorney from
7. Appeal 7.1 Special Provisions for Intellectual Property Proceedings Apart from the fact that, for proceedings where OSIM acts as a court of first instance, the deci- sion issued can be challenged before the Munic- ipal Court of Bucharest – Civil Section, there are The appeal implies a full review of the factual and legal aspects. This feature does not entail the automatic reassessment of evidence. For example, if the first instance court has ordered an expert report and this is considered clear by the appeal court, a request for a new expert’s report will not be granted. Only the second appeal, where applicable, is limited to a legal review. no special provisions. 7.2 Type of Review
8. Costs 8.1 Costs Before Filing a Lawsuit
Prior to starting litigation, the party seeking to initiate a lawsuit may incur a number of costs. Illustratively, pre-litigation costs may involve: expenses consisting of lawyers’ fees (for draft- ing notices, legal advice, assessing the position in the potential case, etc), out-of-court technical expert reports and mediation costs (if one opts
for mediation, which is very rare). 8.2 Calculation of Court Fees
As a general rule, court fees depend on wheth- er the object of the litigation can be assigned
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