Legislative Implementation of Flexibilities - Romania
| Title: | Articles 1, 3 and 4 of the Utility Models, Official Gazette of Romania, Part I, No. 851/12 December 2007 |
| Field of IP: | Patents |
| Type of flexibility: | Utility models |
| Summary table: |  |
Provisions of Law
Art. 1 - (1) The utility model shall protect, under this law, any technical invention, provided that it is new, it exceeds the framework of mere professional skill and it is susceptible of industrial application.
(2) The following, in particular, shall not be deemed to be inventions under paragraph (1):
a) discoveries, scientific theories and mathematical methods;
b) aesthetic creations;
c) schemes, rules and methods for performing mental activities, playing games or doing business, as well as computer programs;
d) presentations of information.
(3) The provisions of paragraph (2) shall exclude the protection of the above
mentioned activities or subject matters only to the extent to which the utility model application or utility model relates to such activities or subject-matters as such.
(4) The following shall not be protected as utility models:
a) inventions the commercial exploitation of which would be contrary to public order or morality, including inventions harmful to the health or life of persons, animals or plants or which are likely to seriously harm the environment, provided that said exception shall not depend merely on the fact that exploitation thereof is prohibited by a legal provision;
b) plant varieties and animal breeds;
c) inventions having as a subject-matter biological material;
d) inventions having as a subject-matter a product consisting of a chemical or
pharmaceutical substance;
e) inventions having as a subject-matter a process or a method.
Art. 3 - (1) An invention shall be considered to be new if it does not form part of the state of the art.
(2) The state of the art shall be held to comprise all knowledge that has been made available to the public by means of an oral or written description, by use or in any other way, prior to the date of filing of the utility model application.
(3) The state of the art shall be also held to comprise the content of the utility model and patent applications filed with the State Office for Inventions and Trademarks (hereinafter referred to as OSIM), as well as the content of the applications with effects in Romania, as filed, provided that they have the date of filing prior to the date referred to in paragraph (2) and they were duly published on or after that date.
(4) When applying the provisions of paragraphs (2) and (3), the disclosure of the invention shall not be taken into consideration if it occurred within the six months preceding the filing date of the utility model application and if it was made, directly or
indirectly:
a) by the applicant or his predecessor in title; or
b) as a consequence of an obvious abuse in relation to the applicant or his predecessor in title.
Art. 4. - An invention shall be considered as susceptible of industrial application if it can be made or used in any kind of industry, including agriculture.