- Chapter I General Provisions
- Chapter II Protection of Marks
- Chapter III Application for Registration of a Mark
- Chapter IV Registration Procedure
- Chapter V Duration, Renewal and Amendment of Registrations
- Chapter VI Rights Conferred by a Mark
- Chapter VII Transfer of Rights in a Mark
- Chapter VIII Loss of Rights in a Mark
- Chapter IX Collective Marks
- Chapter X Certification Marks
- Chapter XI International Registration of Marks
- Chapter XII Geographical Indications
- Chapter XIII Defense of Rights in Marks and Geographical Indications
- Chapter XIV Duties of the State Office for Inventions and Trademarks
- Chapter XV Transitional and Final Provisions
Law on Marks and Geographical Indications *
(No. 84 of April 15, 1998)
[ 1 ]
TABLE OF CONTENTS **
Articles
Chapter I: General Provisions.......................................................................................... 1-3
Chapter II: Protection of Marks....................................................................................... 4-8
Chapter III: Application for Registration of a Mark...................................................... 9-16
Chapter IV: Registration Procedure............................................................................. 17-28
Chapter V: Duration, Renewal and Amendment of Registrations............................... 29-34
Chapter VI: Rights Conferred by a Mark.................................................................... 35-38
Chapter VII: Transfer of Rights in a Mark.................................................................. 39-43
Chapter VIII: Loss of Rights in a Mark....................................................................... 44-50
Chapter IX: Collective Marks...................................................................................... 51-56
Chapter X: Certification Marks................................................................................... 57-64
Chapter XI: International Registration of Marks......................................................... 65-66
Chapter XII: Geographical Indications....................................................................... 67-79 1
Chapter XIII: Defense of Rights in Marks and Geographical Indications................... 80-91
* Romanian title: Lege privind m|rcile¸ si indica¸ tiile geografice
Entry into force: July 23, 1998.
Source: Communication from the Romanian authorities.
Note: Translation by the International Bureau of WIPO on the basis of a French translation furnished by the national authorities and edited by the International Bureau of WIPO.
1 Chapter XII concerning geographical indications is published in Industrial Property Laws and Treaties, ROMANIA—Text 5-001 (Editor’s note).
** Added by the International Bureau of WIPO.
1 Chapter XII concerning geographical indications is published in Industrial Property Laws and Treaties, ROMANIA—Text 5-001 (Editor’s note).
2 See Industrial Property Laws and Treaties, MULTILATERAL TREATIES—Text 1-016 (Editor’s note).
3 Ibid., Text 3-004 (Editor’s note).
4 Ibid., Text 3-007 (Editor’s note).
5 Article 79 concerning geographical indications is included in Chapter XII of this Law and is not reproduced here. See footnote 1 (Editor’s note).
Chapter XIV: Duties of the State Office for Inventions and Trademarks................... 92-93
Chapter XV: Transitional and Final Provisions........................................................... 94-95
Chapter I General Provisions
1. Rights in marks and geographical indications shall be recognized and protected on the territory of Romania in accordance with the provisions of this Law.
2. Foreign natural and legal persons with their place of residence or business outside the territory of Romania shall also enjoy the provisions of this Law in accordance with the international conventions on marks and geographical indications to which Romania is party.
3. For the purposes of this Law, the following terms and expressions shall have the meanings set out below:
(a) “mark” means a sign capable of graphic representation serving to distinguish the goods or services of a natural or legal person from those of other persons; marks may be constituted by distinctive signs such as: words, including personal names, designs, letters, numerals, figurative elements, three-dimensional shapes and, particularly, the shape of goods or of packaging thereof, combinations of colors, together with any combination of such signs;
(b) “earlier mark” means a registered mark or a mark filed for registration in the National Trademark Register, provided that it be subsequently registered;
(c) “well-known mark” means a mark that is well known in Romania on the date on which an application for trademark registration is filed or on the priority date claimed in such application; in order to determine whether a mark is well known, account shall be taken of the repute of such mark in that section of the public concerned by the goods or services to which the mark applies, without it being necessary for the mark to have been registered or used in Romania;
(d) “collective mark” means a mark serving to distinguish the goods or services of the members of an association from those belonging to other persons;
(e) “certification mark” means a mark that indicates that the goods or services for which it is used are certified by its owner with regard to the quality, material, method of manufacture of the goods or mode of provision of the services, precision or other characteristics;
(f) “geographical indication” means the name serving to identify a product that originates in a country, region or locality of a State in those cases where a certain quality, reputation or other specific characteristic may be essentially attributed to that geographical origin;
(g) “applicant” means the natural or legal person in whose name an application for registration of a mark has been filed;
(h) “owner” means the natural or legal person in whose name a mark has been registered in the National Trademark Register;
(i) “authorized representative”, referred to as “representative” in this Law, means an industrial property agent who may also have the capacity of representative in proceedings before the State Office for Inventions and Trademarks;
(j) “Paris Convention” means the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property of March 20, 1883, as revised and amended 2 ;
(k) “countries of the Paris Union” means the countries to which the Paris Convention applies and that constitute the Union for the Protection of Industrial Property;
(n( �/span> “Madrid Agreement” means the “Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks of April 14, 1891, as revised at Stockholm on July 14, 1967 3 ;
(m) “Protocol relating to the Agreement” means the Protocol Relating to the Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks (as signed at Madrid on June 28, 1989) 4 .
Chapter II Protection of Marks
4. The right to a mark shall be acquired and protected by registration with the State Office for Inventions and Trademarks.
5. The following shall be excluded from protection and may not be registered:
(a) marks which do not conform to the provisions of Article 3(a) ;
(b) marks which are devoid of any distinctive character;
(c) marks which consist exclusively of signs or indications which have become customary in the current language or in the bona fide and established practices of the trade;
(d) marks which consist exclusively of signs or indications which may serve, in trade, to designate the kind, quality, quantity, intended purpose, value, geographical origin or the time of production of the goods or of rendering of the service, or other characteristics of the goods or services;
(e) marks which consist exclusively of the shape of the product which results from the nature of the goods themselves or which is necessary to obtain a technical result or which gives substantial value to the goods;
(f) marks which are liable to mislead the public as to the geographical origin, the quality or nature of the goods or service;
(g) marks which contain a geographical indication or which consist therein, for goods which do not originate on the designated territory if the use of such indication is liable to mislead the public as to the true place of origin;
(h) marks which consist of a geographical indication identifying wines or spirits which do not originate in the place indicated or which contain such indication;
(i) marks contrary to public policy or to accepted principles of morality;
(j) marks which contain, without the consent of the owner, the likeness or surname of a person of repute in Romania;
(k) marks which contain, without the permission of the competent authorities, reproductions or imitations of armorial bearings, flags, State emblems, signs, official hallmarks of control and warranty, coats of arms belonging to countries of the Union and which are governed by Article 6ter of the Paris Convention;
(n( �/span> marks which contain, without the permission of the competent authorities, reproductions or imitations of armorial bearings, flags, other emblems, abbreviations, initials or denominations which are governed by Article 6ter of the Paris Convention and which belong to international intergovernmental organizations to which one or more countries of the Union are party.
The provisions of items (b) , (c) and (d) of the first paragraph shall not apply if, prior to the date of the application for registration of a mark and by reason of its use, the mark has acquired a distinctive character.
6. In addition to the grounds referred to in the first paragraph of Article 5 , registration of a mark shall be refused where
(a) it is identical with an earlier mark and the goods or services for which registration is applied for are identical with the goods or services for which the earlier mark is protected;
(b) it is identical with an earlier mark and is intended to be affixed to goods or services similar to those for which the earlier mark is protected if there exists a likelihood of confusion on the part of the public;
(c) it is similar to an earlier mark and is intended to be affixed to goods or services that are identical or similar, if there exists a likelihood of confusion on the part of the public, including the risk of association with the earlier mark;
(d) it is identical with or similar to a mark that is well known in Romania for goods or services that are identical or similar on the date of the filing of the application for registration of the mark;
(e) it is identical with or similar to a mark that is well known in Romania for goods or services which are not similar to those to which the mark applies and for which registration is requested and where use of the latter without due cause could take unfair advantage of the distinctive character or the repute of the well-known mark or where such use could cause prejudice to the owner of the well-known mark.
7. Marks subject to Article 6 may nevertheless be registered with the express consent of the owner of the earlier or well-known mark.
8. The nature of the goods or services for which registration of a mark is requested in no way represents an obstacle to the registration of the mark.
Chapter III Application for Registration of a Mark
9. The right to a mark shall belong to the natural or legal person who was first to file an application for registration of the mark in accordance with the conditions laid down by law.