PROTECTION OF INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY IN ROMANIA

The first Trademark Law was adopted by the Romanian Parliament in 1879. The first Romanian Patent Law was enforced on January 17, 1906, on the same day the Romanian Patent Office was established, which, under different forms, continued its uninterrupted activity ever since.

The protection of industrial property in Romania is in compliance to the provisions of the Convention Establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization and the Paris Convention for Industrial Property Protection.

The Romanian Office of Copyright (ORDA), a specialized body answerable to the Romanian Government has been established for the registration, monitoring and control of enforcement of copyright and neighboring rights regulations.

ORDA has been founded in 1996. Previously, the Romanian Agency for Copyright Protection, subordinated to the Ministry of Culture, was authorized to monitor the enforcement of the specific regulations.

The responsibility for the protection of industrial property, in compliance with the specific regulations and the provisions of international conventions ratified by Romania, reverts to the State Office of Inventions and Trademarks (OSIM), as a specialized governmental body.

According to OSIM and in compliance with the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, the object-matters of the industrial property are:

  • Technical productions – including inventions and utility models, industrial design and topographies of integrated circuits.


  • Signs – associated with products and services, including trade marks or commercial and service brands, business name and geographical indications.


  • Avoidance of unfair competition – such as usage of a company name, a corporate image or packages capable of being taken for those of another producer, the production, import, export or storage, marketing or selling of goods bearing false endorsements about patents, the nature and characteristics of goods and the name of the producer or dealer, in order to mislead other dealers and consumers, etc.