How can Designs be Protected in Romania?

An industrial design refers to the outward appearance of a product or part thereof, depicted in two or three dimensions, resulting from the combination of key features such as lines, contours, colors, shape, texture, and/or materials of the product itself and/or its ornamentation.

The right to obtain a registration certificate belongs to the author of the design or their legal successor, for independently created designs. If multiple persons independently create a design, the right to obtain the registration certificate belongs to the person who first filed the application. In cases where the design is created as a result of contracts with a creative mission or by employees in the course of their duties, the right belongs to the commissioning party.

A design that is determined exclusively by its technical function cannot be registered. Furthermore, designs cannot be registered if they must be reproduced in a precise form and dimensions to allow the product into which the design is incorporated to be mechanically connected to or placed in, around, or on another product so that each product can fulfill its function. However, a design allowing for multiple connections between interchangeable products within a modular system may be registered.

The graphical representations must fully depict the design subject to the registration application, ensuring its aesthetic characteristics are highlighted. If these representations are insufficient, the registration application will be rejected. The graphical representations must be of sufficient quality to clearly show all details of the design and allow for publication.

Interested parties may file written oppositions to the design registration application with OSIM within two months from the date of its publication. OSIM will notify the applicant of the opposition, providing the name of the opposing party and the reasons for the opposition. The applicant may submit a response within two months of the notification. The opposition is resolved by a commission within the Design and Models Service, which issues a report admitting or rejecting the opposition, to be considered in the substantive examination.

Throughout the validity of the design registration, the holder has the exclusive right to use the design and to prevent any third party, without their consent, from performing acts such as reproduction, manufacturing, marketing, offering for sale, placing on the market, importing, exporting, or using a product incorporating the design, or storing such a product for these purposes.

The extent of protection is determined by the graphical representations of the registered design. The protection granted by law extends to any design that does not create a different overall visual impression on an informed user. In determining the scope of protection, the degree of freedom of the designer in creating the design is taken into account.

The validity period of a design registration certificate is 10 years from the date of filing, with the possibility of renewal for three consecutive periods of 5 years each. During the entire validity period, the holder is required to pay maintenance fees. OSIM provides a grace period of up to 6 months for payment of maintenance fees, subject to surcharges. Failure to pay these fees results in the holder losing their rights.

The holders of registered design certificates may mark products with the symbol “D,” a capital letter “D” enclosed in a circle, accompanied by the holder’s name or the certificate number. The right to obtain a design registration certificate, the rights arising from the registration application, as well as the rights derived from registration, are transferable in whole or in part. Transfer can occur through succession, assignment, or licensing.

Unauthorized claiming of authorship of a design constitutes an offense and is punishable by imprisonment for 6 months to 2 years or a fine ranging from 1,500 to 3,000 lei. Law enforcement agencies may, ex officio, take measures to seize counterfeit products bearing unauthorized designs and preserve evidence according to common law and special regulations.

For damages suffered, the holder is entitled to compensation under common law and may request the competent court to order the confiscation or, where appropriate, destruction of counterfeit products; these provisions also apply to materials and equipment directly used in committing the infringement.