Romanian legislation requirements regarding patent applications

Filing a patent application

The applicant of a patent of invention may be any natural or legal person, Romanian or foreign, resident in a member state of the Paris Convention.

European Patent Convention

On 22 November 2002, the Romanian Parliament has adopted Law No. 61 regarding the adhesion of Romania to the European Patent Convention in both the original version (1973) and the revised version (2000). Romania has become the 7th state that has adhered to the revised version.The fact that Romania has become a member of the European Patent Convention since 01.03.2003 has the following consequences:

• any international application filed on/after the 1st of March 2003 will automatically contain the designation of Romania for the European Patent;
• Romanian citizens or residents in Romania will have the possibility of filing their international application not only to the State office for Inventions and TradeMarks and WIPO(World intellectual Property Organization) but also to the European Patent Office.

The mathematical algorithms that are the basis of computer software can be protected through the grant of a patent if they are associated with techical solutions that solve a technical problem.

The object code and the source code of a computer software may be protected by copyright also.

A business method may be defined as "a method of operating any aspect of an economic enterprise".

Business method patents are a class of patents which disclose and claim new methods of doing business. This includes new types of e-commerce, insurance, banking, tax compliance etc.

Regarding patents that combine computer software with business methodology they involve an inventive step even in the situation when the technical contribution is obvious and the non technical contribution not obvious.An invention complies with the requirement of inventive step if when it is put to use with the help of a computer software it creates a "secondary effect" that goes beyond the simple interaction between hardware and software.

Subject to a suplimentary protection certificate may be good protected on the Romanian teritory by means of a valid patent of invention and which before having been placed on the market has been authorized as a medicament for human or veterinary use.

The utility model shall protect, under the law, any technical invention, provided that it is new, it exceeds the framework of mere professional skill and it is susceptible of industrial application.