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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.

Regarding the European Patents filed before March 1st, 2003 but after 15 October 1996 , the provisions of the old Law will still be in force, that is Romania is a state where the European Patent may be extended.

An extended european patent is the patent for which the extension of its effects has been requested in Romania.

Pursuant to provisions of the Patent Cooperation Treaty, an european patent application and an european patent which are extended in Romania will have the same effects and will be submitted to the same conditions as a national patent application and a national patent granted according to the Romanian Patent Law.

The patents filed after the 1st of March, 2003, will follow the same process as the one used for the registration of European Patents.

VALIDATION OF THE EUROPEAN PATENT IN ROMANIA

For the owner of an European patent to enjoy the same rights as for a Romanian patent, the european patent has to be validated in Romania. The request for validation in Romania of an European patent must be filed, together with the Romanian translation of the patent description and the publication fee within 3 months from the publication of the registered European Patent.

A published European Patent Application enjoys provisional protection under the Patent Law of Romania as from the date on which a translation of the claims of the European patent application into the Romanian language has been published by the Romanian Patent Office.

Services:

• Drafting, filing and prosecuting European Patent Application;
• Drafting, filing and prosecuting European Patent Application using International Application of PCT;
• Legal assistance for foreign and Romanian clients before European Patent Office (EPO);
• Counseling and elaborating the answers to the notifications of the examiner from European Patent Office;
• Contesting the decisions of the European Patent Office;
• Validation of European Patents in Romania.