WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONIP/N/6/MDA/1
28 January 2002
(02-0396)
Council for Trade-Related Aspects
of Intellectual Property RightsOriginal:  English
CHECKLIST OF ISSUES ON ENFORCEMENT1
Responses from Moldova
Civil and Administrative Procedures and Remedies
(a) Civil judicial procedures and remedies
1. Specify the courts which have jurisdiction over IPR infringement cases.
The Republic of Moldova has a court system in which the competence of tribunals depends
on the type of dispute to be considered.  Intellectual property rights and disputes are solved depending
on particular cases, by the following judicial authorities:
- The invention, trademarks/industrial designs, and copyright disputes are examined in
first instance in Tribunal and may be appealed against before the Court of Appeals
and ultimately to the Supreme Court of the Republic of Moldova.
- Disputes not falling under the Tribunal's competence, when the parties are legal
persons, are examined in first instance by the Economic Court, where appeals may be
submitted to the Economic Appeals Court and ultimately to the Supreme Court ofJustice of the Republic of Moldova.
In case, one party is a natural person, the dispute will be examined in first instance by
the Chisinau Tribunal, whose decisions may be contested in the Court of Appeals.
- The decisions which demand the cancellation of an administrative act of the public
authorities should be examined in accordance with the Code on Administrative
Contraventions, depending on the level of the authorities whose act is subject to
appeal.
For instance, the decisions of the State Agency for the Protection of Industrial
Property (AGEPI) which are submitted in first instance to the Court of Appeals can
be contested in the Supreme Court of Justice of the Republic of Moldova.
Contesting parties also have the possibility to solve disputes by recourse to the
services of the Arbitration and Mediation Center under the auspices of the State
Agency for the Protection of Industrial Property (AGEPI).
                                                     
1 Document IP/C/5.IP/N/6/MDA/1
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2. Which persons have standing to assert IPRs? How may they be represented? Are there
requirements for mandatory personal appearances before the court by the right holder?
Persons who registered or confirmed these rights in the Republic of Moldova, have standing
to assert intellectual property rights.
When a right holder considers that his intellectual property rights have been injured he may
initiate a civil, penal or administrative suit in the court.
These persons can also be represented in court by representatives, legal persons can be
represented by their institution, acting in limits given by law, a statute or regulations.  The legislation
in force does not stipulate personal appearances before the court by the right holder, in case he isrepresented.  The personal participation of the right holder in the case does not deprive him from the
right to be in this case a representative.
3. What authority do the judicial authorities h ave to order, at the request of an opposing
party, a party to a proceeding to produc e evidence that lies within its control?
Organizations, institutes, enterprises as well as natural persons have the obligation to present
evidence which the court orders at the parties’ request.
When a party or another participant in the case affirms that the opposing party holds an
evidence concerning the case, the court can order its presentation.
In case the organization, institution or enterprise where the evidence is kept, refuses to present
it, the person in charge found guilty is imposed a fine ranging from 10 to 25 minimum wages.  If the
evidence is kept by a natural person, the person will be subpoenaed a witness, being obliged to presentthe requested evidence, under penalty of 10 to 25 minimum wages.
The penalty does not exempt official persons and natural persons from the obligation to
present the required evidence in court.
4. What means exist to identify and protect confidential information brought forward as
evidence?
The identification attributes and protected confidential information brought forward as
evidence are considered the following:
- Law on Trade Secrets, Nº 171- XIII enacted on  6 June 1994.
By the provisions of this law the court examines, during the proceedings,  the stated
evidence only to the extent it directly concerns the subject involved and according to
its relevance to the case,  as formulated by the claimant.
While presenting evidence, the legal interests of parties regarding the protection of
their commercial  and industrial secrets are considered.
- Civil Procedural Code adopted on 26 December 1964.
Article 54
1 stipulates that in cases of infringement of the rights of the owner, when
the subject matter of a patent is a process for obtaining a product, the judicial
authority shall require the defendant to prov e that the process to obtain an identical
product is different from the patented process.IP/N/6/MDA/1
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Any identical product when produced withou t the consent of the patent owner shall,
in the absence of proof to the contrary, be deemed to have been obtained by the
patented process;  if the product obtained by  the patented process is new or there is a
substantial likelihood that the identical product was made by the process and theowner of the patent has been unable through reasonable efforts to determine the
process actually used.
In case, evidence of the contrary is presented, the defendant's rights, concerning the
protection of his trade and industrial secrets will be ensured.
5. Describe the remedies that may be ordered by the judicial authorities and criteria,
legislative or jurisprudential, for their use ;
- injunctions;
- damages, including recovery of profits, and expenses, including attorney's fees;
- destruction or other disposal of infringing goods and materials/implements for
their production;
- any other remedies.
The remedies that may be ordered by the juridical authorities are:
- According to Article 25 of Law Nº 588 of 1995 on Trademarks and Appellations of
Origin:
In cases of counterfeiting, the person found guilty shall be sentenced to a fine and
required to pay the injured party a comp ensatory monetary sum for violating his
rights, including loss of profit and the expenses which include appropriate attorney’s
fees.
When the case is over, at the request of the injured party, raw material and materials
used to fabricate the counterfeiting products shall be, without compensation of any
sort, disposed of outside the channels of commerce so as to avoid any prejudices of
the owner’s rights.
In these cases, the required corrective measures should be measurable with the
gravity of the infringement, considering the interests of third parties.
Products on hand under a counterfeit trademark or appellation of origin that infringe
owner’s rights shall be, without compensati on of any sort, disposed of outside the
channels of commerce so as to avoid any prejudices of the owner’s rights, and the
trademarks and appellations of origin illegally used shall be removed from the
products in question, even if this may cause  the destruction of these products.
The injured party shall be entitled to have the judicial decision published at the  cost
of the guilty party in order to restore his business reputation.
- According to Article 34 of Law Nº 461/1995 on Patents for Inventions, any person
who usurps the capacity of inventor, who obtains under constraint the capacity ofjoint inventor or who discloses the subjects matter of an invention prior to the filing
of an application without the consent of the inventor shall be deemed to have
infringed the holder’s rights and shall be liable to imprisonment or a fine in
conformity with the legislation in force.IP/N/6/MDA/1
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- According  to Article 35 of Law Nº 461/1995 on Patent for Inventions, the person
who committed the infringement shall be required to pay damages as compensation
for the prejudices incurred including for logs of earning and the expenses which may
involve appropriate attorney’s fees.
Products infringing owner’s rights shall be, without compensation of any sort,
disposed of outside the channels of commerce in such a manner so as to avoid further
infringements or destroyed.
- According to Article 37(4) of the Law on Copyright and Neighbouring Rights, in
cases of infringement the ordinary measures taken by the judicial authority includethe confiscation of a work of infringing copies of a work or phonogram and
equipment used in the manufacture of infringing copies, considering the infringement
character of  copyright and neighbouring right.
- According to Article 38 (1), (2), (3) of the Law on Copyright and Neighbouring
Rights, a holder of exclusive rights, whether copyright or neighbouring rights, may
require a person infringing his rights to acknowledge those rights;  to restore the
situation that existed prior to the infringe ment of his rights and to cease committing
the acts that infringe or are liable to infringe his rights;  to pay damages, including
damages for loss of earnings;  to pay an indemnity, in place of damages or surrenderof revenue, of between 10 and 20.000 times the minimum wage.
Any person who for gain knowingly infringe s copyright or neighbouring rights shall
be liable to civil, administrative and criminal sanctions provided by law.
6. In what circumstances, if any, do judicial  authorities have the authority to order the
infringer to inform the right holder of the identity of third persons involved in the
production and distribution of the goods of services found to be infringing and of their
channels of distribution?
Such information can be requested by:
- customs authorities according to their competence;
- police authorities, the Prosecutor’s Office in cases of intellectual property
infringement;
- court, in case a lawsuit is examined;
- other authorities expressly provided by law.
For example, the State Agency on Copyrigh t, according to the law has the right to
control and to inform the right holder about the infringement, so that the right holder
can initiate a lawsuit.
7. Describe provisions relating to the indemnification of defendants wrongfully enjoined.
To what extent are public authorities and/or officials liable in such a situation and what"remedial measures" are applicable to them?
In conformity with Article 142 of the Civil Procedure Code, the court or judge can require the
claimant to insure through collateral, the comp ensation of the eventual damages caused to theIP/N/6/MDA/1
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defendant.  After the final decision the redress of damages caused by the issuance of the injunction is
permitted.
In conformity with Article 306 of the Customs C ode, the right holder is obligated to deposit a
pledge, which value is equivalent to the value of the suspended goods by the Customs Authorities.
The value of the suspended products will be determined in accordance with the accompanying
documents.  The collateral is considered as assurance for redressing of expenses supported by the
Customs Authorities keeping the suspended products, the expenses supported by the transporter,
importer, exporter, owner while the products where suspended, the expenses supported by persons
whose interests were injured while suspending products because the holder presented false data about
the products involved.
In case the collateral is not delivered in due time, the decision regarding the suspension of
customs procedures is cancelled and the procedures continue.
8. Describe provisions governing the length and cost of proceedings.  Provide any available
data on the actual duration of proceedings and their cost.
The proceeding acts are performed in time limits stipulated by law, in case where data on the
actual duration of proceedings are not stipulated by law, they are fixed by the court.  The time limits
of the actual duration of proceedings are established on a certain calendar date, specifying a factwhich will take place immediately or in a period of time.  The proceedings’ time-limit is established
in years, months or days, beginning on the second day after a calendar date or after the fact which
took place, and determines its beginning.
The prescription term for natural persons is three (3) years and, for legal persons one (1) year
from the moment they found out or should have find out that their rights were injured.
The time limit for appeal, stipulated in Article 278
36 and Article 305 of the Civil Procedural
Code, is fifteen (15) days from the date when the decision is pronounced, if the law does not stipulate
otherwise.
To submit the appeal in cancellation against decisions which are carried out by force a time
limit of fifteen (15) days is stipulated from the date the person who appeals was acquainted with the
decision but not later than one year from the date the decision became final.  The appeal in
cancellation is tried during one month from the date the appeal was received.
According to Chapter Nº 7 of the Civil Procedural Code the trial expenses are:- the State fee, which is also provided for by the Law on State Fees, Nº 1216-XII of
3 December1992.
- other expenses related to the trial.The attorney’s fee can be covered by the State (Article 90 of the Civil Procedural Code) and
is regulated also by the Law on Bar Associations Nº 395-XIV of 13 May 1999, according to which,
the payment for attorney’s services is decided by the attorney and the client.IP/N/6/MDA/1
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In Article 84 of the Civil Procedural Code fees for the following proceeding acts are set out:
- The complaints against illegal action of the public administration authorities and
persons in charge who injured the citizen’s rights:  100% of the minimum wage in the
Republic of Moldova
- The actions regarding economic decisions appeared after the concluding, modifying
or annulment of contracts:  1000% of the minimum salary in the Republic of
Moldova.
- Legal entities requests to invalidate acts issued by public administration authorities,
co-operative and associations authorities, en terprises, institutions, organizations and
persons in authority:  1000% of the minimum wage.
- Appeals against the decisions of judicial authorities:  75% from the fee paid at the
submission of the appeal or other complaints.  In the event of patrimonial litigation:
75% of the fee paid initially.
- Final Appeals against the decisions of judicial authorities:  50% of the fee paid at the
deposition of the action or other requests.  In the event of patrimonial litigation:  50%
of the fee paid initially.
- The appeals in cancellation of the judicial authorities decisions:  25% of the fee at the
deposition of the action or other request.  In the event of patrimonial litigation:  25%
of the fee paid initially.
(b) Administrative procedures and remedies
9. Reply to the above questions in relation to any administrative procedures on the merits
and remedies that may result from these procedures.
The person who considers that his intellectual property rights were injured, can defend them
in the administrative way by submitting an appeal to the Appeals Commission within the State
Agency on Industrial Property Protection.  During three (3) months, the Appeal’s Commissionexamines the appeal and issues a decision of satisfying or refusing the claim.
The Appeals Commission's decision is subject to appeal during six (6) months in judicial
instance.
Provisional Measures
(a) Judicial measures
10. Describe the types of provisional measures that judicial authorities may order, and the
legal basis for such authority.
According to Articles 135 and 136 of the Civil Procedural Code the court may, at the request
of a participant to the process, order some preserving (insuring)  measures.
Such preserving measures consist of:  (i) seizure of goods that the defender or a third party
holds;  (ii) prohibition of undertaking some actions;  (iii) prohibition of transmitting to and receiving
from the defender of some goods or favours liab le to, under various obligations;  suspending of
transactions if the seizure is to be overruled.IP/N/6/MDA/1
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11. In what circumstances may such measures be ordered inaudita altera  parte ?
Provisional measures are ordered by submitting a request to the court.
12. Describe the main procedures for the init iation, ordering and maintenance in force of
provisional measures, in particular relevant time-limits and safeguards to protect the
legitimate interests of the defendant.
Provisional measures are allowed at any stage of the judicial process.  Any breach of the
restricting orders of the court are subject to penalties ranging from ten (10) to fifty (50) minimum
wages.  The defender is entitled to compensation of damages caused by the restricting orders.  Thedecisions of the court concerning any preserving measures are subject to appeal.  According to
Article 142 of the Civil Procedural Code, it is possible to receive a compensation of damages caused
by such measures.
The restricting order may be overruled at the request of the defendant, if the court did not take
any final decision in regards to these measures in a period of thirty-one (31) days from the day of the
actual order of such measures.
13. Describe provisions governing the length and cost of proceedings.  Provide any available
data on the actual duration of proceedings and their cost.
See the answer to question 8 above.
(b) Administrative measures
14. Reply to the above questions in relation to any administrative provisional measures.
See the answer to question 9 above.
Special Requirements Related to Border Measures
15. Indicate for which goods it is possible to apply for the suspension by the customs
authorities of the release into free circulat ion, in particular whether these procedures
are available also in respect of goods which involve infringements of intellectual
property rights other than counterfeit trademark or pirated copyright goods as defined
in the TRIPS Agreement (footnote to Article 51).  Specify, together with relevant
criteria, any imports excluded from the application of such procedures (such as goodsfrom another member of a customs union, goods in transit or de minimis imports).  Do
the procedures apply to imports of goods put on the market in another country by or
with the consent of the right holder a nd to goods destined for exportation?
Chapter 12 of the Customs Code was elaborated to suit the exact requirements of the
Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, that are sufficient to meet the
insurance requirements at the border, allowing the cu stoms officers to fulfil there obligations, without
applying any special provisions.IP/N/6/MDA/1
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In particular, it is possible to prevent the release into free circulation of the following
prohibited goods:
(a) goods, including their package, containing  an identical trademark with one already
registered for similar goods or any sign incapable of distinction from one alreadyregistered, which infringe the rights of the owner;
(b) any material of the counterfeit goods that contains signs of a registered trademark,
weather viewed separately or in combination;
(c) packages that contain signs of a registered trademark;
(d) pirated goods, representing or including unauthorised copies of works protected by
copyright or related rights, designs, whether registered or not, or without permission
of the author in a  specific country where it is produced, if those copies are infringing.
The customs authority does not undertake any intellectual property protecting measures if the
goods are carried exclusively in hand bags of travellers, in the quantities prescribed for such persons.
16. Provide a description of the main elements of the procedures relating to the suspension
of the release of goods by customs authoritie s, in particular the competent authorities
(Article 51), the requirements for an application (Article 52) and various requirementsrelated to the duration of suspension (Artic le 55).  How have Articles 53 (security or
equivalent assurance), 56 (indemnification of the importer and of the owner of the
goods) and 57 (right of inspection and information) been implemented?
Chapter 12 of the Customs Code, envisages the measures to be applied at the border in cases
of intellectual property rights infringement.
In cases that the right holder has suspicion of some goods being carried across the border that
would infringe his rights, he is entitled to require assistance from the Customs Authorities presenting
in addition a written request that consists of:  (i) evidence of  his right to the object involved;  (ii) a list
of the meant objects, featuring some object identifi cation signs;  (iii) the express request to suspend
the customs procedures in relation to the suspected goods;  the requested term to be applied for the
suspension;  the personal identification information.
In a period of thirty (30) days from the day of submission, the customs authority is obliged to
send a letter of response to the requesting party.  In case of acceptance, the request is validated for the
entire period it indicates.
The provisions of Articles 53, 56 and 57 of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of
Intellectual Property Rights are applicable and, according to Art. 306 of the Customs Code the right
holder is obliged to submit a collateral to the cust oms authority which must be equivalent with the
value of goods requested for suspension when th e following circumstances are present:  the goods
involved are retained;  the notification to the requesting person is made and a final decision in respect
to the matter is made by the customs authority.
The collateral is thus an insurance that th e deriving damages and costs are appropriately
compensated in case the request is found, however, unjustified.
If the collateral is not submitted in due time, the decision for suspension is annulled an the
customs procedures continue.IP/N/6/MDA/1
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The right holder and the proprietor of the goods involved in suspension will compensate each
others losses caused by illegal (ungrounded) actions against one another, on the basis of the court's
decision.
17. Describe provisions governing the length and cost of proceedings.  Provide any available
data on the actual duration of proceedings and their cost.  How long is the validity of
decisions by the competent authorities for the suspension of the release of goods into free
circulation?
The period of granting the suspension can be no longer than the intellectual property right’s
validity term.
The term begins to flow from the date of submission of the request and can be renewed on the
basis of an eventual subsequent request.
The fee for customs assistance is introduced in the customs office and depends on the term
granted for suspension.  In a period of thirty (30) days the customs authority must inform thepetitioner on weather accepting or rejecting the request.  The fee is established by the Government.
18. Are competent authorities required to act upon  their own initiative and, if so, in what
circumstances?  Are there any special provisions applicable to ex officio  action?
If the customs authority has sufficient information, it can act ex officio  in regard to customs
procedures and has the right to request all the necessary additional information and support
concerning the goods involved, from the right holder.  The customs authority immediately informs the
right holder on the location and time of suspension of customs procedures concerning the goods
involved.
The customs authority shall however proceed to customs undertakings (envisaged in
Articles 302-306) towards suspected goods if the right holder fails to start legal actions mentioned
above in a period of three (3) days from the day of notification (i. e. information and support delivery
as requested or submission of collateral).
19. Describe the remedies that the competent authorities have the authority to order and
any criteria regulating their use.
Article 309 of the Customs Code establishes the measures to be taken in cases of counterfeit
or pirated goods, as follows:  the destruction under customs supervision can only be ordered by court;
forfeiture that would prevent release into free circ ulation or other infringement to the right holder.
The customs authority will not allow the reexport of the counterfeit or pirated goods, nor will it allow
any change in the customs state (regime) of the goods.
Criminal Procedures
20. Specify the courts which have jurisdiction over criminal acts of infringement of IPRs.
The conflicts concerning intellectual property rights protection are resolved by the following
courts:
- First Instance Courts (reminder:  only criminal cases, unlike civil cases which are
tried in Tribunals);
- The Tribunal in order of first appeals;IP/N/6/MDA/1
Page 10
- The Court of Appeals in order of final appeals.
21. In respect of which infringements of which intellectual property rights are criminal
procedures and penalties available?
According to the Criminal Code, the procedures and penalties are applied for the following
infringements:  illegal pretending of being the au thor, forcing to co-authoring;  disclosure of the
essence of inventions before applying for a patent or without permission of the author;  production,
import, export, stocking, offering for sale or actual selling of goods that contain false mentions about
the patent,  origin or any other false signs capable of deceiving the potential customers;  counterfeiting
or illegal use of foreign marks;  production, warehousing or transportation for the purpose of sale ofcounterfeit liquors (alcoholic beverages);  illegal use of a registered trademark or appellation of
origin, as well as using of similar registered signs for identification of products or services or, for the
same type of products or services, offer for sale, actual sale or warehousing for the purpose of sale of
marked products;  use of literature, art or scientific works, including those owned by foreign authors,
without any legal permission of the owner or contract , any breach of the contracts for this matter or
contrary to the legal norms applied, any other illega l use of works as well as forcing to co-authoring,
deliberately destroying of such works or of the original work.
22. Which public authorities are responsible fo r initiating criminal proceedings? Are they
required to do this on their own initiati ve and/or in response to complaints?
The following authorities are responsible for initiating the criminal proceedings:  the
authorities that have criminal enquiry subdivision, whether ex officio  when specified or mainly in
response to the complaints.
For instance, if the issue concerns threatening of public health, the authorities are entitled to
initiate a criminal procedure even if the complaint is  missing.  In this case the court will only decide
on the public health threatening issue.
23. Do private persons have standing to initiate criminal proceedings and, if so, who?
Any person that proves to have interest in defending his intellectual property rights.
24. Specify, by category of IPR and type of infringement where necessary, the penalties and
other remedies that may be imposed:
- imprisonment;
- monetary fines;
- seizure, forfeiture and destruction of infringing goods and materials and
implements for their production;
- other.
Imprisonment and monetary fines are applied in the following cases:
- illegal pretending of being the author, forc ing to co-authoring, disclosing the essence
of an invention before applying for a patent (imprisonment of up to two (2) years or a
fine of 60 minimum wages and confiscation) – Article 141
 of the Criminal Code;
- production, import, export, stocking, offer for sale or actual sale of goods containing
false statements about the patent, origin and features of the goods, as well as
manufacturer’s or distributor’s name, aiming to deceive the public or the competitorsIP/N/6/MDA/1
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(imprisonment of up to two (2) years or a fine of 60 minimum wages and
confiscation) – Article 1412 of the Criminal Code;
- production, warehousing or transportation for the purpose of sale of counterfeit
liquors  (imprisonment of up to three (3) years or a fine of up to150 to 500 minimumwages and confiscation) – Article 158 of the Criminal Code;
- illegal use of a registered trademark or appellation of origin, as well as using of
similar registered signs for identification of products or services or, use of such signs
for the same type of products or services, offer for sale, actual sale or warehousing for
the purpose of sale of marked products;
Monetary fines are applied in the following cases:
-  use of literature, art or scientific works, including those owned by foreign authors,
without any legal permission of the owner or contract, any breach of the contract
provisions concerned or contrary to the legal norms applied, any other illegal use ofworks as well as forcing to co-authoring, deliberately destroying of such works or of
the original audio-visual work (up to 60 minimum wages) - Article 141 of the
Criminal Code;
- counterfeiting of goods, illegal use of a foreign mark (500 to a fine of 1000 minimum
wages and confiscation of the counterfeit goods)  - Article 158 of the Criminal Code;
Seizure, forfeiting and destruction of counterfeit goods as well as means of production or
promotion of such goods, is applied in case of illegal use of trademarks and counterfeiting of works of
art or phonograms.
25. Describe provisions governing the length and any cost of proceedings.  Provide any
available data on the actual duration of proceedings and their cost, if any.
The provisions governing the length of criminal proceedings are:  Articles 12/1, 84, 308, 329
and 353 of the Criminal Procedural Code.
The cases are solved in a reasonable period of time, the criteria being:  complexity of the case,
behaviour of the parties and criminal enquiry division or court.
The Prosecutor’s Office or the higher instance su pervises the process in respect to this matter.
The term specified for appeal or final appeal is ten (10) days.
The costs of proceedings are covered by the convicted person and only some are covered by
the State, all based on court’s decisions.
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