WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION 
ORGANISATION MONDIALE DU COMMERCE 
ORGANIZACION MUNDIAL DEL COMERCIO 
Council for Trade-Related Aspects 
of Intellectual Property Rights IP/N/1/ROM/P/l 
18 March 1997 
(97-1095) 
Original: English! 
anglaisl 
ingles 
MAIN DEDICATED INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LAWS AND REGULATIONS 
NOTIFIED UNDER ARTICLE 63.2 OF THE AGREEMENT 
Romania 
The present document reproduces' the text of the Patent Law, No. 64, of 11 October 1991, as 
notified by Romania under Article 63.2 of the Agreement (see document IP/N/l/ROM/1). 
Conseil des aspects des droits de propriete 
intellectuelle qui touchent au commerce 
PRINCIPALES LOIS ET REGLEMENTATIONS CONSACREES 
A LA PROPRIETE INTELLECTUELLE NOTIFIEES 
AU TITRE DE L'ARTICLE 63:2 DE L'ACCORD 
Roumanie 
Le present document contient le texte de la Loi no 64 du 11 octobre 1991 sur les brevets', 
notifiee par la Roumanie au titre de l'artic1e 63:2 de l'Accord (voir le document IP/N/ROM/1). 
Consejo de los Aspectos de los Derechos de Propiedad 
Intelectual relacionados con el Comercio 
PRINCIPALES LEYES Y REGLAMENTOS DEDICADOS A LA 
PROPIEDAD INTELECTUAL NOTIFICADOS EN VIRTUD 
DEL pARRAFO 2 DEL ARTICULO 63 DEL ACUERDO 
Rumania 
En el presente documento se reproduce' el texto de la Ley de Patentes, N° 64, de 11 de 
octubre de 1991, notificada por Rumania en virtud de 10 dispuesto en el parrafo 2 del articulo 63 del 
Acuerdo (vease el documento IP/N/l/ROM/1). 
'English only/anglais seulement/ingles solamente. IP/N/l/ROM/P/l 
Page 2 
INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY -SEPTEMBER 1992 LA WS AND TREATIES 
ROMANIA 
Patent Law 
(No. 64 of October 11, 1991)* 
CONTENTS" 
Sections 
Chapter I: General Provisions .................. . I to 6 
7 to 13 Chapter II: 
Chapter III: Patentable Inveotions .............••.•. 
Registration, Publication and Examination of 
the Patent Application; Grant of the Patent .. . 14 to 33 
34 to 47 
48 to 54 
55 to 62 Chapter IV: Rights and Obligations ................ . 
Chapter V: Transfer of Rights ..................• 
Chapter VI: Defense of Rights in Inventions ......... . 
Chapter VII: Responsibilities of the State Office for Inven­
tions and Trademarks •................. 63 and 64 
65 to 70 Chapter VIII: Transitional and Final Provisions .....••..• 
Chapter I 
General Provisions 
1. The rights in inventions shall be recognized 
and protected on the territory of Romania by the 
grant of titles of protection by the State Office for 
Inventions and Trademarks under the conditions 
specified in this Law. 
2. The title of protection for an invention shall be 
the patent, which shall confer on its owner an exclu­
sive right of exploitation for the duration of its 
validity. 
3. The right to the patent shall belong to the 
inventor or to his successor in title. 
4. Where an invention .has been made jointly by 
two or more inventors, each shall have the status of 
• Romanian title: Lege privind brevetele de inventie. 
Entry into force: January 21, 1992. 
Source: Monitorul Ojicial al Romtiniei, of October 21, 
1991, No. 212, pp. I to 7; English translation supplied by the 
State Office for Inventions and Trademarks. 
•• Added by WLPO. 
RO JOInt inventor and the rights shall belong to them 
jointly. 
Where two or more persons have made the same 
invention independently of each other, the right to 
the patent shall belong to the one who first files a 
patent application with the State Office for Inven­
tions and Trademarks, or, where priority has been 
recognized, to the person whose patent application 
has the earliest priority date, provided that the quali­
fying application was not refused, withdrawn or 
abandoned. 
S. Where the inventor is an employee and there 
is no contractual provision more favorable to him, 
the right to the patent shall belong: 
(a) to the employer in the case of inventions 
made by the employee under a contract of employ­
ment that provides expressly for the performance of 
inventive activities, where the said activities corre­
spond to his actual duties; the inventor shall be paid 
additional remuneration specified by contract; 
(b) to the employee for inventions made by him 
either in the course of his duties or within the area 
of concern of the employer, through knowledge or 
ROMANIA -Text 2-001, page 001 INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY -SEPTEMBER 1992 
use of technology or means specific to the employer 
or information available on the premises of the 
employer, or again with material assistance from the 
employer, except where otherwise provided by 
contract. 
Where the invention is the result of a research 
contract, unless otherwise provided the right to the 
patent shall belong to the employer who commis­
sioned the research, the inventor being entitled to 
additional remuneration specified in an additional 
clause in the contract. 
In the cases provided for in the first paragraph 
under (a) and (b) and in the second paragraph, the 
inventor and the employer shall be under the obliga­
tion to inform each other in writing of the making 
and the stage of development of the invention, and 
to abstain from disclosing it. 
Failure to observe the obligation to inform shall 
result in the liability of the person responsible. 
If, in the case provided for in the first paragraph 
under (a) and in the second paragraph, the patent 
application has not been filed with the State Office 
for Inventions and Trademarks within 60 days of the 
employee's having informed the employer in writing 
of the contents of the description of the invention, 
the right to file the patent application and to be 
granted a patent, in the absence of any other agree­
ment between the parties, shall belong to the 
employee as provided in the first paragraph under 
(b). 
In the case provided for in the first paragraph 
under (b), the employer shall have a preferential 
right to conclude a contract in respect of his employ­
ee's invention, which right shall be exercised within 
three months of the date of the employee's offer; in 
the absence of agreement on the contract price, the 
latter shall be established by judicial decision. 
6. Foreign natural persons or legal entities having 
their domicile or registered office outside the terri­
tory of Romania shall enjoy the benefits of the 
provisions of this Law in accordance with interna­
tional treaties on inventions to which Romania is 
party or on the basis of reciprocity. 
Chapter 11 
Patentable Inventions 
7. An invention shall be patentable if it is new, 
involves an inventive. step and is susceptible of 
industrial application. 
ROMANIA -Text 2-001, page 002 IP/N/1/ROM/P/l 
Page 3 
LAWS AND TREATIES 
A patentable invention may relate to a product, a 
process or a method. 
An invention relating to a new variety of plant, a 
hybrid or a new animal breed shall be patentable 
insofar as it is new, distinct, uniform and stable. 
8. An invention shall be considered new if it 
does not form part of the state of the art. The state 
of the art includes all knowledge that has been made 
available to the public up to the date on which the 
patent application was registered or up to the date of 
recognized priority. 
Disclosure shall not be taken into account when it 
was effected by the inventor or his successor in title 
and occurred within the 12 months preceding the 
date on which the patent application was registered 
or the date of recognized priority. 
9. An invention shall be regarded as involving an 
inventive step if, to a person skilled in the relevant 
field, it does not obviously derive from prior art. 
10. An invention shall be susceptible of industrial 
application if its subject matter may be used in at 
least one field of industrial activity, agriculture or 
any other activity, and may be reproduced with the 
same characteristics whenever necessary. 
11. Varieties of plants, hybrids or animal breeds 
that form the subject matter of an invention must 
remain uniform and stable in their relevant character­
istics after repeated propagation or at the end of each 
breeding cycle, and must not have been previously 
marketed or offered for sale. 
12. Inventions contrary to morality or public 
policy shall not be patentable. 
13. The following shall not be considered 
patentable within the meaning of Section 7: ideas, 
discoveries, scientific theories, mathematical 
methods, computer programs as such, solutions of an 
economic or organizational character, diagrams, 
educational and teaching methods, rules of games, 
city planning systems, systematization plans and 
methods, physical phenomena as such, culinary 
recipes and creations of purely aesthetic character. 
RO IP/NI1/ROM/PI 1 
Page 4 
INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY -SEPTEMBER 1992 
Chapter III 
Registration, Publication and Examination 
of the Patent Application; 
Grant of the Patent 
14. The patent application, compnsmg the 
personal particulars of the applicant, accompanied by 
a description of the invention, claims and where 
appropriate explanatory drawings, with all written 
matter in Romanian, shall be filed with the State 
Office for Inventions and Trademarks to constitute a 
regular national filing. 
The patent application shall contain particulars 
serving to identify the inventor, failing which the 
patent applied for shall not be granted. 
The patent application shall be filed by the person 
entitled to the grant of a patent under Sections 3, 4, 
first paragraph, and 5, either in person or through an 
authorized agent whose domicile or registered office 
is in Romania. 
15. The State Office for Inventions and Trade­
marks shall register the patent application on condi­
tion that at least the following documents have been 
filed: 
(a) an application containing the express request 
for the grant of a patent, together with particulars for 
the identification of the applicant; 
(b) a description of the invention. 
The claims and explanatory drawings relating to 
the invention may be filed within two months of the 
registration of the patent application. 
The patent application shall be registered in the 
National Register of Patent Applications, which shall 
be confidential. 
16. The date of regular national filing shall be 
that by which all the documents provided for in the 
first paragraph of Section 14 have been filed, or the 
date provided for in treaties or conventions to which 
Romania is party. 
The date of regular national filing shall also be 
recognized in cases where, on justified grounds, 
foreign natural persons or legal entities have filed the 
description, claims and drawings in a foreign 
language, provided that within two months of the 
date of registration of the application an accurate 
translation in Romanian of the said documents is 
filed with the State Office for Inventions and Trade­
marks. 
RO LAWS AND TREATIES 
17. The regular national filing of a patent appli­
cation secures a right of priority, starting on the date 
of the said filing or on the priority date claimed and 
recognized, in relation to any filing of the same 
invention effected at a later date or having a later 
recognized priority date. 
18. The invention shall be presented in a descrip­
tion, claims and drawings in a manner sufficiently 
clear, complete and correct from a scientific and 
technical point of view for a person skilled in the art 
to be able to make it without engaging in inventive 
activity. 
If the invention relates to reproducible biological 
material that cannot be so described that it can be 
made by a person skilled in the art, and if the mate­
rial is not available to the public, the description of 
the invention shall be accompanied by a document 
attesting the deposit of the material with a depositary 
institution designated by the Government or having 
the status of international depositary authority. Such 
deposit shall be effected not later than on the date of 
registration of the patent application. 
19. A patent application shall relate to one inven­
tion only or to a group of inventions so linked as to 
form a single inventive concept. 
Patent applications that fail to meet the condition 
specified in the first paragraph may be divided by 
the inventor or his successor in title, either on his 
own initiative or at the request of the State Office 
for Inventions and Trademarks, until such time as a 
decision has been made on the said patent applica­
tions. 
20. Patent applications may contain one or more 
priority claims based on one or more prior applica­
tions having the status of regular national filings, in 
accordance with conventions to which Romania is 
party. 
Foreign natural persons or legal entities of States 
party to the conventions to which Romania is also 
party, and nationals of such States or their successors 
in title, shall have a right of priority starting on the 
date of first filing if they apply for the grant of a 
patent in respect of the same invention within 12 
months of that date. 
It shall be acceptable to claim multiple priorities 
in a patent application, provided that the unity of 
invention requirement specified in Section 19 is met 
and the priority period specified in the second para­
graph above is observed. 
ROMANIA -Text 2-001, page 003 INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY -SEPTEMBER 1992 
21. Priority may also be claimed in a patent 
application based on a filing made after a product 
embodying the invention has been displayed at an 
international exhibition organized on the territory of 
Romania or of a State party to conventions to which 
Romania is also party, provided that the patent appli­
cation is filed within six months of the date on 
which the product was put on display at the exhibi­
tion. 
The six-month period shall not extend the period 
of priority provided for in the second paragraph of 
Section 20 
22. Priority as provided for in Sections 20 and 21 
shall be claimed at the same time as the patent appli­
cation is filed, and shall be attested by priority docu­
ments. 
Where the applicant has failed to claim priority at 
the time of filing the patent application, he may 
claim it up to two months following the date of 
registration of the patent application. 
Priority documents shall be filed within three 
months of the date of the regular national filing. 
Failure to observe the time limits specified in the 
second and third paragraphs above shall result in 
refusal to recognize the priority claimed. 
23. Patent applications that meet the requirements 
specified in Sections 14, 15 and 16 shall be 
published immediately after an I8-month period has 
expired following the date of regular national filing 
or of claimed and recognized priority, except in the 
case of applications provided for in the second and 
third paragraphs of Section 44, and those in respect 
of which a decision has been taken, during the same 
period, to grant or refuse the patent, or which have 
been withdrawn, as provided in Sections 7 to 11 or 
in Section 12 or 13. 
24. At the request of an entitled natural person or 
legal entity, publication may be effected within a 
shorter time than that provided for in Section 23 
25. The publication of patent applications may be 
accompanied by a search report. 
If the search report is not published at the same 
time as the patent application, it shall be published 
subsequently 
26. Examination with a view to the grant of a 
patent may be requested on the filing date of the 
ROMANIA -Text 2-001, page 004 IP/NIlIROM/PI 1 
Page 5 
LAWS AND TREATIES 
patent application or within 30 months of the said 
date. 
Patent applications in respect of which examina­
tion with a view to the grant of a patent has not been 
requested within the period specified in the first 
paragraph above shall be considered abandoned and 
shall be rejected. 
27. The examination of patent applications shall 
take the following into account: 
(a) fulfillment of the conditions set forth in 
Sections 14, 15, 16 and 18, 
(b) the conditions set forth in Sections 12 and 13; 
(c) priority claimed under Sections 20, 21 and 
22; 
(d) unity of invention under Section 19; 
(e) the criteria under Sections 7 to 11. 
28. The State Office for Inventions and Trade­
marks is authorized to request the applicant or his 
successor in title to provide explanations or docu­
ments considered necessary in connection with the 
regular filing made or in order to meet the conditions 
of patentability 
The applicant shall file with the State Office for 
Inventions and Trademarks all public documents 
connected with his invention, including copies of 
patents granted in other States. 
At the request of the State Office for Inventions 
and Trademarks or on his own initiative, the appli­
cant or his successor in title may, until such time as 
a decision is made, modify the claims, the drawings 
or the description if such modifications do not 
extend beyond the limits of disclosure of the inven­
tion on the filing date of the patent application. 
29. The decision to grant a patent or to reject a 
patent application shall be taken by the Examination 
Board of the State Office for Inventions and Trade­
marks in accordance with Sections 7 to 11, 12 and 
13 of this Law and on the basis of the patent appli­
cation examination report within 18 months of the 
date on which examination of the application was 
requested 
Decisions to grant patents taken by the State 
Office for Inventions and Trademarks shall be 
published within 30 days, and the descriptions, 
claims and drawings of patented inventions shall be 
published within three months. 
The State Office for Inventions and Trademarks 
shall issue a decision rejecting a patent application 
RO IP/NIl/ROM/PI 1 
Page 6 
INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY -SEPTEMBER 1992 
on expiration of the time limits provided for in 
Sections 26 and 47 in cases of abandonment or 
failure to pay registration, publication or examination 
fees, and shall record the withdrawal of a patent 
application when such withdrawal has been notified 
in writing by the person entitled to do so 
All decisions issued by the State Office for Inven­
tions and Trademarks shall be substantiated and 
registered in the National Register of Patent Applica­
tions. 
30. The State Office for Inventions and Trade­
marks may revoke its decisions ex officio for failure 
to comply with the conditions laid down in this Law 
until such time as the said decisions are made public 
31. Patents shall be issued by the Director 
General of the State Office for Inventions and Trade­
marks in accordance with the grant decision. 
Patents shall be recorded in the National Register 
of Patents 
32. The term of validity of patents shall be 20 
years starting on the date on which a regular national 
filing was effected 
33. The term of validity of patents for inventions 
that improve on other patented inventions and cannot 
be worked without the previously patented inventions 
shall be limited to that of the patent granted for the 
invention on which the improvement was made, but 
shall be no shorter than 10 years. 
Chapter IV 
Rights and Obligations 
34. The patent confers on its owner the right to 
prohibit third parties from performing the following 
acts without his consent 
(a) in relation to products: manufacturing, 
marketing, offering for sale, using, importing or 
storing for the purposes of selling, offering for sale 
or use; 
(b) in relation to processes or methods· use 
The extent of protection conferred by a patent 
shall be determined by the content of the claims, 
which shall be interpreted in the light of the descrip­
tion and drawings of the invention 
RO LAWS AND TREATIES 
35. In the case of a patent application published 
under Section 23, the natural person or legal entity 
entitled to the grant of a patent shall benefit 
temporarily from the same rights as are conferred on 
the patent owner under the provisions of Section 2 
and (a) and (b) of the first paragraph of Section 34, 
starting on the date on which the regular filing was 
made and until the grant of the patent 
Where the patent application has been rejected, 
the applicant does not qualify for the provisions of 
the first paragraph above 
36. The owner of an improvement patent may 
use his invention only with the consent of the owner 
of the invention on which the improvment has been 
made 
37. The following acts shall not constitute 
infringements of the rights provided for in Section 2, 
in the first paragraph under (a) and (b) of Section 34 
and in Section 35 
(a) exploitation of the invention in the construc­
tion and operation of land vehicles or aircraft and 
aboard vessels or in devices used in the operation 
thereof that belong to States party to international 
conventions concerning inventions to which Romania 
is also party, when the vehicles, craft or vessels 
enter the territory of Romania either temporarily or 
accidentally, provided that such exploitation is exclu­
sively for the needs of the vehicles, craft or vessels; 
(b) exploitation of the invention by a person who 
has applied it or has taken real and effective steps 
towards exploiting it, in good faith, within the terri­
tory of Romania independently of the owner of the 
patent, and before a regular national filing 
concerning the invention has been effected or before 
the recognized priority date, in which case the inven­
tion may continue to be exploited by that person to 
the same extent as on the date of the regular national 
filing or recognized priority, but the right of use may 
not be transferred otherwise than with the assets of 
that person or the part of the said assets assigned to 
the exploitation of the invention; 
(c) production or use of the invention exclusively 
for experimental purposes; 
(d) marketing or offering for sale within the terri­
tory of Romania, with or without the express consent 
of the patent owner, of specimens of the product 
constituting the subject matter of. the invention that 
have been previously sold by the patent owner 
ROMANIA -Text 2-001, page 005 INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY - SEPTEMBER 1992 
38. The inventor shall have the right to the 
mention of his full name and status in the patent 
granted, in his employment record and in any other 
documents or publications concerning his invention. 
Where the patent owner is not the same person as 
the inventor, a duplicate patent shall be issued to the 
latter. 
39. The economic rights accruing to the inventor 
shall be determined by contract. 
40. In the event of forfeiture of his rights under 
the second paragraph of Section 47, the patent owner 
may apply to the State Office for Inventions and 
Trademarks, stating legitimate grounds, for reinstate­
ment of the patent within six months of the date of 
publication of the said forfeiture. Reinstatement of 
the patent shall be published by the State Office for 
Inventions and Trademarks. 
It shall not be an infringement of the rights under 
Sections 2, 34 and 35 for third parties to exploit, or 
to take real and effective steps to exploit, the inven­
tion during the time between the forfeiture of the 
patent owner's rights and the reinstatement of the 
patent. 
In the cases provided for in the first and second 
paragraphs above, the invention may continue to be 
used to the same extent by such third parties, but 
may not be transferred without the assets or a part of 
the assets of the person using the invention. 
41. The patent owner may renounce the patent 
either wholly or in part by virtue of a written state­
ment filed with the State Office for Inventions and 
Trademarks. 
In the case of inventions provided for in the first 
paragraph under (a) and in the second paragraph of 
Section 5, and inventions that have been assigned as 
provided in the first paragraph under (b) of Section 
5, the patent owner shall notify the inventor of his 
intention to renounce the patent. The patent owner 
shall transfer the patent rights to the inventor at the 
latter's request. 
Where the patent is the subject of a license agree­
ment, renunciation shall be possible only with the 
agreement of the licensee. 
The invention or part of the invention in respect 
of which protection has been renounced may be 
freely exploited by third parties. 
The inventions provided for in the second para· 
graph of Section 44 may be renounced only with the 
agreement of the authorities that made them secret. 
ROMANIA -Text 2-001, page 006 IP/NIlIROM/PI 1 
Page 7 
LAWS AND TREATIES 
Renunciation shall come into effect on the date of 
the registration thereof at the State Office for Inven­
tions and Trademarks. 
42. A patent granted by the State Office for 
Inventions and Trademarks shall be cancelled either 
wholly or in part, at the request of interested parties, 
where it is established that the conditions of 
patentability were not met on the date of registration 
of the patent application. Requests for cancellation 
may be made throughout the term of validity of the 
patent, and shall be ruled upon by the Municipal 
Court of Bucharest. 
The cancellation decision shall be registered at 
the State Office for Inventions and Trademarks and 
published within the period specified in the second 
paragraph of Section 29. 
43. In proceedings before the State Office for 
Inventions and Trademarks, natural persons or legal 
entities entitled to the grant of a patent may avail 
themselves of the assistance of an authorized indus­
trial property attorney. 
44. Inventions for which patent applications have 
been filed may not be disclosed without the consent 
of the inventor or his successors in title until the 
description of the invention has been published by 
the State Office for Inventions and Trademarks. 
Descriptions of inventions in the field of national 
defense and State security made on the territory of 
Romania shall be secret where declared such by the 
competent authorities, and the inventor or his 
successor in title shall be informed accordingly and 
granted material compensation by the authority that 
has made the invention secret. Such secrecy shall be 
lifted at the discretion of the same authorities. 
In the case of other inventions, at the request of 
the natural person or legal entity that has applied for 
the patent, the State Office for Inventions and Trade­
marks shall not publish the invention until the date 
requested by the said person or entity. 
45. Inventions made by Romanian natural 
persons on the territory of Romania may not be 
patented abroad until a patent application has been 
registered at the State Office for Inventions and 
Trademarks. 
In the case of inventions under the second para­
graph of Section 44, the grant of foreign patents 
shall be subject to authorization by the authorities 
that made the inventions secret. 
RO IP/N/1/ROM/P/l 
Page 8 
INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY -SEPTEMBER 1992 
For the patenting of their inventions abroad, enti­
tled natural persons may avail themselves of credits 
in convertible currency for the payment of fees. 
With regard to the inventions provided for in the 
first paragraph above, the applicant shall inform the 
State Office for Inventions and Trademarks of his 
intention to apply for a patent abroad. 
46. In the case of inventions for which an 
employer is entitled to the grant of a patent, that 
employer shall be obliged to inform the inventor of 
the stage reached by the examination of the patent 
application at the State Office for Inventions and 
Trademarks, and on the status and any results of 
exploitation of the invention. 
At the request of the patent owner, the inventor 
shall be obliged to afford technical assistance under 
contract for the exploitation of the invention. 
47. The filing, publication and examination of 
patent applications, the claiming of priority, the grant 
of patents and the maintenance of such patents shall 
all be subject to the payment of fees within time 
limits and in amounts laid down by law. 
Throughout the term of validity of the patent, the 
patent owner shall be obliged to pay annual patent 
maintenance fees. Failure to pay such fees shall 
cause the forfeiture of the patent owner's rights 
under the patent. The forfeiture of the said rights 
shall be published. 
Fees payable by foreign natural persons or legal 
entities shall be paid in convertible currency into the 
account of the State Office for Inventions and Trade­
marks. 
Chapter V 
Transfer of Rights 
48. The right to the grant of a patent, the rights 
in the patent, the rights deriving from the registration 
of a patent application and also the rights deriving 
from a patent shall be transferable, either wholly or 
in part. 
Transfers may be effected by assignment, by the 
grant of exclusive or non-exclusive licenses or by 
legal or testamentary succession. 
Transfers shall be binding on third parties as from 
the date on which they are registered at the State 
Office for Inventions and Trademarks. 
49. At the request of any interested party, the 
Municipal Court of Bucharest may grant a compul-
RO LAWS AND TREATIES 
sory license after four years have elapsed from the 
date of registration of a patent application or after 
three years have elapsed from the grant of the patent, 
whichever period expires later. 
The provisions of the first paragraph above shall 
apply only where the invention has not been 
exploited or has been insufficiently exploited on the 
territory of Romania, and the patent owner cannot 
justify his inaction, and where no agreement has 
been reached with the patent owner regarding the 
transfer of rights. 
The compulsory license shall be non-exclusive, 
and shall be granted on certain conditions regarding 
duration, royalty amounts and economic rights 
accruing to the inventor. 
The compulsory license shall be registered with 
the State Office for Inventions and Trademarks, and 
shall be effective as from the date of such registra­
tion. 
Where the licensee is found to be not complying 
with his obligation to exploit the invention under the 
agreed conditions, the compulsory license may be 
revoked by the Court at the request of the patent 
owner. 
50. When the interests of public health dictate, 
granted patents relating to the field of health that are 
not being exploited or are being insufficiently 
exploited may, where the patent owner is unable to 
justify his inaction, be made subject to the ex-officio 
licensing regime by the Municipal Court of 
Bucharest at the express request of the Ministry of 
Health. 
Any interested party may apply to the Ministry of 
Health for a non-exclusive exploitation license after 
publication of the court decision making the inven­
tion subject to ex-officio licensing. 
51. The competent ministry may serve notice on 
the owners of patents other than those provided for 
in Section 50 to exploit an invention in a manner 
sufficient to meet the needs of the national economy. 
Where the notice thus served has no effect within 
one year, and the lack of exploitation or insufficient 
exploitation, in terms of quality or quantity, is seri­
ously prejudicial to the national economy or the 
public interest, the patent concerning which the 
notice was served may, at the request of the compe­
tent ministry and by order of. the Government, be 
made subject to ex-officio licensing. 
The one-year period provided for in the second 
paragraph above may be extended by the competent 
ROMANIA -Text 2-001, page 007 INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY -SEPTEMBER 1992 
ministry on legitimate grounds invoked by the owner 
that are compatible with the needs of the national 
economy. 
Any interested party may, after publication of the 
decision provided for in the second paragraph above, 
apply to the competent ministry for a non-exclusive 
license to exploit the invention. 
52. In the interest of national defense or State 
security, the Government shall grant an ex-officio 
license, at the request of the competent ministry, for 
the exploitation of an invention that is the subject of 
a patent application or granted patent. 
Such license shall be granted direct to the compe­
tent ministry or to undertakings that are able to 
exploit the invention on behalf of the said ministry. 
A license granted under the first paragraph above 
shall produce its effects as from the date on which 
the Government took its decision, and shall be regis­
tered with the State Office for Inventions and Trade­
marks. 
53. Decisions to subject a patent to the system of 
. ex-officio licensing under Sections 50 and 51 shall be 
notified to the State Office for Inventions and Trade­
marks, which shall publish the decisions within three 
months of the date of notification. 
54. Exploitation licenses provided for in Sections 
50, 51 and 52 shall not be transferable, and royalties 
shall be determined by contract between the parties 
or, in the event of disagreement, by decision of the 
Municipal Court of Bucharest. 
Chapter VI 
Defense of Rights in Inventions 
55. Decisions of the State Office for Inventions 
and Trademarks may be contested at the said Office 
by any interested party within three months of notifi­
cation thereof. 
56. Any interested party Shilll be entitled to apply 
in writing, on valid grounds, to the State Office for 
Inventions and Trademarks for the revocation, either 
full or partial, of the decision to grant a patent 
within six months of the publication provided for in 
the second. paragraph of Section 29, insofar as 
at least one of the conditions set forth in Sections 7 
to 11 has not been met. 
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LAWS AND TREATIES 
The contestation, or as the case may be the 
request for revocation, shall be considered within 
three months of registration thereof by a Reexamina­
tion Board of the State Office for Inventions and 
Trademarks, which shall be composed of persons 
other than those who made the original decision. 
57. The decision of the Board of Reexamination 
shall be notified to the parties within 15 days of 
pronouncement, and may be appealed against before 
the Municipal Court of Bucharest within three 
months of such notification. 
Decisions to grant a patent made by the Reexami­
nation Board or decisions made by judicial authori­
ties, which shall be final, shall be published within 
30 days. 
58. The unlawful assumption, in any way, of the 
status of inventor shall constitute an offense and 
shall be punished with imprisonment for six months 
to two years or with a fine of 50,000 to 100,000 lei. 
59. The unauthorized manufacture, use or putting 
into circulation of the subject matter of a patent, or 
any other infringement of the rights under a patent, 
during the term of validity thereof, shall constitute 
the offense of infringement under this Law and shall 
be punished with imprisonment for three months to 
two years or with a fine of 50,000 to 100,000 lei. 
Criminal proceedings shall be initiated by the 
preliminary filing of a complaint by the aggrieved 
party. 
The patent owner shall be entitled, for prejudice 
caused to him, to damages as provided for in civil 
law, and the infringing products may be confiscated 
as provided for in criminal law. 
Any infringement by third parties of rights under 
the first paragraph of Section 35 shall make the 
infringers liable for damages under civil law, and the 
entitlement to the payment of damages shall be 
enforceable after the grant of the patent. 
60. Disclosure, by the staff of the State Office for 
Inventions and Trademarks and also by persons 
doing work in connection with inventions, of the 
information contained in patent applications prior to 
the publication thereof shall constitute an offense and 
shall be punished with imprisonment for three 
months to two years or with a fine of 50,000 to 
100,000 lei. 
The State Office for Inventions and Trademarks 
shall be answerable to the inventor for prejudice 
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INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY -SEPTEMBER 1992 
caused as a result of the offense provided for in the 
first paragraph above 
61. Any litigation concerning the status of 
inventor or patent owner, concerning other rights 
arising from the patent, including the inventor's 
economic rights under assignment or licensing 
contracts, or concerning failure to comply with the 
provisions of Sections 39 and 46 shall be within the 
jurisdiction of the courts and shall not be subject to 
stamp duty 
62. Where a court decision has established that a 
person other than the one named in the patent is 
entitled to have the patent granted to him, the State 
Office for Inventions and Trademarks shall grant a 
patent to the entitled person and publish the change 
of ownership 
Chapter VII 
Responsibilities of the State Office 
for Inventions and Trademarks 
63. The State Office for Inventions and Trade­
marks is a specialized government body with sole 
authority on the territory of Romania for the provi­
sion of protection in the field of industrial property 
under the law and the provisions of international 
conventions to which the Romanian State is party 
64. In the field of inventions, the State Office for 
Inventions and Trademarks shall have the following 
responsibilities: 
(a) registration, publication and examination of 
patent applications, and grant of protection by the 
issue of patents, 
(b) maintenance of the National Register of 
Patent Applications and of the National Register of 
Patents, in which all particulars of patent applica­
tions and granted patents are recorded; 
(c) administration, maintenance and development 
by international exchange of the national collection 
of descriptions of inventions, and creation of a 
computer data base in the field of inventions; 
(d) provision of technical information services on 
request on the basis of descriptions of Romanian and 
foreign inventions and official industrial property 
publications; 
(e) conduct of relations with equivalent govern­
ment organizations and with specialized international 
organizations to which the Romanian State belongs, 
RO LAWS AND TREATIES 
(I) provision of assistance in the field of indus­
trial property on request, and organization of training 
courses for specialists in the same field; 
(g) periodical compilation and publication, in the 
Official Bulletin of Industrial Property of Romania, 
of information relating to patent applications and 
patents granted. 
Chapter VIII 
Transitional and Final Provisions 
65. Patent applications filed with the State Office 
for Inventions and Trademarks under Law 
No 62/1974 in respect of which no decision has 
been taken on either grant or refusal shall be ruled 
upon according to the provisions of the present Law 
Inventors, applicants or designated owners, as the 
case may be, shall by common agreement designate, 
informing the State Office for Inventions and Trade­
marks accordingly, the person entitled to the grant of 
a patent, and also the economic rights accruing to 
the inventor where the patent is to be granted to a 
person other than the said inventor. 
The aforesaid agreement shall be authenticated, 
the time limit for its filing with the State Office for 
Inventions and Trademarks shall be six months from 
the entry into force of this Law When this time 
limit expires without the agreement having been filed 
with the State Office for Inventions and Trademarks, 
the right to the grant of a patent shall belong to the 
inventor, as provided in Section 3 or in the first 
paragraph under ( b) of Section 5 of this Law, as the 
case may be 
66. Patents issued prior to the entry into force of 
this Law shall have the term of validity provided for 
in the law applicable on the date of grant thereof 
Economic rights accruing to inventors for 
patented inventions that have been exploited" which 
rights have been partly settled or not settled prior to 
the entry into force of this Law, shall be negotiated 
between the inventor and the undertaking that has 
exploited the said invention In such cases, the nego­
tiation shall begin at the highest amount of compen­
sation that the inventor could claim under the law 
applicable on the date of registration of the patent 
application In the absence of agreement between the 
parties, the remuneration shall be determined 
according to the provisions of Section 61 of this 
Law 
The right to the patent shall revert to the inventor 
by operation of the law where, on the date of entry 
ROMANIA -Text 2-001, page 009 INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY -SEPTEMBER 1992 
into force of this Law, the undertaking that has 
become the owner by legal assignment under Section 
14 of Law No 62/1974 has not exploited the inven­
tion or has not taken the necessary steps for its 
exploitation. 
67. The economic rights of the maker of a tech­
nical achievement that is new and useful to an 
undertaking shall be determined by contract 
concluded between the said maker and the under­
taking. 
The undertaking that exploits the technical 
achievement shall attest the status of the person who 
made it. 
Failure to comply with the provisions of the first 
and second paragraphs shall place the undertaking 
under the obligation to pay damages under civil law 
to the maker of the technical achievement. Damages 
shall be determined according to the economic 
performance achieved by the undertaking. 
68. Profit made through exploitation of an inven­
tion shall be exempt from tax during the first five 
years of exploitation, counted from the date on 
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LAWS AND TREATIES 
which the patent becomes effective, and shall in that 
case remain entirely at the disposal of the under­
taking that is exploiting the invention. 
69. Before the provisions of this Law enter into 
force, the Government shall approve regulations for 
the implementation thereof, which shall lay down the 
procedure for the filing and examination of patent 
applications, the relations between employee-inven­
tors and employers as provided in Section 5, and the 
conditions for the grant of patents for new varieties 
of plants and animal breeds 
70. This Law shall enter into force three months 
after the date of its publication in the Official 
Gazette of Romania. 
On the same date, Law No. 62/1974 on Inven­
tions and Innovations, Decree No. 93/1976 on the 
Standards for the Calculation of Remuneration 
Payable to the Makers of Inventions Exploited in the 
National Economy, Decree No. 363/1976 on the 
Fees Payable for Patent Applications and Granted 
Patents, and any other provisions contrary to this 
Law, shall be repealed. 
RO