Unofficial translation  
 
DECISION  
amending the Regulation s on the Activity  
of the Authorized Intellectual Property  Attorneys  
 
No.714 of 18 /07/2018  
 
 
Official Gazette No.277 -284/774 of 27 /07/2018  
 
* * *  
Pursuant to Article 5 letter b) of the Law No. 13 6/2017  on the Government (Official 
Gazette of the Republic of Moldova, 2017, No.252, Art. 412), as well as for the implementation 
of the provisions of Art.331 of the Association Agreement between the Republic of Moldova, on 
the one part, and the European U nion and the European Atomic Energy Community and their 
Member States, on the other part, ratified by the Law No.112/2014 (Official Gazette of the 
Republic of Moldova, 2014, No.185 -199, Art.442), the Government  
DECIDES:  
1. The Regulation s on the Activity of the Authorized Intellectual Property Attorneys , 
approved by the Government Decision No.541/2011  (Official Gazette of the Republic of 
Moldova, 2011, No.118 -121, Art.610), shall be  amended as follows:  
1) in item 11, sub-item 8), the text “ , accumulated within 5 years, and decides t he 
delet ion from the Register of Authorized A ttorney s on whose activity, during the said period, 
there are not registered with AGEPI any statistical information according to item 35 of this 
Regulation” shall be  excluded;  
2) item 14 shall have the following content:  
“14. The Appeals Board  is responsible for preventing fraudulent practices of the 
attestation examination, provided and sanctioned in accordance with item 21 of this 
Regulation. ”; 
3) in item 16, the text “ ,at the end of the five -year period ,” shall be exclud ed; 
4) in item 23, the words “on the working  day immediately following  the conduct”  shall 
be replaced by the text “ within 3 working days of the date of the conduct” ; 
5) in item 24: 
the words “on behalf of the Chair man of the Appeals Board”  shall be excluded;  
the figure “2” shall be  replaced by “7”; 
6) in item 26, the words “on the day immediately following the expiry ” shall be replaced 
by the text “ within 7 working days from the date of expiry ”; 
7) items 38-41 shall be  repealed;  
8) in item 42, the text “and was not deleted from the Register in accordance with item 38 
of this Regulation ” shall be excluded;  
9) in item 45, the text “in accordance with the principles of good faith, honesty, trust and 
confidentiality ” shall be replaced by the text “ in compliance with the Code of Ethics and 
Conduct for Authorized Intellectual Property Attorneys , as set out in the Annex to this 
Regulation ”; 
10) shall be supplemented by item  451 with the following content s: “451. The authorized attorney  who has breached the obligations laid down in the contract 
or the norms  of the Code of Ethics and Conduct for Authorized Intellectual Property  Attorneys 
shall be liable under the law. ”; 
11) shall be supplemented by an annex with the following contents:  
  
“Annex  
to the Regulation s on 
the Activity  of the Authorized  
Intellectual Property  Attorney s 
  
CODE  
of Ethics and Conduct for Authorized Intellectual Property Attorneys  
 
Chapter I  
GENERAL PROVISION S 
1. The Code of Ethics and Conduct for Authorized Intellectual Property Attorneys 
(hereinafter referred to as “the Code” ) regulates the fundamental principles and rules of 
professional conduct mandatory for the  authorized intellectual property attorney (hereinafter 
referred to as “the authorized attorney ”) both in relations with customers, with national and 
international authorities, with non -governmental organizations, and with other authorized 
attorney s. 
2. The authorized attorney  is the natural person  attested by the Commission for 
Attestation and Disciplin e of Authorized Intellectual Property  Attorneys of the State Agency on 
Intellectual Property (hereinafter referred to as  “AGEPI ”) and registered in the National Register 
of Authorized Intellectual Pr operty Attorneys , who represent s the interests of natural and legal 
persons and provide s them with the necessary assistance in the field of protection of intellectual 
property objects.  
3. The norms  of this Code are intended to secure  the fulfilment of the professional 
commitment of an authorized attorney . Failure  by the authorized attorney to comply with  these 
norm s shall entail liability under the law.  
4. The authorized attorney  must know and strictly abide by this Code, being also 
respo nsible for the observance and application of the principles of this Code by its employees 
and collaborators.  
5. In the exercise of his /her profession, the authorized attorney  has the duty to protect 
his/her  customer s against situations in which their rights are not respected and to provide them 
with the necessary assistance in the process of understanding the legal provisions, avoiding 
conflicts and resolving them.  
 
Chapter II  
PRINCIPLES OF CONDUCT  
 
Section 1  
Independence  
6. The authorized attorney  must  enjoy professional independence in his/her activity in 
such a way as to avoid any dependence  which may prejudice the interests of his/her customer . 7. The authorized attorney  must  be free of any influence that might result from his/her 
own interests or those of third parties in relation to the commitment  undertaken.  
8. The professional probity shall be  inclusively  secured  by ignoring any requests from the 
customer  that are likely t o prejudice the commitment  of the authorized attorney  and the rules for 
its realization.  
9. The authorized attorney  cannot accept a commitment when, due to other obligations, it 
is impossible to fulfil  this commitment promptly or to consult the customer  correctly.  
 
Section 2  
Moral Integrity and Trust  
10. The authorized attorney  must demonstrate honesty, probity, fairness, correctness , 
sincerity and confidentiality in the relationship with his /her customer , characteristics that 
motivate the customer ’s decision to engage him /her. 
11. Moral integrity consists in the behavior of the authorized attorney in such a way as 
not to prejudice the characteristics referred to  in item 10 both in the exercise of the profession 
and outside of it.  
12. The authorized at torney  is required to abstain  from assisting and consulting a 
customer  in criminal activities.  
 
Section 3  
Professional  Secret. Confidentiality  
13. The authorized attorney  is bound to keep the confidentiality of any data, including 
personal data, and information that becomes known to him /her directly or indirectly from his /her 
customer , whether directly linked to or not by the assumed commitment. He /she cannot disclose 
this information both during the commitment  and after its termination , except with t he express 
consent of his /her customer . 
14. The right and obligation to maintain confidentiality apply to all information acquired 
during the exercise of the profession and will have to be respected even after the settlement of 
the commitment , except in cases expressly provided for by law.  
15. The authorized attorney  cannot pass on to any third party any document received 
from his /her customer , such as documents, printed or electronic files, samples and models , 
without the consent of the customer . 
16. The obligation of confidentiality implies an active role of the authorized attorney  in 
ensuring that such confidentiality is preserved, including by the persons he or she employs in 
order to fulfil a particular commitment or to carry out  his/her professional activity in general.  
17. Among the customer s represented jointly, the confidentiality rule does not apply 
unless the parties decide otherwise.  
 
Section 4  
Competence  
18. The authorized attorney  carries out the activity  entrusted to him /her on the basis of 
his/her professional competence.  
19. The authorized attorney  is not entitled to accept a commitment if he/she  is certain that 
he/she  does not have the necessary competence to deal with the matter, unless he/she cooperates 
with another authorized attorney  or other specialist with that competence.  
 Section 5  
Conflict of Interests  
20. The authorized attorney  is not entitled to participate in a particular commitment  if 
he/she has already co unseled or has already represented another party  in the same case with 
conflicting interests , or has been involved  professionally or otherwise in this case, which could 
prejudice  the customer ’s interest. In this case, the authorized attorney  is obliged to notify the 
customer  as soon as the circumstance becomes known to him /her. 
21. The authorized attorney  will abstain  from dealing with the cases of all the customer s 
involved in the commitment  for which he was engaged when a conflict of interest s arises , when 
the professional secre t runs the risk of being violated or when his /her independence takes the  risk 
of casting  doubt  on it. 
22. The authorized attorney  cannot accept a case of a new customer  when the secre t of 
the information entrusted by an old customer  runs the risk of being violated or when the 
customer ’s knowledge of the old customer ’s cases favors the new customer  unjustifiably.  
 
Section 6  
Incompatibilit ies 
23. The authorized attorney  may carry out  his/her professional activity as an individual 
entrepreneur without being considered a legal entity or being considered a legal entity for the 
provision of intellectual property services and as an employee of an institution, organizations or 
enterprises with any form of legal organization . 
24. The authorized attorney  may n ot act as such on grounds of incompatibility established 
under the law, such as the status of an employee of AGEPI or the exercise of a public function . 
 
Section 7  
Advertising of the Authorized Attorney’ s Activity  
25. The authorized attorney  may promote his/her professional activity, subject to the 
compliance with the provisions of Section 3 of this Chapter relating to professional secre t, 
providing concrete information on the exercise of his /her profession and  carrying out his/her 
activity wi th dignity and prudence . It is in particular allowed to mention the core activities, the 
special experience acquired in the professional environment in which he/she activate s and the 
qualifications formally obtained.  
26. In all promotional and advertising  actions, regardless of their material support, 
including the Internet, the authorized attorney  must ensure that all the elements of identification 
of the form of exercise of the profession in which  he/she activates , according to the forms of 
organization of the profession established by law, are presented in a correct and complete 
manner so that the public is aware of all the details of the person or persons providing the 
respective services and there is no confusio n in relation to other attorneys  as well as in relation to 
other institutions or organizations.  
27. References to files and customer s are only allowed if the customer  has previously 
expressed expressly his/her consent in this respect , except that reference (s) is  (are) only related 
to the information available to the public.  
28. Advertising and promotion must not contain any allegations that may affect the status 
and dignity of the profession of authorized attorney  or any other free profession.  
29. Regardless of the means of advertising used, all laudatory or comparative mentions  
with other authorized attorney s are forbidden.   
Chapter III  
CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP  
 
Section 1  
Commitment and Acceptance of Commitment  
30. The authorized attorney  is free to accept or not a particular commitment  offered by 
the customer . This commitment must be in written form.  
31. Unless otherwise agreed by the parties, this commitment  may be in the form of an 
exchange of messages, whether written or electronic. From this communication must 
unequivocally result  the understanding of the terms of the commitment  by the customer  and 
acceptance of the commitment  by the authorized attorney . 
32. The authorized attorney and the customer  agree on the content of the commitmen t, in 
particular on the extent of the obligation  of assistance to be borne by the authorized attorney , the 
fee he will receive, the necessary conditions of payment and other reasonable and necessary 
expenses.  
 
Section 2  
Fixing the Honorarium  
33. The authorized attorney  and the customer  are fully free to establish  the honorarium  to 
be paid.  
34. The authorized attorney informs the customer  of the honorarium /honoraria  and 
its/their  structure, and the total amount of honoraria  must be fair and justified.  
35. The authorized attorney shall provide the customer, upon request, with details of the 
actions under taken or to be undertaken in relation to the fixed  honorarium . 
36. When the customer  fails to pay  the debts related to the honoraria  and expenses , the 
authorized attorney  has the right to renounce the commitment and to withdraw, respecting a 
reasonable possibility of the customer  to independently deal with his/her own case.  
37. The authorized attorney may not offset the debts he /she claims from the customer  at 
the expense of the funds entrusted to him to discharge  the specific commitment, except with the 
agreement of his /her customer . 
 
Section 3  
Interaction with the Customer  
38. The authorized attorney acts only when he /she is empowered by his /her customer , 
based on the commitment  made by the customer  and accepted by the attorney . Relationship with 
the customer  must be official.  
39. The authorized attorney  shall consult the customer  conscientiously and shall inform 
him diligently of the progress of the commitment  he/she has accepted.  
40. If the authorized attorney  is unable to carry out his /her duties, he /she must ensure that 
the customer  in question is in a position to independently deal with his/her case  or may in due 
time con tract another person to provide him/her with the necessary assistance to avoid causing 
damag e to the customer.  
41. Even if the customer ’s interest is paramount, the authorized attorney  will not 
subordinate his/her personal and professional integrity to his/her customer . 
42. The authorized attorney  is not entitled to accept an unlawful proposal.  43. The authorized attorney  cannot guarantee a certain result of the assumed 
commitment ; no matter how foreseeable it is, especially when the result depends on the decision 
of the AGEPI, the court, another public authority or a third party.  
 
Section 4  
Dossier  of the Commitment Received  
44. For each commitment entrusted, the authorized attorne y must keep a dossier  that 
gives a clear picture of the activity  he/she has carried out . 
45. The authorized attorney  may keep the dossier  in electronic format, provided that the 
original individual copies are not required to be kept. The authorized attorney  also has the right 
to convert in part or in total a dossier  from  non-electronic format into electronic format, by 
making electronic copies and by destroying the copies kept on paper, provided that the legal 
provisions do not contradict this proced ure. 
46. At the customer ’s request, the authorized attorney  shall provide copies or extracts 
from the commitment dossier  without incurring any additional charge that exceeds his/her  own 
costs/expenses.  
47. Upon completion of the commitment , the customer  may ask the authorized attorney  
for a copy of the dossier  that the attorney  provides, except for those data, information, drawings, 
notes that are not directly related to the appropriate commitment  or whose provision is prohibited 
by the obligation/ obliga tions of the professional secre t. 
 
Section 5  
Waiver of C ommitment  
48. The authorized attorney  may not relinquish a file unjustifiably before the deadline if 
there are no reasonable  reasons for doing so. However, for  reasonable reasons , the authorized 
attorney  is entitled to waive his/her commitment  at any time, provided that a reasonable period 
of notice is observed, so that the customer  may independently  deal with his/her own case or may 
engage  another authori zed attorney . 
49. In this case, the authorized attorney  shall undertake any action that is urgent and 
decisive for the case of his /her customer , without making unreasonable, in some way, this 
behavior . 
50. This obligation of maximum prudence in the event of waiving the commitment 
entrusted  does not apply if the waiver is caused by the customer ’s fault or if the customer  agrees 
to take all future actions on his behalf.  
 
Chapter IV  
INTERACTION WITH OTHER AUTHORIZED ATTORNEY S. 
COLLEGIALITY  
51. Colleg iality  requires trust -based relationships, in the customer ’s interest, to avoid 
unnecessary processes and any behavior  likely to affect the reputation of the profession.  
52. In no case will collegiality be the basis for the unreasonable contradiction with the 
interests of the customer s. Between them, authorized attorney s will exhibit collective and 
respectful behavior.  
53. An authorized attorney  shall not refer to another authorized attorney  in improper or 
offensive terms.  54. Professional competition must be fair. When ordering, as well as in any other form of 
promotion, including on the Internet, the authorized attorney  will abstain  from making 
misleading or self -deceiving statements and/or by direct criticism or allusion to the work and 
quality of the work of other attorney s. 
55. The authorized attorney  shall not exercise or favor discrimination against other 
authorized attorney s on grounds of age, gender, religion, political option, social affiliation, etc. If 
an authorized attorney  intends to bring an action against another authorized attorney  in 
connection with the violation of these rules of conduct , he/she will first attempt to resolve the 
dispute through direct contact with the other attorney . In the event that no agreem ent can be 
reached, the authorized attorney  will continue to hand over the case to the Commission for 
Attestation  and Disciplin e of the A uthorized Intellectual Property A ttorney s. Unless such 
mediation fails, the authorized attorney  may bring legal action against the other attorney . 
56. An authorized attorney  may not enter into a direct relationship with a person in 
respect of a particular case when knowing that such person is represented or assisted by another 
authorized attorney , unless he /she has the consent of his /her colleague.  
 
Chapter V  
INTERACTION WITH THE AGEPI,  
THE COURT S AND OTHER AUTHORITIES  
57. The authorized attorney  is required to show respectful behavior towards the AGEPI, 
the courts and any other authorities with which  he/she interacts  in the performance of his /her 
commitment . 
58. An authorized attorney  who presents himself /herself  to the courts or who participate s 
in a ju risdictional -administrative procedure must comply with the rules of conduct applicable to 
these pro cedures.  
59. The obligation to comply with these rules does not limit the authorized attorney  to 
object to the actions of the authorities or to exercise other procedural rights.  
60. The authorized attorney can not knowingly provide obviously false data and 
information to the authorities with which he /she interacts  in the discharge  of his /her 
commitment . 
61. The authorized attorney  is not responsible for the truthfulness of the data and 
information provided by the customer . At the same time, the authoriz ed attorney  shall be obliged 
to notify the competent authorities if such data and information are likely to prejudice the legal 
provisions. ” 
 
2. This Decision shall enter into force on the date of its publication.  
 
 
PRIME MINISTER  
 Pavel FILIP  
  
Countersign ed:   
Minister of Economy and Infrastructure  Chiril Gaburici  
  
No.714. Chisinau, July 18,  2018.