Trade mark bill heads to parliament

After Romania's parliament rejected in 2007 a bill to modify and complete Law no. 84/1998 regarding trade marks and geographical indications, a new bill has now been approved by the government and will be brought before legislators. The bill, which might still face modifications during the approval process, contains major changes with respect to the system of trade mark registration and protection in Romania. Thus, certain steps have been excluded from the procedure, while others have been simplified. Also, the terms for examining and registering a trade mark, as well as for challenging decisions issued in this respect, have been shortened. The main novelty brought by the new bill is the fact that Romanian State Office for Inventions and Trademarks (SOIT) will no longer examine ex officio relative grounds for refusal of the registration of a trade mark. This would only be examined if an interested third party files opposition against the registration within two months from the electronic publication of the trade mark application. Although the bill does not define the "electronic publication", from the current practice of SOIT it appears that this in fact refers to the online publication of the application on its official website.