1. Rights regarding an invention shall be recognized and protected on the territory of Romania by the grant of a patent for invention by the State Office for Inventions and Trademarks pursuant to the conditions provided for by the law.
Rights arising out of the European Patent are also recognized and protected pursuant to the law.

2. .- Within the meaning of the present law, the terms and expressions below are defined as follows:

• a) European patent- the patent granted according to the European Patent Convention;
• b) patent application - the written application which contains the express request for the grant of a patent for invention;
• c) international application - application for the protection of an invention, filed according to the Patent Cooperation Treaty;
• d) industrial property attorney- the person specialized in giving assistance in the industrial property field (inventions, trademarks, designs, models etc) who carries out this activity legally;
• e) European Patent Convention- the Convention concerning the European patent concluded in Munich on 5 October 1973, with its subsequent modifications and revisions;
• f) Paris Convention- the Convention for the protection of the industrial property of 20 March 1883, Paris, as revised and modified;
• g) description - the presentation of the invention in writing;
• h) inventor - the person who has created the invention;
• i) authorized representative - the industrial property attorney who may also have the quality of representation in the proceedings before the State Office for Inventions and Trademarks;
• j) OSIM - the State Office for Inventions and Trademarks;
• k) publication- dissemination of the information in a manner accessible to the public;
• l) applicant- the natural or legal person who requests the grant of a patent for invention;
• m) successor in title - any natural or legal person who has been assigned either the right to be granted the patent for invention or the rights arising out of the granted patent for invention;
• n) claim - the part of a patent which contains the subject-matter of the claimed protection and whose content determines the extent of protection;
• o) patent owner- the natural or legal person to whom the right conferred by the patent for invention belongs;
• p) employer - the legal person which functions legally;
• q) person who exploits the invention - the natural or legal person who applies the invention legally. The person who exploits the invention may be identified with the
  patent owner.

3. The right to the patent for invention shall belong to the inventor or his successor in title.

4. Where the invention has been created jointly by more inventors, each of them shall be deemed to be a co-author of the invention, and the right shall belong to all inventors in common.
If more persons have created the same invention independently of one another, the right to the patent shall belong to the person who filed a patent application with the earliest date of filing, and if a priority has been recognized, the right shall belong to the person whose patent application has the earliest priority date.
The provisions of Art. 2 are applicable only if the documentation concerning the patent application, or where appropriate, the documentation concerning the patent having the earliest date of filing or of recognized priority has been published according to the law.

5. If the inventor is an employee, in the absence of a contractual provision more favourable to the employee, the right to the patent for invention shall belong to:

a) the employer, for the inventions made by the employee in the course of an employment contract which provides for the performance of an inventive task expressly entrusted to him, according to his duties; the inventor benefits of an additional remuneration provided for in the contract;

b) the employee, for the inventions made by the employee, either in the course of exercising his duties or within the field of activity of the employer, through the knowledge or use of the technical capacity or means specific to the employer or of the information existing within the business of the employer, or with the employer=s material assistance, in the absence of any contrary contractual provision.
If the invention has been made within a search contract, in the absence of a contrary clause, the right to the patent for invention shall belong to the employer who commissioned the research, and the inventor is entitled to a supplementary remuneration provided for by an additional act to the contract.
In the cases covered by paragraph 1 (a) and (b) and paragraph 2, the inventor and the employer have the mutual obligation to inform each other in writing regarding the creating and the stage of carrying out the invention and to refrain from any disclosure.
Non-compliance with the obligation to inform shall result in the liability of the guilty party.
In the cases covered by paragraph 1 (a) and paragraph 2, if, within sixty days from the date the employee informed the employer in writing of having drafted the description of the invention, the patent application has not been filed with OSIM, in the absence of any agreement between the parties, the right to be granted the patent for invention shall belong to the employee under the conditions provided for in paragraph 1 (b).
In the case covered by paragraph 1 (b) the employer has a preference right to conclude a contract regarding his employee=s invention, which right must be exercised within three months from the date the offer was made by the employee; in the absence of the agreement concerning the contract price, this price shall be established by the law court.

6. The foreign persons, either natural or legal, having the domicile or registered office outside the territory of Romania, shall benefit of the provisions of the present law, under the conditions of the international treaties and conventions concerning the inventions, to which Romania is a party.

7. A patent may be granted for any invention having a product or process as a subject-matter, in all technological fields, provided that the invention is new, involves an inventive step and is susceptible of industrial application.
The inventions in the field of biotechnologies are patentable if they refer to:
a) a biological material from the natural environment or produced by any technical process, even if the production thereof occurred in the nature before;
b) plants or animals, if the technical carrying out of the invention is not confined to a certain variety of plants of breed of animals;
c) a microbiological process or another technical process and a product other than a plant variety or an animal breed obtained this way;
d) an isolated element of the human body or otherwise produced through a technical process, including the sequence or the partial sequence of a gene, even if the structure of that element is identical to the structure of a natural element.

8. An invention shall be considered to be new if it does not form part of the state of the art.
The state of the art includes all knowledge that has been available to the public by a written or oral description, by use or by any other means up to the date of the patent application filing or the date of the recognized priority.

The state of the art also comprises the content of the patent applications filed with the State Office for Inventions and Trademarks and of the international or European applications, as filed, having Romania as a designated State, which have a date of filing or of the recognized priority before the date mentioned in paragraph 2, and which were published on or after that date, according to the provisions of the law.
The provisions of paragraphs 2 and 3 shall not exclude the patentability of any substance or composition contained in the state of the art for its use within a method for the treatment of the human or animal body, through surgery or therapy, or within any method for diagnosing practised on the human or animal body, if its use within this method is not part of the state of the art.
The provisions of this article shall not exclude the patentability of any substance or composition provided for in Art. 4, for any specific utilization within any method for the treatment of the human or animal body, through surgery or therapy, or within any method for diagnosing practised on the human or animal body, if this use is not part of the state of the art.

9. Disclosure of the invention is not taken into account if it occurred within the six-month period of time before the date of filing of the patent application and if it results directly or indirectly as a consequence of:
a) an obvious abuse concerning the applicant; or
b) the fact that the applicant has displayed the invention in an official or officially recognized international exhibition organized in the States party to the international treaties and conventions to which Romania is a party.

10. An invention shall be deemed to involve an inventive step, if, for a person skilled in the art, it is not an obvious result of the knowledge contained in the state of the art.
The patent applications referred to in Art. 8 (3), though part of the state of the art, shall be taken into account for stating the inventive step.

11. An invention is susceptible of industrial application if its subject-matter can be carried out or used at least in one of the industrial fields, agriculture included.

12. According to the present law a patent for invention shall not be granted for:
a) the inventions whose commercial exploitation is contrary to public order or good manners, including those injurious to the health and life of persons, animals or plants and which are liable to cause severe damages to the environment, provided that such exclusion does not depend only on the fact that the exploitation is forbidden through a legal provision;
b) plant varieties and animal breeds;
c) essentially biological processes for breeding plants or animals;
d) the inventions having as a subject-matter the human body in the various stages of its formation and development, as well as the mere discovery of one of its elements, including the sequence or the partial sequence of a gene.

13. - Particularly the following shall not be deemed to be inventions within the meaning of Art. 7:
a) discoveries, scientific theories and mathematical methods;
b) aesthetic creations;
c) plans, principles and methods in exercising mental activities in the field of games or economical activities as well as the computer programs;
d) presentation of information.
The provisions of paragraph 1 shall not exclude the patentability of the subject-matter of the invention or that of the stipulated activities only the extent in which the patent application or the patent for invention relates to such subject-matters or to the activities per se.

14. The patent application containing the applicant=s personal data, accompanied by the description of the invention, claims and, where appropriate, by the illustrative drawings, all of them drafted in Romanian, shall be filed with OSIM and shall constitute the regular national filing.
The patent application shall contain information identifying the inventor.
The patent application shall be filed by the person entitled to be granted the patent, either in person or in any other way provided for by the implementing regulations of the present law.
In all the proceeding before OSIM the applicant shall be considered to be the person entitled to be granted the patent.
The patent application accompanied by the documents provided for in paragraph 1 shall be filed, at the applicant=s option, on paper or in any other form and through a transmission means accepted by OSIM and provided for in the implementing regulations of the present law.

15. The date of filing is the date of filing the following with OSIM:
a) an application containing the explicit or implicit request for the grant of a patent for invention;
b) information allowing the identification of the applicant or allowing the applicant=s being contacted by OSIM ;
c) a part which, at first sight, shall appear to be a description of the invention.
If a part of the description is missing, in order to accord the date of filing, this missing part shall be filed subsequently, the date of filing being the date when this part has been filed and when the filing fee for this part has been paid.

If the subsequently filed missing part of the description, provided for in paragraph 1 (c) is withdrawn, the date of filing shall be the date of fulfilling the requirements referred to in paragraph 1.
The conditions for subsequently filing and the conditions for withdrawing the missing part of the description filed subsequently according to the provisions of paragraph 2 are stipulated by the implementing regulations of the present law.
Where the patent application does not contain a part which, at first sight, appears to be a description, mention shall be made in the patent application, drawn up in Romanian, to an application previously filed with OSIM, which replaces the description, there being observed the provisions of the implementing regulations of the present law for the purpose of according the date of filing. In the absence thereof the patent application shall not be treated as a patent application.
The patent application shall be entered in the National Register for filed patent applications. Up to the date of publication of the information contained in this register in the Official Industrial Property Bulletin, this information is not available to the public, pursuant to the special law.
The claims and drawings concerning the invention may be submitted within two months from the date of filing the patent application, subject to payment of the legal fee.
For the international or the European patent application, the date of filing shall be the date resulting from the international treaties and conventions to which Romania is a party, and this date shall be entered in the National Register for the filed patent applications.

16. In the case of fulfilling the provisions of Art. 14 or Art. 15 (8), the patent application filing causes the effects of a regular national filing.

The provisions of Art. 1 shall also apply if, for justified reasons, the foreign natural or legal persons have filed the description, claims and drawings in a foreign language, provided that, within two months from the patent application filing, or where appropriate, from the date of opening the national phase, a translation into Romanian of these documents in compliance with the original is submitted to OSIM and the legal fee is paid
The following are considered to fulfil the conditions regarding the form and content of an application according to the present law:
a) the international applications fulfilling the conditions in respect of the form and content, provided for in the Patent Cooperation Treaty, adopted by the Diplomatic Conference in Washington on 19 May 1970, ratified by the Decree of the State Council no. 81 of 2 March 1979, with the subsequent modifications;
b) the international applications fulfilling the conditions in respect of form and content provided for in the Patent Cooperation Treaty and required by OSIM or the European Patent Office when this acts for OSIM, after the processing or the examination thereof has started.
Any other requirements in respect of the form and content of the patent application provided for by the implementing regulations of the present law shall also be observed.
The content of an application which corresponds to the content of a printed form for an international application and to the one accepted according to paragraph 4, shall be presented on a prescribed patent application printed form provided for by the implementing regulations of the present law.

17. The patent application filing confers a priority right starting on the date of filing the application or from the date of the claimed and recognized priority, as against any other filing concerning the same invention, having a subsequent date of filing or priority, provided that the provisions of Art. 14 (1) or of Art. 15 (8) are fulfilled.

18. The invention shall be disclosed in the description, claims and drawings sufficiently clearly, completely and correctly from a scientific and technical point of view, so that a person skilled in the art can carry it out.

The claims define the subject-matter of the claimed protection and shall be clear, concise and sustained by the description of the invention.
If the invention relates to a microorganism which was unavailable to the public, the conditions of paragraph 1 are fulfilled only if the applicant proves by means of a document that, prior to the date of filing the patent application or of the recognized priority, the microorganism was the object of a deposit with an international depository authority.

19. The patent application shall relate only to a single invention or a group of inventions interlinked so as to form a single general inventive concept.
The patent application not complying with the condition provided for under paragraph 1 may be divided by the applicant, from his own initiative or upon request by OSIM, before a decision concerning the patent application is taken.
An application resulting after division may be filed only for the elements which do not go beyond the content of the initial application. The applications resulting from the division, which fulfil this requirement, are considered to have been filed at the date of filing of the initial application and shall benefit of the priority rights claimed therein.

20. The person or the successor in title thereof, who has filed an application for a patent, utility model or utility certificate in a State party to the Paris Convention for the protection of the industrial property or for a member to the World Trade Organization benefit, for filing a patent application for the same invention, of a priority right for 12 months calculated from the filing date of the first application.
There is allowed to claim a multiple recognized priority in a patent application, with the proviso of observing the time limit stipulated in paragraph 1 as well as the unity of the invention provided for in Art. 19.
In the situation provided for in paragraph 2 the twelve-month priority term is calculated from the date of the earliest recognized priority.

The priority may also be recognized for an application which claims or could have claimed the priority of an earlier application at a filing date subsequent to the date of expiration of the priority term, but not more than two months from the date of expiration of this term, subject to payment of the legal fee, provided that:
a) an express request is formulated to this effect, in the conditions provided for by the implementing regulations of the present law;
b) the request is formulated in due time;
c) the application presents the reasons for the non- observance of the priority term;
d) OSIM ascertains that the subsequent application was not filed within the priority term, though the diligence implicated was exercised, or that the non- observance of the time period was unintentional.
In the case when the applicant claims a priority right which belongs to another person, in order to have the priority recognized, an authorization showing the applicant=s entitlement to claim the priority of the first filing shall be filed with OSIM, by the assignor.
The time limit for submitting the authorization is of maximum 3 months from the priority claiming.
The non-recognition of priority, non- fulfilment of the provisions of paragraphs 4 and 6 is decided by OSIM within three months from the filing date.

21. The priority claimed in a patent application, following to displaying the subject-matter of the invention in an official or officially recognized international exhibition organized in the Member States of the Paris Convention or of the World Trade Organization, may be recognized from the date the subject-matter of the invention was introduced in the exhibition. The provisions of paragraph 1 shall be applied only if a patent application was submitted within six months from the date of introducing the subject-matter of the invention in an exhibition.

The six-month time period shall not extend the priority term stipulated in Art. 20 (1) and (3).

22. The priorities provided for in Art. 20 and 21 shall be claimed at the same time when the patent application is filed and shall be justified by priority documents.
In the cases in which the applicant has omitted to claim the priority at the same time when the patent application was filed, the priority claiming may be made in the conditions provided for by the implementing regulations of the present law, the latest within two months from this date, subject to payment of the legal fee.
The priority documents shall be filed within maximum three months from date of the filing or, where appropriate, from the national phase opening date, and when the OSIM requests a translation into Romanian in compliance with the original of the prior application, the provisions of the implementing regulations of the present law shall be observed.
Non-observance of the time limits specified in paragraphs 2 and 3 results in the non-recognition of the claimed priority.
The non-recognition of the priority for failure to fulfil the provisions of Art. 20 and 21 is decided by OSIM within six months from the date of filing or from the national phase opening date for an international application.

23. The patent applications filed on the national route, for which a regular national filing was constituted, shall be published immediately after the expiration of eighteen months from the date of filing or, if a priority was recognized, from the date of this priority, except for the aspects stipulated in Art. 42 (2).
The patent applications filed pursuant to the Patent Cooperation Treaty shall be published immediately after the expiration of a six-month period of time from opening the national phase.

At the request of the entitled natural or legal person, the publication is made within a shorter time period than provided for in paragraphs 1 and 2, according to the conditions stipulated by the implementing regulations of the present law.
If a decision to grant a patent for invention is taken before the publication of the patent application, this decision shall be published at the same time when the mention concerning the decision to grant is published, there being observed the provisions of Art. 25 (2), Art. 28 (4) and (5) and Art. 42 (2).
The patent applications provided for in Art. 42 (2) shall be published within three months from the date they have been taken out of the state secret status.
The publication of the application is mentioned in the Official Industrial Property Bulletin, in the conditions provided for by the implementing regulations of the present law.

24. The publication of the patent application may be accompanied by a search report.
If the search report was not rendered available to the public at the same time as the application, said report shall be published subsequently, under the conditions provided for by the implementing regulations of the present law.

25. The examination of the patent application may be requested at the date of filing the patent application, or, where appropriate, upon opening the national phase or within thirty months from one of these dates.
For the patent applications having a state secret status, the examination may be requested at the date of filing the patent application or within three months from the date this secret status ceased, but not later than thirty months before the expiration of the protection period provided for in Art. 31.

26. OSIM examines whether the patent applications fulfil the requirements provided for in Art. 6, Art. 14-16 and 18, the priorities stipulated in Art. 17 and the priorities claimed according to the provisions of Art. 20-22, the unity of invention stipulated in Art. 19 and if the subject-matter of the patent application is patentable within the meaning of Art. 7 - 11, 12 and 13.

27. OSIM is entitled to ask the applicant to submit the explanations and documents he considers to be necessary in connection with the applicant=s or inventor=s identity, with the constituted regular national filing or with fulfilling the patentability conditions.
In all procedures concerning the patent application or the patent for invention, OSIM may transmit notifications to the applicant, patent owner or to the person concerned, and they can transmit communications to OSIM, with the observance of the terms provided for by the implementing regulations of the present law, such terms being extendable by OSIM, upon request, subject to payment of a legal fee.
The absence of the notification shall not absolve the applicant, patent owner or the person concerned of the liability of observing the provisions of the present law.
The applicant shall file with OSIM all the public documents concerning his invention, including copies of the patents granted in other States.
At the request of OSIM or upon his own initiative the applicant or his successor in title may change the claims, drawings or the description up to the moment a decision is taken, without going beyond the limits of the invention disclosure at the date of filing the patent application. 28. Through the Examination Board, based on the report of examination of the patent application, within 18 months from the date of requesting the examination, OSIM takes the decision to grant the patent or to reject the patent application or the subject-matter thereof. Exception are the patent applications which were withdrawn by the applicant or which are declared as considered withdrawn.
The OSIM decides the rejection in whole or in part of the patent applications in the following situations:

a) the subject-matter of the patent application is not patentable within the meaning of Art. 7-11, 12 and 13;
b) the patent application does not fulfil the conditions provided for in Art. 6, Art. 14 (1), Art 15 (4) and (5), Art. 16 (2) and (4), Art. 18 and 41;
c) exceeding the term for opening the national phase for the patent applications filed internationally;
d) non- payment of the fees for filing, submitting the claims or drawings or the missing part of the description, for opening the national phase, publication, examination, or, where appropriate, the designation fee, in the amount and at the terms provided for by the present law and by the implementing regulations of the present law;
e) elapse of twelve months from the date the applications provided for in paragraph 7 were considered withdrawn;
f) the rejection of the patent application was requested, according to Art. 65 (2) (c);
g) the applicant, other than the inventor, did not prove his entitlement to be granted the patent, within the time limit stipulated by Art. 29 (2);
h) there was not requested the patent application examination with a view to granting the patent, within the time periods stipulated by Art. 25.
The mention of the decision to grant the patent for invention or to reject the patent application shall be published in the Official Industrial Property Bulletin, within sixty days, except for the time period provided for in Art. 29 (2). At the same time with the publication of the mention of the decision to grant the patent for invention, the description, claims and drawings of the patented invention are made available to the public, there being observed the conditions stipulated by the implementing regulations of the present law.

The decision to grant the patent or to reject the patent application shall have effect starting on the date of publication of this mention in the Official Industrial Property Bulletin, pursuant to the conditions stipulated in the implementing regulations of the present law.
In case of the decisions to grant the patent for invention having a state secret status, after this status has ceased, the provisions of paragraph 4 and of Art. 23 (4) shall be applied.
OSIM takes act of the patent application withdrawal, if the applicant expressly requests the withdrawal in writing.
The patent applications are considered to be withdrawn in the following situations:
a) the inventors were not declared within 18 months from the date of requesting the substantive examination;
b) the applicant did not respond to the OSIM notifications that are subsequent to establishing the allowable content of the claims, according to the provisions of Art. 18 (1), in respect of complying the form of the claims, description and drawings with this content;
c) the application constituted the basis of priority claiming in a subsequent application filed on the national route or for which the national phase was opened in Romania;
d) the patent application is in the situation stipulated in Art. 65 (2) (b);
e) the international patent applications for which OSIM has the quality of receiving office, and which do not fulfil the conditions provided for by the Patent Cooperation Treaty;
f) the applicant has not submited the claims and drawings within the term stipulated by Art. 15 (7).

All the decisions taken by OSIM shall be justified, entered in the National Register for the filed patent applications and shall be communicated within the terms and conditions provided for by the implementing regulations of the present law. The mentions concerning the withdrawn patent applications or the mentions concerning the statements according to which the patent applications are deemed being withdrawn, which are also communicated, shall be entered in the same register.
In case of death of the concerned party or of dissolution of the legal person, the procedure is interrupted until OSIM receives the communication in respect of the successor in title, according to the conditions provided for by the implementing regulations of the present law.
Where judiciary proceedings are instituted with regard to the right to the patent and to the right to be granted the patent, the patent granting procedure shall be suspended until the decision of the court has become final.
The person concerned shall communicate this decision to OSIM.

29. OSIM may proceed ex officio to the revocation of its decisions for the non- fulfilment of the conditions provided for in the present law as well as for any material error, until the communication of such decisions.
If, based on justified proofs OSIM has ascertained that the applicant, other that the inventor, is not entitled to be granted the patent for invention, for the purpose of revocation provided for in paragraph 1, it may be proceeded to the postponing of the communication of the decision taken, without exceeding a six-month period from the date of this decision. Within this period of time sound proofs concerning the right to be granted the patent shall be communicated to OSIM.

30. The patent for invention is issued by the Director General of OSIM, based on the decision to grant the patent. For the European patent, OSIM shall certify the validity of the patent in Romania, according to the law.
The date of issuance of the patent for invention is the date of publishing the mention of issuance in the Official Industrial Property Bulletin.
The patents are entered in the National Register for the patents for invention.

If the provisions of the law are fulfilled, the European patent is entered in the National Register for the patents for invention.

31. The protection period of a patent for invention is of 20 years starting from the date of filing.
For the European patent the protection period provided for in paragraph 1 starts from the date of constituting the regular national filing of the patent application, according to the European Patent Convention.
For patented medicinal or phytosanitary products, an additional protection may be obtained according to the law.

32. For an invention contained in a patent application, which cannot be applied without causing damages to an invention contained in a previous patent application, for which a patent was granted, OSIM shall take a decision to grant only after all parts concerned have been notified in respect of the relationship between the inventions.

33. The patent for invention confers to its owner an exclusive right to exploit the invention during the whole protection period thereof.
The following acts are forbidden without the patent owner=s consent:
a) manufacturing, using, offering for sale, selling or importing for the use, offering for sale or selling in case when the subject-matter of the patent is a product;
b) the use of the process, as well as the use, offering for sale, selling or importing for these purposes the product directly obtained by the patented process, in case when the subject-matter of the patent is a process.
The extent of the protection conferred by the patent is determined by the content of the claims. At the same time, the description and drawings of the invention help to interpret the claims.

In order to determine the extent of the protection conferred by the patent any element equivalent to an element specified in the claims shall be taken into account.
The extension of the protection conferred by the patent application shall be determined by the claims contained in the application published according to Art. 23.
The patent granted or amended in the procedures for revocation or cancellation in part shall determine retroactively the protection conferred by the patent application, according to the provisions of paragraph 2, to the extent in which this protection has not been extended.
The protection conferred through a patent relating to a biological material having specific characteristics shall extend to any material derived by reproduction or multiplication from the material for which the patent was granted, in an identical form or differentiated and having the same characteristics.
The protection conferred through a patent relating to a process allowing the reproduction of a biological material having specific characteristics shall extend to the biological material obtained directly through this process and to any other biological material derived from the biological material directly obtained through that process and to any other material obtained starting from the biological material obtained directly by reproduction or multiplication, in an identical form or differentiated and having the same characteristics.
The protection conferred by a patent to a product containing a genetic information or consisting of a genetic information shall extend to any other material incorporating the product and wherein the genetic information is contained and exercises its function, except for the human body in the various stages of its formation or development.

The protection provided for in paragraphs 7-9 shall not extend to the biological material obtained by reproduction or multiplication from a biological material sold or offered for sale on the territory of Romania by the patent owner or with his consent, when the reproduction or multiplication results necessarily from the utilization for which the biological material was put on the market, provided that the obtained material has not been used subsequently for other reproductions or multiplications.

34. Starting on the date of publication of the patent application according to the provisions of Art. 23, the patent application provisionally ensures the protection conferred according to the provisions of Art. 33 to the patent owner, except for the cases where the patent application has been rejected, withdrawn or declared to be deemed withdrawn.

35. The following shall not constitute an infringement of the rights provided for in Art. 33 and 34:
a) the use of the inventions in the construction and functioning of the land, air vehicles as well as on board of vessels or for the devices used in the functioning of such vehicles belonging to Member States to the international treaties or conventions to which Romania is a party, when such vehicles or vessels enter the territory of Romania, temporarily or accidentally, provided that such use is exclusively for the needs of such vehicles or vessels;
b) performing any of the acts provided for in Art. 33 (2) by a person who has applied the subject-matter of the patent for invention or that of the patent application, as published, or has taken effective and serious measures with the aim to reproduce or use said subject-matter in good faith on the territory of Romania, independently of the owner of the patent and before the regular national filing concerning the invention has been constituted or before the recognized priority date; in this case, the invention may be further used by that person, in the volume existing on the date of the filing or of the recognized priority and the right to use may be transferred only together with the patrimony of the person or with a fraction of the patrimony destined to the exploitation of the invention;
c) performing any of the acts provided for in Art. 33 (2) exclusively in a private framework and for non-commercial purpose; production or, where appropriate, the use of the invention exclusively in a private framework for and non-commercial purpose;
d) selling or offering for sale on the territory of Romania of those samples of the product which is subject-matter of the invention, that were previously sold by the patent owner or with his express consent;
e) the use in good faith or taking effective and serious measures for the use of the invention by third parties within the period of time between the lapse of the patent and the revalidation of the patent. In this case the invention may continue to be used by said person, in the volume existing at the date of publishing the mention of revalidation of the patent, and the right to use may only be transferred together with the patrimony of the person who uses the invention, or with a fraction of the patrimony destined to the exploiation of the invention;
f) the exploiation by third parties of the invention or of a part of the invention which has been disclaimed.
Any person applying the invention in good faith or who has made effective and serious preparations for the use of the invention, without thereby infringing the patent application or the European patent in the initial translation, may, after the corrected translation has effects, continue to use the invention in his enterprise or for its necessities, without being subject to payment and without exceeding the volume existing at the date when the initial translation had effect.

36. The inventor has the right to have his name, first name and capacity mentioned in the issued patent, in the work booklet as well as in any documents or publications concerning his invention.
Where the patent owner is other than the inventor, the latter shall be issued a duplicate of the patent for invention.

Upon express request by the inventor, the name and first name thereof shall not be published; this request shall be subject to payment of the legal fee.

37. For the inventions created and made in the conditions of Art. 5 (1) with a contrary clause and of Art. 5 (2), respectively, the inventor benefits of the patrimony rights established according to a contract concluded with the applicant, or where appropriate, with the patent owner.
The patrimony rights shall be established depending on the economic and/or social effects resulting from the exploitation of the patent or depending on the economic contribution brought by the invention.

38. In case of lapse of the patent provided for in Art. 45 (3) the patent owner may request the revalidation of the patent for justified reasons, within six months from the date of publication of the patent lapse. Within sixty days from the filing, OSIM decides with regard to the revalidation application, provided that the legal fee has been paid. The patent revalidation mention shall be published in the Official Industrial Property Bulletin within thirty days from the date the decision has become final and irrevocable.

39. The patent owner may disclaim the patent in whole or in part by a written statement filed with the OSIM.
In case of the inventions provided for in Art. 5 (1) (a) and (2) as well as of the inventions which have been the object of an assignment as provided for in Art. 5 (1) (b), the patent owner shall communicate to the inventor his intention to disclaim the patent; at the inventor=s request, the patent owner must transfer the rights arising out of the patent to the inventor.
If the patent was the object of a license agreement, renunciation is possible only with the approval of the licensee.
The invention or part of it whose protection has been disclaimed, may be freely exploited by third parties.

Inventions covered by Art. 42 (2) shall only be disclaimed with the approval of the institutions that gave the invention a state secret status.
Renunciation is filed with OSIM and is entered in the National Register for patent for invention and produces effects starting on the date of its publication in the Official Industrial Property Bulletin.

40. The patent for invention may be cancelled, in whole or in part, at the request of an interested person, in cases in which it has been established that, on the date of filing the patent application, the conditions for the existence of a of patentable invention were not met. The request for cancellation may be made throughout the patent validity period and shall be judged by the Law Court of Bucharest. The decisions of the Law Court of Bucharest may be appealed against in the Court of Appeal of Bucharest within thirty days from their communication.
The decisions of the Court of Appeal of Bucharest may be appealed against in the Supreme Court of Justice within thirty days from their communication.
The decision of cancellation in whole or in part, which has become final and irrevocable, shall be filed with the OSIM by the interested person.
The mention of cancellation shall be published in the Official Industrial Property Bulletin with sixty days from filing the decision with OSIM.

41. In the proceedings before OSIM, the applicant, assignor or owner or any other interested person may benefit of the assistance of an authorized representative, on the basis of a power of attorney filed with OSIM, in the conditions and the terms stipulated by the implementing regulations of the present law.
For the persons mentioned previously who do not have the domicile or registered office on the territory of Romania, the representation through an authorized representative is compulsory, with the following exceptions in which a person may act in the own name:
a) filing a patent application for the according the filing date;
b) the payment of a fee;
c) submitting a copy of a previous application;
d) issuance of an OSIM notification concerning any procedure provided for under letters a), b) and c).
The fee for maintenance in force may be paid by any person.
In case of revocation of the power of attorney, the authorized representative=s signature does not have the effect of the signature of the applicant, owner or interested persons who designated the authorized representative.

42. The invention which is the subject-matter of the patent application filed with OSIM cannot be disclosed without the applicant=s agreement until its publication, and has the character established by the special law until the publication.
There constitutes a state secret the content of the patent applications created on the territory of Romania, to which the institutions responsible for the national defense and national security attributed this status, on condition that the applicant is informed and granted him a material compensation by the institution that attributed a state secret status to the patent application content. This character shall cease only by a decision of the same institutions.
OSIM maintains the same character to the filed documents as attributed by the entitled institutions.

43. Foreign patent for inventions created by Romanian natural persons on the territory of Romania shall be applied for only after the filing of a patent application with OSIM.
In the case of the inventions provided for in Art. 42 (2), foreign patent shall be applied for with the approval of the institutions that gave the inventions the state secret status.

In view of patenting the inventions under paragraph 1 abroad, the Romanian applicants or patent owners may benefit of financial support according to the law.
In the case of applying for foreign patents for the inventions provided for in paragraph 1, the Romanian natural persons who created them or their successors in title shall inform OSIM.
For filing the international applications with the view of being granted patents in other States, according to the provisions of the Patent Cooperation Treaty, OSIM acts as a receiving office.

44. In the case of an invention for which an employer is entitled to be granted the patent, the employer has the obligation of informing the inventor on the stage of the examination procedure of the patent application by OSIM as well as on the stage and results of the application of the invention.
At the request of the patent owner the inventor has the obligation to provide technical assistance for putting the invention into practice, on a contractual basis.

45. The procedures carried out by OSIM concerning the patent applications and the patents for invention provided for by the present law and by the implementing regulations of this law are subject to payment of the fees, in the amounts and within the time limits legally established.
Throughout the whole patent validity period the patent owner shall pay the annual patent maintenance fees.
Failure to pay such fees shall result in terminating the patent owner=s rights arising out of the patent. The lapse of the patent shall be entered in the National Register for the patents for invention and shall be published in the Official Industrial Property Bulletin. The patent maintenance fees may be paid in advance, in the conditions provided for by the implementing regulations of the present law, for a period which can exceed four years.
Fees due by foreign natural or legal persons shall be paid in foreign currency in the account of OSIM.

46. The applicant or patent owner, who, for serious reasons, could not observe a term in the proceedings before OSIM, is put back in the previous situation, if a justified request is submitted within two months from the date the cause which had hindered him to act ceased, but not later than one year from the expiration of the time limit not observed.
The provisions of Art. 1 shall not apply if the legal time limits have not been observed in the following conditions:
a) priority claiming according to Art. 20-22;
b) filing the translation of the description, claims or drawings, according to Art. 16 (2);
c) requesting the examination with a view to granting the patent, according to Art. 25;
d) payment of the filing and search report fees according to Art. 45 (1);
e) filing a request for revocation, according to Art. 54;
f) exceeding the time limit provided for in Art. 19 (2) for dividing a patent application;
g) exceeding the time limit for filing a new patent application, according to Art. 65 (2) (b);
h) payment of the patent maintenance fees.
The provisions of paragraph 1 shall not be applied in the conditions stipulated in Art. 28 (2) (c), (d), and (f), (7) (d) and (e) and Art. 53.
The request for putting back in the term shall be subject to payment of a fee in the amount legally established for filing an opposition, except for the case provided for in Art. 28 (7) (b) which shall not be subject to the payment of fees.

47. The right to the patent, the right to be granted the patent and the rights arising out of the patent may be transferred in whole or in part.
The transfer may be made through assignment or on the basis of exclusive or non-exclusive licence or through legal or testamentary succession.
The transfer is effective as far as third parties are concerned only starting from the date when the mention of the transfer filed with OSIM was published in the Official Industrial Property Bulletin.

48. At the request of any interested person, the Law Court of Bucharest may grant a compulsory license at the expiration of four years from the date of filing of the patent application or after three years since the grant of the patent, considering the time limit which expires the latest.
The provisions of paragraph 1 shall apply only if the invention has not been applied or has been insufficiently applied on the territory of Romania and the patent owner cannot justify his inaction and if no agreement with the patent owner has been reached regarding the conditions and ways of using the invention.
The Law Court of Bucharest shall authorize the compulsory licence if there will be stated, based on given circumstances, that, in spite of all attempts made by the interested person, an agreement could not be reached in a reasonable time period.
The beneficiary of a compulsory licence may be the Government, inclusively, or third parties authorized by the Government.
Besides the reasons provided for in paragraph 2, a compulsory licence may be authorized by the Law Court of Bucharest:
a) in national emergency conditions and, mainly in the interest of the national defense or national security or when requested by the public interests;
b) in other conditions of extreme emergency;

c) in situations of public utilization for non-commercial purposes.
The grant of the compulsory license for one of the reasons provided for in paragraph 5 shall not impose the fulfilment of the conditions mentioned in paragraph 2. Though the beneficiary of the licence shall inform the applicant or the patent owner about the authorization given by the Court, in the shortest time possible.
In situations of public utilization for non-commercial purposes, the Government or third parties authorized by the Government, when they know or have demonstrable reasons to know if a valid patent for invention is or will be used by the Government, and by third parties, respectively, they shall let the patent owner know about the utilization of the patent, in a reasonable time period.
In the cases when a patent cannot be exploited without causing damages to the rights conferred by another patent granted for a application having a prior regular national filing date, a compulsory licence for the exploitation of the subsequent patent may be authorized only if the following additional conditions are fulfilled cumulatively:
a) the invention claimed in the subsequent patent involves an important technological progress, of substantial economic interest in comparison with the invention claimed in the prior patent;
b) the prior patent owner is entitled to a cross licence in reasonable conditions for using the invention claimed in the subsequent patent;
c) the use authorized in connection with the prior patent is not transferable, except for the case when a compulsory licence is also transferable.

49. Compulsory licences are non-exclusive and shall be granted by the Law Court of Bucharest, in the conditions determined in respect of the extent and duration thereof as well as the level of the royalties the right holder is entitled to, which is established according to the commercial value of the granted licences.
Compulsory licences shall be authorized mainly for supplying the market.

The extent and duration of the compulsory licences shall be limited to the aims for which they have been authorized. In the case of the inventions in the semiconductor technology field, the license shall be granted only for non-commercial public purposes or for remedying a practice stated as being anti-competitive, as a result of a judiciary or administrative procedure.
In the case when a breeder cannot exploit a patent for a new plant variety without causing damages to a prior patent for invention, the breeder may request a compulsory licence for the invention protected by this patent.
In the case when the owner of a patent for invention relating to a biotechnological invention cannot exploit the invention without causing damages to a prior patent for a new plant variety, the owner may request a compulsory licence for the exploitation of the new plant variety protected by patent.
When a compulsory licence is authorized for remedying an anti-competitive practice, the provisions of Art. 48 (3) - (5) shall not be applicable.

50. The compulsory licence is only transferable together with the part of the enterprise or with the stock-in-hand trade which benefits of such use.
The provisions of paragraph 1 shall not apply where a compulsory licence has been granted according to Art. 48.

51. At the justified request presented by the interested person, the Law Court of Bucharest may withdraw the compulsory licence, when the circumstances leading to the grant of the licence ceased to exist, provided that the legitimate interests of the licensee should be protected adequately. The licence shall not be withdrawn if the circumstances which determined the grant of such licence are prone to occur again.

The decisions of the Law Court of Bucharest concerning the authorization of the use of a compulsory license, as well as the provisions concerning the remuneration provided for in respect of the use of the licence, may be appealed against at the Court of Appeal of Bucharest, within 15 days from communication of such decisions.

52. The final and irrevocable decisions of the courts concerning the grant, or, where appropriate, the withdrawal of the compulsory licence shall be communicated by the interested person to OSIM that shall register such decisions in the National Register for the filed patent applications or in the National Register for the patents for invention and shall publish the mention of such decisions in the Official Industrial Property Bulletin, within a month from the communication of such decisions.

53. The OSIM decisions may be opposed before OSIM by the interested persons, within three months from the communication of such decisions.
The opposition is solved within three months from its filing with OSIM by a board of appeal within the Appeal Department of OSIM, in a first instance.
Oppositions having as an object only the remedying of some material errors or omissions shall not be subject to payment of fees.
The provisions relating to the jurisdictional attributions of the boards of appeal within the Appeal Department shall be completed with the provisions of Civil Proceeding Code as well as with any other legal provisions, if not otherwise provided for by the present law.

54. Any interested person has the right to ask OSIM, in writing and for justified reason, to revoke the decision to grant a patent for invention, within six months from the publication of such decision, if the decision was taken without complying with the provisions of Art. 7 - 11 and of Art. 12, 13 and 18.

The opposition, or where appropriate, the revocation request shall be solved within three months from its filing with OSIM by a board of appeal within the Appeal Department of OSIM.

55. Failure to fulfil one or more conditions concerning the form of an application cannot constitute a reason of revocation of the decision to grant the patent or to cancel the patent for invention in whole or in part, except for the case when this is the result of a fraudulent intention.
A patent cannot be revoked or cancelled, in whole or in part, without giving the owner the possibility to present observations concerning the revocation or cancellation and to perform, in a reasonable period of time, the modifications or rectifications allowed by the law and by the implementing regulations of the present law.

56. The justified decision of the Board of Appeal shall be communicated to the parties within fifteen days from pronouncement and may be appealed against in the Law Court of Bucharest, within thirty days from the communication of such decision.
The decisions of the Law Court of Bucharest may be appealed against to the Court of Appeal of Bucharest.
The decisions to grant the patent for invention taken by the Board of Appeal and the decisions pronounced by law courts, which are communicated to OSIM by the interested person, shall be entered in the national registers and shall be published in the Official Industrial Property Bulletin within sixty days from the date such decisions became final and irrevocable.
OSIM shall make all modifications resulting from the final and irrevocable decisions of the courts, in the national registers, and shall publish the modifications in the Official Industrial Property Bulletin, within sixty days from the date such decisions have been filed with OSIM by the interested person.

57. Illegally assuming inventorship in any way constitutes an infringement of the law, punishable by imprisonment from six months two years or by fine of 50,000,000 to 100,000,000 lei.

58. The unauthorized manufacturing, using, placing in commerce the subject-matter of a patent for invention or any other infringement of the rights conferred according to Art. 33 (1) shall constitute infringements, if they were made after the date of publication of the patent application, and shall be punishable by imprisonment from three months to two years or by fine from 100,000,000, to 300,000,000 lei.
The penal action is commenced upon the complaint by the prejudiced party.
For the prejudices caused to him, the patent owner is entitled to damages, under the civil law and may ask the competent law courts to order the measure of seizing or, where appropriate, of destroying the counterfeited products.
These provisions shall also apply to materials and equipments which served directly to do the counterfeiting.
The infringement of the rights provided for by Art. 34 by third parties shall entail for the infringers the obligation to pay damages according to the civil law, the title for the payment of damages being executory after the patent issuance.

59. In case when before the date of publication of the patent application the deeds provided for in Art. 58 (1) carry on even after summoning, the law court, upon request, may give a decision to stop the infringement until the decision of OSIM becomes final and irrevocable.
This measure may be ordered subject to payment by the applicant of a bail established by the law court.

60. In case of infringing the right of an owner of a patent for a process, provided for in Art. 33 (2) (b), the obligation to perform the test for establishing that the process used for obtaining an identical product differs from the patented process, is incumbent on the person assumed to have infringed this right.
In applying the provisions of paragraph 1, any identical product which was carried out without the patent owner=s consent shall be considered, until otherwise established, to have been obtained through the patented process in at least one of the following circumstances:
a) if the product obtained through the patented process is new;
b) if there exists a substantial probability to have obtained the identical product through the respective process and the patent owner could not, in spite of the reasonable attempts, state precisely the process which has been employed in fact.
Upon the presentation of the contrary proofs by the patent owner, the legitimate interests concerning the know-how and the trade secrets of the person assumed to have infringed the patent owner=s rights shall be taken into account.

61. Disclosure by the staff of OSIM or by the persons performing works in connection with the inventions, of the information included in the patent applications, before their publication, shall constitute an infringement and shall be punishable by imprisonment from three months to two years of by fine from 15,000,000 lei to 50,000,000 lei
OSIM shall be liable towards the inventor for the prejudice caused as a result of the infringement, provided for in paragraph 1.

62. Litigations regarding the inventorship, the capacity of patent owner, or any litigations regarding other rights arising out of the patent, inclusively the inventor=s patrimony rights, the rights resulting from assignment or licensing contracts, or litigations concerning the non-compliance with the provisions of Art. 5 (6), Art. 37 and Art. 44 shall come within the jurisdiction of the law courts.

The interested person shall communicate the decision taken by the court to OSIM, within thirty days from the date the decision became final and irrevocable, in order to be entered in the National Register for the filed patent applications or in the National Register for the patents for invention and to be published in the Official Industrial Property Bulletin. In the absence of the publication in the Official Industrial Property Bulletin, the decision if not opposable to third parties.

63. The patent owner may request the law court:
a) to order insuring measures when there exists the risk of infringing the rights arising out of a patent, if this infringement risks to cause a reparable prejudice or if there exists the risk of destroying the probative elements;
b) to order, after the grant of the customs-free, some measures to stop the acts of infringement of the rights arising out of a patent performed by a third person, on the occasion of putting into the commercial circuit some imported goods which causes damages to such rights.
The law court may decide that the infringer of the rights arising out of the patent should inform the patent owner of the identity of third parties who took part in producing and distributing the goods concerned, as well as of the distribution circuits.
The insuring measures may be ordered subject to payment by the claimant of a bail established by the law court.
To order the insuring measures the provisions of the civil law shall be applicable.
The law court may demand the claimant to supply any probative elements available in order to prove himself to be the owner of the infringed patent or of any patent whose infringement is unavoidable.

64. The customs authorities may decide, either ex officio or upon request by the patent owner, the suspension of customs clearance upon import, export or placing the goods covered by Art. 58 (1) under a suspensive customs status.

The customs competences in respect of ensuring the observance of patent rights at the frontier belong to the General Directorate of Customs, according to the law.

65. In case when by a sentence of the law court another person than the one mentioned in the patent for invention is ascertained to be entitled to be granted the patent, OSIM shall grant the patent to the entitled person and shall publish the modification of the patent owner.
If, before the grant of the patent for invention by OSIM, a judgement of the court reveals that right to the patent belongs to another person than the applicant, within three months from the date the decision of the court became final and irrevocable, and in the conditions stipulated by the implementing regulations of the present law, the person who has been recognized this right may:
a) continue, in the place of the applicant, the procedure concerning the filed patent application as for an own application;
b) file a new patent application for the same invention. For the elements which do not extend the content of the initial application filed by observing the provisions of Art. 19, the initial application shall be declared by OSIM as being considered withdrawn starting on the date of filing the new application;
c) request the rejection of the application.

66. At the request of the law court, OSIM must submit the acts, documents and information necessary for judging the cause entrusted to the law court, these documents being finally recovered. Summoning in the court shall be made only for this purpose.

67. OSIM is a specialized body of the central public administration subordinated to the Government, with unique authority on the territory of Romania in ensuring protection in the field of industrial property, in accordance with the law and with the provisions of the international conventions and treaties to which the Romanian State is a party.

68. In the field of the inventions OSIM has the following competence:
a) coordinates the industrial property policy in Romania;
b) registers, publishes and examines the patent applications with a view to granting and issuing the patent for invention;
c) is the depository of the National Register for the filed patent applications and of the National Register for the patents for invention where all information concerning the patent applications and the issued patents is entered;
d) is the receiving office for the patent applications filed internationally by Romanian applicants, according to the provisions of the Patent Cooperation Treaty;
e) administers, preserves and develops, by international exchanges, the national collection of descriptions of invention and makes the informational database in the field of inventions on any kind of international support;
f) performs, upon request, services of technical information from the descriptions of Romanian and foreign inventions and from the official industrial property publications;
g) attests and authorizes the industrial property attorneys, keeps the evidence thereof in the national register whose depository is and periodically publishes the information contained in this register;
h) develops relations with similar governmental and intergovernmental organizations and with specialized international organizations to which the Romanian State is a party;

i) organizes training courses for the formation and qualification of the specialists in this field;
j) periodically edits and publishes in the Official Industrial Property Bulletin information relating to the patent applications and patents for invention.

69. The patent applications filed with OSIM under the provisions of the Patent Law no. 62/1974 for which there has been no decision as to either to accept or refuse such applications, shall be solved pursuant to the present law.

70. The patents for inventions, including the improvement patents, granted before the coming into force of the present law and valid on the territory of Romania have the protection period provided for in Art. 31.
Throughout the validity period of the improvement patent, the exploitation of the invention shall be made in compliance with the provisions of Art. 48 (8).
The royalties the inventors are entitled to for the patented inventions which have been exploited, partially granted or not granted before the date the present law has come into force, shall be negotiated between the inventor and the employer that has exploited the invention. In these cases the negotiation shall begin from the maximum royalties the inventor was entitled to as provided for in the law applicable on the date of the patent application filing . Should no agreement be reached between the parties, the royalties shall be established pursuant to the provisions of Art. 62.

The right to the patent for invention shall be transferred to the inventor through the effect of the law, in the cases in which, on the date the present law comes into force, the enterprise that has become the applicant through the effect of the legal assignment provided for in Art. 14 from the Patent Law no. 62/1974 has not exploited the invention or has not taken the necessary steps for its exploitation.

71. The patents for invention in force represent intangible assets and shall be registered in the patrimony of the applicant as legal person.

72. The royalties of the author of a technological achievement, which is new at the level of an employer and useful to it shall be established by a contract concluded between the author and the employer.
The employer that exploits this technical achievement must attest the capacity as an author.
Non-compliance with the provisions of paragraphs 1 and 2 shall results in the employer liability to pay damages to the author pursuant to the civil law. The damages shall be established depending on the economic results obtained by the employer.

73. The profit or income obtained as a result of the effective application in the country of an invention for which a patent has been granted in Romania, including the manufacturing of the product or as the case may be, the application of the process by the owner or, where appropriate, by the licensees thereof, shall be tax exempt within the first five years from the first application, calculated from the date the application started and included within the patent validity period.
Of the provisions of paragraph 1 shall benefit the legal or natural persons who exploit the invention, the owner of the applied patent, respectively.
The income obtained by the patent owner by assignment of the patent is tax exempt.

74. The present law shall come into force after three months from the date of its publication in the Official Gazette of Romania, Part I.

On the same date, the Law no. 62/1974 concerning the inventions and innovations, the Decree no. 93/1976 concerning the norms regarding the calculation of the royalties the authors of inventions applied in the national economy are entitled to, Decree no. 363/1976 concerning the fees for the patent applications and for the patents for inventions as well as any other provisions contrary to this law shall be abrogated.

NOTE:
We reproduce below Art. II from the Law no. 203/2002 not incorporated in the republished text of the Patent Law no. 64/1991 and which is applied further on as provisions characteristic of the Law no. 203/2002.
We mention that the references within these articles relate to the texts of the Patent Law no. 64/1991, as published in the Official Gazette of Romania, Part I, no. 212 of 21 October 1991.

AArt. II - (1) The present law shall come into force after three months from the date of publication in the Official Gazette of Romania, Part I.
(2) On the date of coming into force of the present law, the provisions of Art. 30 (2), indented line 4 from the Law no. 146/1997 concerning the judiciary stamp duty, published in the Official Gazette of Romania, Part I, no. 173 of 29 July 1997, with the subsequent modifications and completions as well as any other contrary provisions shall be abrogated.
(3) Within three months from the publication of the present law in the Official Gazette of Romania, Part I, the Government shall approve by a decision the Implementing Regulations of the Patent Law no. 64/1991 with the subsequent modifications and completions and with the modifications and completions brought by the present law.
(4) Establishing the share of profit or income obtained by the patent owner, provided for in Art. 68*) from the Patent Law no. 64/1991 shall be made by norms elaborated by the Ministry of Public Finances, at the proposal made by OSIM, which shall be approved by Government Decision within ninety days from the publication of the present law in the Official Gazette of Romania, Part I.

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*) In the republished form of the Patent Law no. 64/1991, after renumbering the texts., Art. 68 has become Art. 73.