Romania will join the Unitary Patent system when the membership agreement comes into effect from 1 September.
This means that granted European patents for which unitary effect is requested offer protection in Romania, as well as in the 17 countries of the European Union that have formed part of the system since it was implemented 15 months ago.
How is a European Patent validated in Romania?
Until Romania’s membership agreement comes into effect and it joins the unitary patent system, the only route for a European patent to protect an invention in the Balkan country was by applying for national validation within a period of three months (the period could be extended another 3 months if requested before the deadline) from the date of publication of the grant in the European Patent Bulletin.
The following is required in order to activate the national validation route:
- Pay the validation fees (and the renewal fees in subsequent years)
- Full translation of the patent text into Romanian (description, claims and, if applicable, the drawings)
- Authorised patent attorney before the Romanian Patent and Trademark Office
As of 1 September 2024, there will now be the option of requesting the unitary effect.
How is the unitary effect requested for a European patent?
- The period for requesting unitary effect for a European patent is one month from the publication of grant of the European patent in the European Patent Bulletin.
- There is no fee to request the unitary effect; a renewal fee will have to be paid as of the second year
- One translation: only a translation into English is required if the European patent is in French or German. If the European patent is in English, a full translation into any other language of an EU member country must be provided. Therefore, this language could be Romanian, but could also be any other language. In fact, it does not need to be a language of a country participating in the unitary patent system, which means that this translation could also be into Spanish so that it may also be validated in Spain
- The request for unitary effect is processed by a European Patent Attorney
Romania’s inclusion into the Unitary Patent system
At least for the time being, Romania will not have a Unified Patent Court.
In any case, the Balkan country’s participation in the system will mean that the unitary effect will cover a market which will now include the 19 million people living in Romania.
She is Spanish Patent and Trademark Agent since 2007. She also obtained the European Patent Administrator Certificate (EPAC), granted by the EPO, in 2023.
