A somewhat predictable decision, "both from the perspective of fulfilling obligations as a member state of the European Union and from the perspective of the advantages offered by the new unitary patent system for the business environment in general" (quote from the explanatory memorandum of the ratification law).
The explanatory memorandum continues to list the advantages of the unitary patent system, especially for small and medium-sized enterprises, such as: obtaining a patent that takes effect in 18 states with lower costs, but especially lower maintenance costs (a single maintenance fee for the unitary patent covering all the 18 states), a simplified validation procedure compared to validating in each state, and the dispute resolution procedure through the Unified Patent Court.
As regards foreign companies, they will now be able to obtain protection in Romania through the unitary patent with minimal costs. This could be a good opportunity for investments that could lead to the development of certain fields due to the appearance of new patented technologies.
Unfortunately, it can be observed that Romanian applicants file only a handful of European patent applications. Perhaps for many of them, the costs of obtaining protection for their inventions remain quite high, and reaching the stage of opting for the unitary patent requires a significant financial effort.
Challenges faced by Romanian companies using unitary patents
One disadvantage for Romanian companies is that the specifications of the unitary patent will not be published in Romanian, and they may have to rely on machine translation. In some circumstances, there will certainly be additional costs for accurately translating the descriptions, especially in order to check whether the product or method used infringes on a protected right.
In case of unitary patent litigations, the costs are very high for Romanian small and medium-sized enterprises, whether we are talking about defending protected rights or defending oneself in the event of a potential infringement of unitary patents.
I consider that the financial impact of ratifying the Agreement will be substantial. It is very likely that the number of European Patent (EP) validation requests in Romania will decrease, which will lead to a significant decline in the revenue of the State Office for Inventions and Trademarks.
Many will say that I am only focusing on the financial aspects of the ratification. In my opinion this is a very important issue. Intellectual property rights holders want to protect their rights at the lowest possible cost, while the State Office for Inventions and Trademarks in Romania will have no choice but to increase the official fees in case of a significant decline in applications/validations.
We will have to wait and see what the future holds.
FICPI’s view
FICPI uniquely combines education and advocacy on topics around patents and trade marks, with a focus on developing the professional excellence of its individual members. FICPI is aware of the stresses and strains that come with being an IP attorney or being a partner in an IP firm and regularly invites speakers and blogs on this topic. FICPI Forums, Congress, committees and meetings are opportunities to gather insights from the international IP attorney community on any issue, whether it be practice-related or topics of patent and trade mark law.
Next steps
- Register for the 2024 FICPI Forum, taking place in Madrid from 25-28 September
- Consider getting involved with FICPI’s Study & Work groups such as CET 4 (European Patents) or CET 3 (International Patents)