It is not everyone who combines their professional and artistic passions quite like our Featured Member of the Month, Raluca Vasilescu, co-founder and partner with the firm of Cabinet M. Oproiu in Bucharest, Romania.
A beautiful water colour of Bruges, is one of two pieces of Raluca’s work that in 2021 graced on online artists exhibition hosted by the Institute of Professional Representatives before the European Patent Office (EPI).
Raluca says she adores painting and is particularly fascinated by the medieval period:
“I like to visit medieval sites and read books about the subject, from fiction to historical books. I combine the two passions with paintings of medieval villages, castles, windows and balconies such as the one in Siguënza, which was the other painting that EPI included in its exhibition.”
PROFESSIONAL BACKGROUND
Raluca co-founded the firm Cabinet M. Oproiu, www.opriou.ro, in 1995, along with her professional partner Margareta Oproiu.
Since, it has become the leading Romanian firm in the niche field of industrial property counselling, with a full-time staff of around 12 people.
Raluca’s education and training includes a bachelor’s degree in architecture and a master’s in business administration.
Also noteworthy is that in 2000, she attended one of the first ever FICPI Euro-SEAD patent drafting courses, in Ottrot, France.
ADDING VALUE TO CLIENTS
As an accomplished artist, it is not surprising that Raluca identifies creativity as one of the key satisfactions from a career as an independent IP attorney.
To illustrate how creativity is applied in IP, she recalls a recent client project:
“We created a patent description entirely from the drawings of the client in a case where we didn’t write the specification as filed. It worked!”
Overall, she believes that bringing value to clients focuses on service and attitude:
“Value lies in professional services carried out with a very friendly attitude towards the clients and the collaborators and among ourselves within the firm. We really enjoy working!”
She expands on this as she outlines a best practice from her own firm to share with her fellow FICPI members:
“We are continuously attempting to improve the services, irrespective of who the client is and the professional task. It’s not necessary to work on a famous or very expensive case to develop a mindset to carry out the job better each day.”
As for the future of the IP profession, she believes technology will bring change for good and bad:
“The use of the automated translations and other tools, such as those for drafting patents, will probably ease the work of some attorneys, but may lead to worse protection in the majority of cases.”
VALUE OF FICPI MEMBERSHIP
Raluca joined FICPI more than 20 years ago in 2000 and currently sits on the CET 1 working group, which focuses on trade marks.
The value of FICPI membership for Raluca is a lot about learning, professionally and culturally:
“I learn a lot from my peers, professionally and personally – their interests, hobbies, traditions, and practices. I love cultural diversity.”
FINAL WORD - OUTSIDE OF WORK
So, there is no surprise in the choice of the one thing that Raluca would like her colleagues in the global FICPI community to know about her as a person:
“I value a lot interacting with people of different cultures and backgrounds, beyond the mere professional matters.”
