CMS | Romanian trade marks can be cancelled by the OSIM

♦    The administrative proceedings for cancellation are optional. In other words, these proceedings cannot prevent interested persons from filing a claim directly with the competent court.
♦    The claim is assigned to a specialised Board within the OSIM, whose members are only responsible for resolving claims for cancellation, without being involved in any other procedure on trade marks carried out by the OSIM and without interfering with the activity of the Board of Appeals within the OSIM.
♦    OSIM decisions rendered in cancellation proceedings can be appealed within 30 days of the communication before the Bucharest Tribunal. The decision of the Bucharest Tribunal is only subject to appeal before the Bucharest Court of Appeals.

→    The cancellation claim is filed with the OSIM. The Trade Marks Law sets down the information required for the cancellation claim. The claim should be drafted in the Romanian language and include the grounds for cancellation and the supporting evidence.
→    Within five days of the registration of the claim, the secretary of the Board will check whether the claim contains all relevant information and observes the formal requirements provided by the law. The secretary will then forward the claim to the "rapporteur", who is one of the members of the Board.
→    If the claim is irregular, the claimant will be notified and will be given five days to remedy the irregularities. If the irregularities persist, the Board will reject the claim without summoning the parties.
→    If the claim is compliant, it will be served to the respondent who should reply within 30 days of the communication.
→    The reply of the respondent will be served to the claimant who can file a standpoint within ten days of the communication.
→    The parties will be summoned for a public hearing. The hearing can be secret if the public debate could damage one of the parties or public order.
→    Upon the reasoned request of the parties or where the hearing reveals a need for the filing of supplementary evidence, the hearing can be adjourned until later.
→    At the end of the debates, the Board will deliberate in secret on the decision to be taken. If the Board finds that further information or documents are required, it may reopen the case by setting a new hearing and summoning the parties.
→    In terms of a decision, the Board can:

►        admit the claim in whole or in part, ordering the invalidation of the trade mark or the revocation of the rights conferred by the trade mark in whole or in part, as the case may be;
►        reject the claim;
►        take note of the withdrawal of the claim;
►        take note of the settlement reached between the parties;
►        declare the claim to be no longer admissible if it remained unprocessed for six months for reasons attributable to the claimant.