Resources
Glossary
Plain-language definitions of the trade mark and industrial design terms used across this site and in practice before OSIM, the EUIPO and WIPO.
- OSIM
- The State Office for Inventions and Trademarks — Romania’s national IP office. It examines and registers Romanian trade marks (on absolute grounds) and industrial designs.
- EUIPO
- The European Union Intellectual Property Office, in Alicante. It administers the EU trade mark (EUTM) and the Registered EU Design (REUD).
- WIPO
- The World Intellectual Property Organization, in Geneva. It administers the Madrid System (trade marks) and the Hague System (designs) for international registration.
- EU trade mark (EUTM)
- A single, unitary registration covering all 27 EU member states, obtained at the EUIPO. One application, one registration, one renewal.
- Registered EU Design (REUD)
- A unitary EU design right covering the whole Union, filed centrally at the EUIPO. It replaced the term “Registered Community Design” in the 2025 EU design reform.
- Madrid Protocol
- The WIPO treaty for international trade mark registration. A single international application can designate Romania and/or the European Union, among many territories.
- Hague System
- The WIPO system for international design registration. A single international registration can designate Romania and the EU.
- Provisional refusal
- A notice issued by a designated office (OSIM or the EUIPO) objecting to a Madrid or Hague designation, with a deadline to respond directly to that office. Contesting it usually requires a local representative.
- Absolute grounds
- Objections to registrability that lie in the sign itself — for example a lack of distinctiveness or a descriptive meaning — which OSIM and the EUIPO examine of their own motion.
- Opposition
- A challenge to a published trade mark application based on earlier rights. In Romania the window is two months from publication in BOPI; for an EU trade mark it is three months from publication.
- BOPI
- Romania’s Official Industrial Property Bulletin (Buletinul Oficial de Proprietate Industrială), in which OSIM publishes accepted applications.
- Priority (Paris Convention)
- The right to claim the date of a first filing made abroad on a later Romanian or EU application filed within six months — preserving the earlier date.
- Local representative
- The representative a holder must appoint before OSIM or the EUIPO to contest a provisional refusal on a Madrid or Hague designation of Romania or the EU.