Practice

Provisional refusals & office actions

This is the work foreign agents most often instruct us to do, and it is the work we are built for.

What a provisional refusal is

When an international registration designates Romania or the European Union, OSIM or the EUIPO examines that designation under its own law. If there is an objection — absolute grounds, an earlier right, an opposition, or a formality — the office issues a provisional refusal: a notice of grounds, with a deadline to respond. WIPO forwards it to the holder or their representative.

Why a local representative is needed

To contest a provisional refusal, the holder must respond directly to the office that issued it — not to WIPO — and the Madrid and Hague systems allow that office to require the appointment of a local representative. For Romania and the EU, that representative is us.

The deadline is the point

The response period is fixed by the office concerned and is often short. A missed deadline means the designation is refused, wholly or in part, in that territory — frequently with limited recourse.

Provisional-refusal response timeline When OSIM or the EUIPO issues a provisional refusal against a designation, the holder responds directly to that office within a fixed window; the deadline is decisive, and a decision follows. Designation Provisional refusal Decision Deadline Response window
Designation → provisional refusal → response window → deadline → decision.

What we do on receipt

  1. Acknowledge immediately and calendar the deadline to the day.
  2. Confirm the requirements of OSIM or the EUIPO for that designation — language, power of attorney, the form of response.
  3. Assess and report a clear route — what the objection is, the prospects, and what we recommend — before the window closes.
  4. File the response and carry it through to the office’s decision; advise on review or appeal if needed.

How we are instructed

Forward the WIPO notification (or the office action) and the international registration number. A scanned power of attorney is generally enough to act. We report in clear, fixed correspondence so you can update your client without chasing us.

Common questions

Can you act on both trade mark (Madrid) and design (Hague) refusals?
Yes — for Romania and the EU, on both systems.
What do you need to start?
The WIPO notification or office action, the registration number, and a power of attorney (a scan suffices to begin).
What if the deadline is very close?
Send it anyway and flag the urgency — acknowledging and calendaring on receipt is exactly how we avoid losing rights to the clock.

Instruct a Romanian and EU representative.

Request a consultation

Or forward a WIPO notification or office action by email