From 1991, by adopting the new Constitution, Romania has begun to consolidate a real market economy based on principles of the state of law guaranteeing the right of property irrespective of the owner. The transition from a centralized to a market economy is a complex process requiring radical changes in all fields of activity, but first of all in the economic field, Romania has made remarkable steps and has succeeded in reaching international and, in particular, European standard.

So, on October 15, 1996, the system of extending the European Patent came into force in Romania as a result of ratification of cooperation Agreement concluded to this purpose. By February 1998 Romania has to request adherence to the European Patent Convention.

The extension is deemed requested for any European patent application and all Euro-PCT applications (provided that both the EPO and ROMANIA are validly designated) filed on or after 15 October 1996. It occurs at the applicant's request and provided that the extension fee in amount of 200 DM to be paid to the EPO within the time limits prescribed in the EPC.

After expiry of the basic time limit, the extension fee can still be validly paid within a period of grace of two months provided that period a surcharge of 50% is also paid. If the extension fee is not paid in due time, the request for extension is deemed withdrawn.

The applicant can withdraw the request for extension it any time informing the EPO of his wish to do so. Validly paid extension fees are not refunded. Any European divisional application arising from a European patent application can also be extended to Romania. The extension fee in that case must be paid within the time limits prescribed.

A European patent application for which extension has been requested is equivalent to a duly filed national application, and after publication confers provisional protection provided the applicant communicates to the Romanian National Office for Patent and Trade Marks the prescribed translation of the claims in Romanian and pays the prescribed publication fee.

A European patent extending to Romania has the same effects as a national patent after the EPO publishes the mention of grant. In this respect the patent proprietor must file a translation of the specification of the extended European patent in Romania and pay the prescribed publication fee.

Concerning the collision between European and national application or patents the agreement clear stipulates that for subsequent Romanian application an earlier European application extending to Romania has the same prior-art effect as a national application provided that the extension fee has been paid.

Also, where an extended European patent and a national patent have the same priority, belonging to the same proprietor and referring to the same invention, the national patent will have no effect from the date when the European Patent become in force. This is in line with the double-protection provisions of most EPC contracting states.

With regard to the renewal fees for extended European Patent must be mentioned that they are payable to the Romanian Patent Office under the provisions governing national patents for the years following that in which mention of grant of the European Patent was published.

Finally, it is important to underline that the whole procedure and the legal effects of extension will be governed solely by Romanian Law, excepting the time limits and arrangements for paying the extension fees.

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