Intellectual Property Rights (IPR)’ Protection

 WHY it is necessary
to protect IPR?
 Types of IPR
 Protection Tools
 Intellectual property (IP)
= a term referring to creations of the
intellect for which a monopoly is
assigned to designated owners
by law!

The stated objective of most

intellectual property law (with the
exception of trademarks) is:
to “promote progress!"

By exchanging limited exclusive

rights for disclosure of inventions
and creative works, society and
the patentee/copyright owner
mutually benefit, and an
incentive is created for
inventors and authors to create
and disclose their work.
Types of intellectual property rights (IPR):
A. Copyrights
B. Industrial Intellectual Property:
B1. Industrial intellectual creations:
 Invention,
 Innovation,
 Know-how,
 Utility models,
 Drawings & industrial Models,
 Topographies of integrated circuits, etc.

B2. Distinguishing Marks of Industrial Activity:

 Brand (factory, trade and service);
 Geographical Indications (of origin)
 Trade name (company)
 Emblem/ mark/ sign.
Intellectual Property Protection in Romania:

A. Copyrights – are protected by

The Romanian Copyright Office
(Oficiul Român pentru Drepturile de
Autor/ ORDA/ www.orda.ro/ L8/ 1996).

B. Industrial Intellectual
Property Rights - are
protected by
The State Office of Inventions
and Trademarks
(Oficiul de Stat pentru Invenţii şi Mărci/
OSIM/ www.osim.ro)/ L84/1998);
The State Office of
Inventions and
Trademarks (OSIM)
provides documentary
research services in
the field of:

•Inventions
•Trademarks
•Industrial Design

Adresă: Strada Ion Ghica

5, București
Program: L-V
 08–17:30
Telefon: 
021 306 0800
International Organizations for the IPR protection:

 The European Union

Intellectual Property
office/ EUIPO (2016)
(https://euipo.europa.eu/ohimportal/en/about-
euipo); former Office for Harmonization for the
Internal Market (OHIM)

 World Intellectual Property

Organization (WIPO/
www.wipo.int/portal/en/index.htm
l.
 A. Copyrights:
= are designed to protect “works of  Typically,
authorship,” generally referring to works of the duration of a
literature, music, and art that have been copyright spans the
author's life plus 50 to
“tangibly expressed.” 100 years (depending
= gives the creator of an original work, on the jurisdiction).
exclusive rights to use it and distribute it,
usually for a limited time.

 Copyright may apply to a wide range of

creative, intellectual, or artistic forms:
 scientific (ex. studies, scientific articles etc.)
 literary (ex. novels, poetry, literary criticism);
 artistic (musical works, choreographic art,
photos, etc.).

 Not the ideas are the ones protected but

the forms they take!
 B. Industrial Intellectual Property:
B1. Industrial intellectual creations (I)
Industries protect their ideas through a
variety of legal instruments such as
patents, copyrights, designs, models
and trademarks. Without them, they
may be less inclined to develop new
ideas and products. 

Invention = is a unique or novel device method,

composition or process.

 Some inventions can be patented. A patent legally

protects the inventor and legally recognizes that a
claimed invention is actually an invention.
 The patents granted for inventions protect the
technical and functional aspects of the products and
processes!

Innovation = is a new idea, a more effective device

or process.

 The inventor/ innovator is legally entitled to capture

the full social and economic value of his/her work!

 The rules and requirements for registering a patent for

an invention vary from country to country, and the
process of obtaining a patent is often expensive.
 B. Industrial Intellectual Property:
B1. Industrial intellectual creations (II)
 Know-how = a component in the transfer of
technology in national and international
environments, co-existing with or separate from
other IP rights such as patents, trademarks &
copyright etc. It can be an economic asset.

 Utility models = an incremental/ “smaller”

invention that can also be patented.

 Industrial Design = is the creative act of

determining the visual features of shape,
configuration, pattern or ornament applied to a
finished article; it takes place in advance of the
physical act of making a product.

 Integrated Circuits Topography = the three-

dimensional configurations of electronic circuits
embodied in integrated circuit products or layout
designs.
 Brevet de Model de Desen/Model Drept de Secrete
Marcă
inventie utilitate industrial autor comerciale

Industrial
Patent Utility model Trade Mark Copyright Trade secret
design
Technical Technical A distinctive Esthetical An original Competitive
invention invention sign aspect of a creation advantage
product opportunity
product product visual  2D arts Know-how
process process aucoustic  3D Charts and
Olfactory technical
design
programs

20 years 10 years 10 years (can 5 years (up to Lifelong + Until it

be extended) 25 years) 70 years after becomes
death public
OSIM - OSIM OSIM ORDA …

OEB (EPO) OHIM (TM&D) OHIM (TM&D)

OMPI-TCB OMPI-TCB OMPI-TCB
 Patent Concession / Licensing/ License Agreement

A license may be granted by a party ("licensor")

to another party ("licensee") as an element
of an agreement between those parties. A
license is "an authorization (by the licensor)
to use the licensed material (by the
licensee)."
The owner of a patent has the exclusive
exploitation rights guaranteed by the law!

According to a License Agreement, the

licensor, may grant
a licensee (under intellectual property laws)
the right to use his/her patent (including the
right to sublicense) under specific conditions
(of time, territory, renewal provisions or other
limitations deemed vital to the licensor). It is
generally a royalty bearing contract.

The Exclusive/ Non-exclusive Patent License

Agreement

The Concession Contract = giving up to the

intellectual property rights in exchange to a
certain amount of money.
B. Industrial Intellectual Property:
B2. Distinguishing Marks of Industrial Activity:

 Brand (factory, product, service) = A brand name identifies a specific

product or name of a company. It encompasses the visible elements, such
as colors, design, logotype, name, symbol etc., that together identify and
distinguish products/ services in the consumers’ mind; when a brand name
is doing its job, it evokes positive images or emotions in consumers, which
is why brand can be so valuable. Because of a brand name's importance,
many companies want to protect it through trademark. And in some cases,
the brand name becomes part of the everyday vocabulary (such as:
Xerox, for a copy; Adidas for sports shoes)

 Trademark. A trademark is a registered brand or trade name. Registering

a trademark gives one the legal ownership and the sole right to use it
nationwide. Although a trademark has no limited term of existence (it can
be always extended), the rights to use it may be lost, due to misuse or
lack of use.

 Geographical Indications (of origin) - A label identifying where a product

was produced or grown, and implying characteristics or quality particular
to that location.
 The Brand/ Trademark Value

= intangible asset (intangible) that

can represent up to 80% of the
total assets of the company
(exp .: Tiffany, Bulgary etc.).

It can generate revenue on itself!

Trademarks/ wordmark/ logotype:
2018
Counterfeiting:
 The term counterfeiting refers
to activities associated with
non-genuine products which
violate intellectual property (IP)
rights such as patents,
technology, trademarks and
copyrights.

 In 2008, EU customs officials

carried out 49,331 procedures
and intercepted more than 178
million counterfeited and
pirated articles, almost double
the amount recorded in 2007.

 Counterfeiting and piracy are

detrimental to innovation,
directly affecting job creation
and economic growth.
Trademarks:

The protection afforded by a patent

does not start until the actual
grant of the patent.
Registered = ® 
Trade Mark = ™ 
Copyright = ©

Trademark counterfeiting refers
to the manufacture and
distribution of imitations of well-
known trademarked
merchandise.
Counterfeiting is a deliberate intent
to deceive buyers by copying
and distributing goods bearing
trademarks without
authorization from trademark
owner.
Trademark Piracy/ examples:
Trademark Infringement (TI)

 (TI) can strip the trademark of its value by causing "confusion

among consumers" as to the identity the product and its origin.

 SMEs facing such damaging infringement may have a serious

budgeting challenge. If the infringer ignores the firm’s warning to
cease, their clients will be forced to file suit to halt the infringement.
To succeed in the litigation, the trademark's owner will be required
to prove, among other things, that the infringer's use of a mark is
likely to cause consumer confusion.

 But the price of success may be prohibitively expensive. Absent

evidence of actual confusion, an aggrieved plaintiff will typically
need to prove confusion with so-called consumer survey evidence.
This study’s cost, on top of legal fees, may be a too high barrier for
an SME, leaving their intellectual property vulnerable to
misappropriation by more powerful infringers.
Trademark/ brand licensing:
A licensor may grant permission to a licensee to distribute products
under a trademark/ brand. With such a license, the licensee may
use the trademark without fear of a claim of trademark infringement
by the licensor.
The assignment of a license often depends on specific contractual
terms. The most common terms are, that a license is only
applicable for:
- a particular geographic region,
- just for a certain period of time,
- or merely for a stage in the value chain.

Moreover, there are different types of fees within the trademark/ brand
licensing:
 a fee independent of sales and profits;
 a fee is dependent on the productivity of the licensee.
 Notorious Patent, Trademark, and Copyright Infringement Cases:
https://secureyourtrademark.com/blog/71-notorious-patent-trademark-and-copyright-infringement-cases/#chapter6

 Twitter loses ownership of trademark on the word “tweet” to a

subsidiary.

 McDonald’s fails in an attempt to shut down a Malaysian restaurant

called McCurry.

 Facebook owns the trademark for the word “face”.

 Donald Trump’s failed attempt to trademark his catch phrase: “You’re

fired!”

 Apple was forced to pay more than $500 million in a patent dispute
over iTunes software.

 KFC tried to claim ownership of the phrase “Family Feast.”

 Paris Hilton successfully sues Hallmark for infringing on her “That’s

hot” trademark.