Radu Bozocea has been active since 2002 at Weizmann Ariana & Partners, the industrial property agency with the most trademark applications (over 500) submitted to the European Intellectual Property Office, according to the EUIPO Statistical pack by country 2015-2018. Since 2016, he has been a senior partner of the Bucharest office, and since 2018 permanent counsel of the company's Leiden (Netherlands) office. He graduated from higher economic and legal studies with training in IP Management and Valuation (London 2016) and Brand Equity (Vienna 2017).
Why is it good and advisable to protect our brands?
More relevant for those who are still undecided (less and less) are the risks of not registering a name/names used to name a product or service by which customers recognize you in the market among the rest of the competitors These essential risks I think for a proposed continuity of activity It would be :
1. Without registration, you may not have exclusive rights to use the trademark. This means that others may use a similar or identical brand, which can cause consumer confusion, loss of customers and possible compensation.
2.If someone else uses a similar or identical trademark, it is much more difficult to take legal action if the trademark is not registered. With a registered trademark, you have the legal presumption of ownership and the exclusive right to use the trademark nationwide on or in connection with the goods/services listed in the NISA classification registration
3. After registration, trademarks become valuable assets. They can be licensed, franchised or even sold. Having a trademark increases its value and potential for commercial opportunities independent of the underlying business.
4. The display of the ® symbol together with the trademark signals a serious business and, in addition, that it is registered and can deter potential infringers. If you have not registered, you cannot legally use this token, thus losing this form of passive deterrence, and in addition you cannot use a token equivalent to the desire for reputation.
5. Potential loss of Internet domain: If someone registers a domain name that includes the unregistered trademark, it may be more difficult to argue for the transfer of that domain name.
It costs a lot, is it difficult to register?
Yes, it is difficult to correctly register a trademark, a design or a patent.
It is very easy to submit the application, almost all offices accept online submissions and payment by card, but an erroneous/incomplete classification or another identical brand already registered previously means that even the certificate issued by the office is not relevant and can be cancelled. Nota bene: the offices do not check these aspects, they are the responsibility of the applicant
About how much it costs, I started inspired with the risks because that's actually where the real costs are. Concretely, however, on average the registration of a national trademark costs 500 euros on average, which are paid in installments during the 6-9 months of procedures, and the next payment is made over 10 years only for part of the fees, is it a lot?
What can we record? Names, recipes, cocktails...
Any new and original creation, resulting from an own and exclusive intellectual effort can find its form of protection (trademark, copyright, know-how, design or industrial model, invention patent or utility model) it is important to identify it on the right one to achieve its goal.
Can I register, for example, sarmales or zakusca?
The answer to the previous question is clear for this aspect. Are they new or original? Did they arise as a result of my intellectual effort? If the answer to the three aspects is affirmative, then registration and obtaining exclusivity in commercial use can be attempted.
Why would I register complex names containing sarmals or zacusca?
Precisely because those names are probably also new, original and the result of an intellectual effort. They will create the true identity of a product even in association with a generic name and in time they could become independent names and used even without association with the generic product.
How far can protection go? Can I record ideas, concepts? Or what we CANNOT record
Let's first clear up the part about protecting ideals which is a very common question: do you have an idea that you consider unique for a story, film, product or commercial service, etc.
It is fully protectable the actual way in which that idea is expressed or manifested, its concretization therefore, such as the actual story or scenario. Obviously, the idea itself is not protectable in any way (so, as a relaxed discussion, I can say that you can't even know who had it first if it didn't materialize).
In gastronomy, for example, a simple list of ingredients is not protected by copyright. However, a detailed expression about the method or a combination of recipes with illustrations and descriptions can be protected by copyright.
However, in the case of gastronomy, we have some concrete examples of European or national protections: IGP, DOP, DOC or Traditional Product, Mountain Product, what does it help us with? If we obtain, for example, a mountain product certificate from the ministry, should we protect extra or is that enough?
Including and especially in the field of gastronomy, the protection of the recipe, the name of the product or its presentation is essential in the first place for the correct information of those who consume them. We all want the Pleșcoi recipe to be the same wherever we find those famous sausages to buy, the Kurtos kolacs to look the same and taste the same, or the Horezu dishes to be made from the clay of that area. Any form of protection has its value, but obviously also some conditions and limitations. It is essential to highlight the connection between the creator, the moment of appearance and the characteristics for which exclusivity of use is requested.
There are, for example, old recipes without copyright. If we modify them a little (form, content) can we register them?
Yes, we can register, but obviously only our contribution, that modification which represents a novelty and which differentiates similar products. Old recipes, if they are common, are assimilated to common knowledge that obviously belong to society, so they cannot be claimed. For the rest of the situations, old but unusual recipes, the principle must be taken into account that an exclusivity obtained even through an act issued by an office is voidable after analyzing the aspects related to the original, new and own effort of the one who requested the rights.
If a body (let's say a country) registers a recipe (which can also enter the UNESCO heritage) can we still use or modify it? For example, Greek salad or carbonara pasta (which have specified exactly what ingredients they must contain) and if we change them, are we allowed to use the original name?
The owner (regardless of whether he is a natural person or who knows what international body) establishes the conditions under which his brand, recipe, image, etc. can be used. any intellectual property rights.
Any deviation or omission is incorrect and obviously generates a financial/legal risk for the one who tries "tricks" to bring him a commercial benefit on the back of the protected intellectual effort of a holder.
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