The State Agency on Intellectual Property (AGEPI) announces the adoption of the Practice Paper: Likelihood of Confusion (impact of non-distinctive/weak components) - Relative Grounds of Refusal.

This Practice Paper has been prepared in line with the Common Communication resulting of the Common Practice of Trademarks developed by the European Union Intellectual Property Network (EUIPN) and aimed to give guidance regarding the impact of non-distinctive/weak components of the marks at issue on the assessment of likelihood of confusion. It has been tailor-made to the specificities of AGEPI, providing for an overview of the Office’s quality standards for substantive examination of trademarks.

The document provides a clear and comprehensive explanation of the principles on which the common practice of trademarks will be based. These principles will be generally applied and are aimed at covering the large majority of cases.

This Practice Paper has been adopted by AGEPI and made public with the purpose of further increasing transparency, legal certainty, and predictability for the benefit of examiners and users alike.

The Practice Paper was made available to the public in Romanian and English. The Practice Paper is divided into two parts: the first part is a summary of the criteria addressed, while the second part provides a full explanation of the specific criteria applicable in each case.

This achievement was made possible by the cooperation between AGEPI and EUIPO. It should be noted that the two offices signed in July 2017 a Memorandum of Understanding on bilateral cooperation in the field of intellectual property, in order to strengthen intellectual property systems and services by organizing joint actions, exchanges of experience and implementing common projects and practices.

The Practice Paper can be found below.