The regulation of design protection in Romanian law is only of recent date.
The first regulation was the Law No. 129/1993 in the field of the industrial property right, followed by Law no. 8/1996 in the field of copyright.
The interests of creators of pharmaceutical products being more practical than artistic, these products are protected by the industrial property legislation, and specifically Law no. 129/1993. According to this law, design protection is assured by a design registration certificate issued by patent Office on the basis of a regular national filing.
The owner of this certificate has the exclusive right to use within the territory of Romania for a five year period with the possibility of extending this by two further five years periods, as well as the right to prevent third parties from any action without his consent.
For pharmaceutical products, the shape in close association with the colour and the packaging thereof can be protected by a design registration.
An aesthetic shape can be achieved by modelling the product or by decorating its outer surface.
Taking into account also consumers’ psychology, shapes with various outside decorations representing toys may be protected with a view to diverting children’s attention from the act of administering the medicaments.
Concerning the packaging, the basic elements for design protection are the shape, colour, graphic art and the informational message.
The major element is the graphic art, since this contributes to the initial impact which a product has on consumers and plays an important role in communicating information and impressions in connection with the product.
The advertising effect of the packaging is completed by the trade mark.
This helps the purchaser to memorize the product manufactured by a company, to find it more quickly and to take the decision of buying.
This article was published first in Managing Intellectual Property - Euromoney
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