You launched your brand. You have your first clients. You invested in visual identity, packaging, website. Everything’s going well.

Then you get a notification. Someone else registered your trademark. Or something so similar it doesn’t matter anymore. You have two options: fight it in court or rebrand completely.

Both will cost you 10 times more than doing things right from the start.

This isn’t a horror story. It’s the reality in Romania in 2026, where most startups believe OSIM protects their brand. It doesn’t. And that’s because the Romanian trademark protection system works on a simple principle: if you don’t know the rules, you lose.

We’ll show you exactly how the system works, why OSIM is no longer enough, and what you need to do to actually protect your brand.

The reality of OSIM: what nobody tells you about trademark protection in Romania

Let’s clarify something from the start. OSIM (State Office for Inventions and Trademarks) does not verify if your trademark is unique. Read that again.

OSIM does not check for identity or similarity with prior trademarks. Zero. None.

⛔️ OSIM doesn’t werify if your trademark is unique

Since 2010, OSIM stopped ex-officio verification of trademark similarity. That means you can file any trademark, even if it’s identical to an existing one, and OSIM will accept it for publication in the Official Bulletin.

It’s not their job to check. It’s your responsibility.

The system works on the opposition principle. You file the trademark. OSIM publishes it in the Official Bulletin of Industrial Property (BOPI). Owners of other trademarks have 2 months to oppose. If nobody opposes, your trademark goes through.

Sounds simple? It’s not. Because monitoring BOPI is also your responsibility.

⛔️ What the opposition period means (and why it’s a lottery)

Here’s how it works in practice:

You file a trademark with OSIM. They examine it formally (check if you filled out the forms correctly, if you paid the fee, if the trademark doesn’t violate public order). After about 6-8 months, your trademark is published in BOPI.

From the publication date, any prior trademark owner has exactly 2 months to file an opposition. If they file, you enter an opposition process that can last 1-2 years and cost several thousand euros in lawyers. If you win, your trademark goes through. If you lose, you’ve lost the money and the time.

But here’s the interesting part: if nobody files an opposition within those 2 months, your trademark is registered automatically. Even if it’s identical to another. Even if you knew about the prior trademark or not.

This means if you have a registered trademark and want to protect it, you need to monitor BOPI every week. Yourself or through lawyers who cost money.

If you miss the 2-month opposition period, you’re essentially giving tacit consent for registration of a similar or identical trademark. Absurd, but that’s reality.

It’s a lottery. It’s gambling. It’s the system we have.

OSIM vs EUIPO: why registering only in Romania is no longer sufficient

Now comes the part most entrepreneurs discover too late.

👉 OSIM protection: limited to Romanian territory

An OSIM trademark gives you protection exclusively on Romanian territory. It costs approximately 1,642 lei for one NICE class (color trademark) and takes 8-11 months until registration. Validity is 10 years with renewal possibility.

Sounds good? Depends.

The problem isn’t what OSIM protects you from. The problem is what it doesn’t protect you from.

👉 Why EUIPO is mandatory (even if you only sell in Romania)

Romania is part of the European Union. That means any trademark registered with EUIPO (European Union Intellectual Property Office) is valid in Romania too.

Read that again. An EUIPO trademark is valid IN Romania as well.

So you can have your trademark free in the OSIM database, but occupied at EUIPO. And guess which one prevails in case of conflict? EUIPO. Because EUIPO covers EU territory, including Romania.

The cost of an EUIPO trademark is 850 euros for one class. The process takes 4-6 months. And you get protection in all 27 member states.

It doesn’t matter if it’s free in OSIM if it’s occupied in EUIPO.

Here’s the painful conclusion: OSIM is no longer relevant if you don’t also check EUIPO. You can’t just register locally and hope you’re protected. The system doesn’t work that way. The legal reality in the EU doesn’t work that way.

You need to check both databases. You need to protect yourself at European level. Otherwise, everything you’re building is on sand.

The naming problem: 130 million trademarks vs 700,000 Words

Now let’s talk about the elephant in the room: naming.

EUIPO provides brand protection across all 27 EU member states. EUIPO has over 130 million registered trademarks.

📌 Why you can’t just “dig through” the dictionary anymore

EUIPO has over 130 million registered trademarks. The Romanian dictionary has approximately 700,000 words. The math is simple and brutal.

Naming is no longer about digging through a dictionary and finding a beautiful word. It’s about creating something the dictionary hasn’t even dreamed of yet. It’s about neologisms, combinations, linguistic inventions that are distinctive enough to be legally protectable.

When we worked on the professional naming process for Marioko, our client Vladimir Marin (Edelweiss Group) told us: “The biggest challenge was finding a name and image for this brand, especially given that unexplored options are increasingly scarce.”

That was in 2020. In 2026, the situation is even more complicated.

It’s no longer enough to find a beautiful name. You need to find a name that:

• Isn’t occupied in EUIPO
• Isn’t similar to other trademarks in the same NICE classes
• Is distinctive enough to be protectable
• Works linguistically in the markets where you want to operate
• Has long-term growth potential

That doesn’t get solved in an afternoon on Google.

📌 The real cost of an unprotected name

Let’s talk about real costs.

Registering an EUIPO trademark: 850 euros. Professional verification: 300-500 euros. Total: approximately 1,200-1,400 euros.

Forced rebranding of a business that has already built market presence: 15,000 – 50,000 euros. That includes logo design, visual identity, packaging design, website, marketing materials, loss of brand recognition, and time spent in courts.

The difference is 10-50x. This isn’t an estimate. It’s reality from projects we’ve seen.

Companies that lost famous trademarks because they didn’t protect them correctly aren’t exceptions. They’re common cases. But they don’t make headlines because most settle with money, outside courts, through agreements that include confidentiality clauses.

Your brand can be perfect from a visual standpoint. It can be memorable. It can have hundreds of clients. But if it’s not legally protected, you’re building on sand.

The “Trademark cemetery”: why the current system doesn’t work

Let’s talk about a systemic problem nobody discusses: zombie trademarks.

Millions of trademarks are registered but no longer in use – yet they still block the market

❗️ Trademarks protected for 10 years, brands dead after 1 year

The current trademark protection system works like this: you register a trademark for 10 years. After 10 years, you can renew it for another 10 years. And so on indefinitely.

You don’t have to prove you’re using the trademark. You don’t have to present evidence of commercial activity. You don’t have to show your brand still exists.

You pay the renewal fee and the trademark remains active.

The result? EUIPO has over 13 million registered trademarks, of which a significant percentage belong to brands that no longer exist. Companies that went bankrupt. Projects that never launched. Personal brands that were abandoned after the first year.

But their trademarks remain active. Blocking someone else from using them.

It’s like a trademark cemetery. And the only way to “clean” them is to wait for the owner not to pay the renewal fee. Or initiate a cancellation process for non-use (which is complex and costly).

❗️ What should change (but won’t change soon)

The ideal system would work like web domains. Registration for 1 year. Proof of commercial activity for renewal. If the brand is no longer active, the trademark becomes available for someone else.

That would solve the zombie trademark problem. It would free up space for new brands. It would make the system more dynamic and fairer.

But that would require a complete reform of the European intellectual property system. It won’t happen tomorrow. It won’t happen this year. It probably won’t happen at all.

So you have to work within the system you have. Not the one you wish for.

How to properly protect your trademark in 2026: the complete process

Let’s talk about what you can control. The correct process for protecting a trademark in 2026.

1️⃣ Step 1: Professional verification (not DIY)

The first thing a client does when they come to us with a brand name: they ask if it’s available.

We don’t just check OSIM. We check OSIM, EUIPO, and sometimes WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization) if the client has global expansion plans.

Verification doesn’t just mean searching for the exact trademark. It means identifying:

• Identical trademarks in relevant NICE classes
• Trademarks similar phonetically or visually
• Trademarks that can create consumer confusion
• Trademarks in adjacent classes that can block future expansion

NICE classes (international classification of goods and services) are critical. A trademark can be free in class 25 (clothing) but occupied in class 35 (retail services). You need to know exactly which classes to register in.

The cost of professional verification is 300-500 euros. The cost of forced rebranding is 15,000-50,000 euros.

The math is simple.

2️⃣ Step 2: Registration strategy

After verifying availability, you need to choose the registration strategy.

EUIPO only: For most Romanian startups, the answer is almost always EUIPO. You get protection in 27 countries (including Romania) at a reasonable cost. The process is faster than OSIM. And you have European priority, which means your trademark prevails over OSIM trademarks registered after yours.

OSIM + EUIPO: Only makes sense if you want double protection or have specific reasons related to local litigation. But for most cases, EUIPO is sufficient.

EUIPO + WIPO: If you have global expansion plans (USA, Asia, other non-EU markets), you can extend through the Madrid Protocol at WIPO. Costs vary depending on territories where you want protection.

Comparative costs:

• OSIM (1 class): ~1,642 lei
• EUIPO (1 class): 850 euros
• EUIPO (3 classes): 1,500 euros
• WIPO: variable, depending on territories

3️⃣ Step 3: Continuous monitoring

After registering your trademark, your responsibility doesn’t end. It just began.

You need to monitor:

• The Official Bulletin (BOPI) for new trademarks similar to yours
• The market for potential infringements of your trademark
• Renewal deadlines (at 10 years)

Trademark watching services cost between 100-300 euros/year. Alternatively, you can work with a specialized lawyer who monitors automatically for their client portfolio.

The cost of an opposition process you lose because you didn’t monitor: several thousand euros. Plus loss of exclusivity for your trademark in that category.

Monitoring isn’t optional. It’s part of the protection process.

What you can do right now: checklist for startups

If you’re reading this and haven’t protected your trademark yet, here are the concrete steps:

1. Check availability in EUIPO
Don’t rely on OSIM. Search the EUIPO database for your trademark and all similar variations. If you find something close, stop and consult a specialist.

2. Evaluate if your name can be legally protected
Not all names are protectable. Generic names (“Delicious Bakery”) or descriptive names (“Good Coffee”) cannot be registered as trademarks. They need to be distinctive.

3. Consult a specialist BEFORE launching your brand
Launching a brand costs time and money. Rebranding costs 10 times more. Initial consultation costs a few hundred euros. It’s the cheapest investment you can make.

4. Budget correctly: trademark protection is part of your MVP
Protecting your trademark isn’t something you do “after validating the business.” Without a protected trademark, you don’t have a protected business. It’s part of your MVP, not a nice-to-have.

5. Monitor BOPI if you already have a registered trademark
If you already have an OSIM trademark, you need to monitor the Official Bulletin. Weekly. Either yourself or through specialized services. Otherwise, the risk is that someone else registers a similar trademark without you knowing.

At BroHouse, when we create names for brands – whether it’s Sordony, Spumos, Pizzeta, or brands like Marioko – we verify and legally protect each name before a single pixel of design is created. Because we know that without legal protection, all the design is irrelevant.

A brand without a protected trademark is like a house without a foundation. It looks good until the first earthquake.

Conclusion: trademark protection is your responsibility

The OSIM system doesn’t protect you. It’s a regulator that publishes applications and manages oppositions. The responsibility to protect your trademark is 100% yours.

EUIPO isn’t optional if you want real protection in Romania. It’s mandatory because Romania is part of the EU and any European trademark prevails over a national one.

Naming is no longer about dictionaries. It’s about creating something legally protectable in a market saturated with 13 million trademarks.

And professional verification isn’t a cost. It’s the cheapest insurance you can buy for your brand.

If you have a startup and haven’t protected your trademark yet, or if you want to check if the name you thought of is available, we offer a preliminary evaluation to analyze your options.

Don’t wait to receive the letter from someone else’s lawyers. Do it right from the start.

Contact us for a preliminary trademark evaluation – and find out if your brand is truly protected or just on paper.