Andreea LIVĂDARIU**

Abstract

This paper is dedicated to the registration of unconventional trademarks, with focus on olfactory trademarks. After analyzing the Romanian trademark law, we analyzed the European regulations ‑ old and new ‑ and then the cases of some registered olfactory trademarks or, as the case may be, trademarks which have registration refused. The Romanian law can not be interpreted other than by the prohibition and practical impossibility of registering an olfactory or taste mark. The new European regulations redefine the mark and basically state in preamble that any trademark will have to respect the so‑called Sieckermann Criteria, ie: be clear, precise, autonomous, easily accessible, comprehensible, durable and objective, these criteria having the role of ensuring the legal certainty that registration of a trade mark must provide. The new European regulations appear to open the way for the registration of these atypical signs even though life has shown that the mark can be anything but a perceptible mark to the senses of sight and hearing, even in the absence of the broad legal framework for defining brand established by the new European normative acts.

Key Words: olfactory trademark, sign, graphic representation, trademark register, absolute ground for registration refusal.