General Information | Patents of Invention
Trade & Service Marks | Industrial Designs | Domain Names
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General Information

Area: 312,623 sq. km.
Population: 38,653,000 inhabitants (estimated 2008).
Capital: Warsaw, with 2,375,000 inhabitants.
Language: Polish.
Currency: Zloties.

GENERAL REMARKS

About 35% of the population is engaged in agriculture. The chief exports are raw and semi-manufactured materials, agricultural products and industrial products such as textiles, machinery, cars, ships, electronic devices, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, etc. The chief imports are machinery, building materials, textiles, chemicals and mineral products.
Member of the European Union as of May 1, 2004.

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Patents of Invention

LEGAL BASIS

• Industrial Property Law of June 30, 2000, in force since August 22, 2001, with amendments.
• Rules of September 17, 2001, August 29, 2001, August 30, 2001 and March 2, 2004.

MEMBERSHIP IN INTERNATIONAL CONVENTIONS

• Paris Convention, Stockholm Act.
• European Patent Convention, since March 1, 2004.
• Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), since December 25, 1990.

FILING REQUIREMENTS

• Power of Attorney (not legalized);
• 2 copies of specification, claims and abstract in Polish, English, French, German or Russian;
• Drawings: size 297 x 210 mm, three sets (one set on Bristol board, cloth or transparent paper, two photostatic copies; fourth set: a copy for the agent);
• Priority document (if applicable), if not issued in English, French, German or Russian, together with authenticated translation into one of these languages;
• Allocation of priorities (one priority date only for each claim);
• Statement concerning the priority rights if the applicant in Poland is not the applicant mentioned in the priority document;
• Statement or document as to the applicant's right to the invention if he is not an inventor (e.g. assignment of right, contract of employment or other agreement);
• Certificate of deposition of a microorganism (if applicable) in a recognized international collection.

REMARKS

National Phase of PCT: under Chapter I: 30 months; under Chapter II: 30 months.
Validity: issued after a formal preliminary and full examination - valid for 20 years from the filing date.
Annuities: accumulated annuities and due after the grant; subsequent annuities are payable after the anniversary of the filing date.
Opposition: possible.

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Trade and Service Marks

LEGAL BASIS

• Industrial Property Law of June 30, 2000, in force since August 22, 2001, with amendments.
• Rules of July 8, 2002.

MEMBERSHIP IN INTERNATIONAL CONVENTIONS

• Paris Convention, Stockholm Act.
• Madrid Agreement, since March 18, 1991.
• Madrid Protocol, since March 4, 1997.

FILING REQUIREMENTS

• Power of Attorney (not legalized);
• 5 prints (not for word marks);
• List of goods and/or services;
• Priority document (with a certified translation if not in English, French or German).

REMARKS

Kinds of protection: trade and service marks, words, designs, ornaments, combinations of colors, three-dimensional shape of goods or their packaging, phonetic signals, or compositions of these elements.
Classification: International.
Obligation to use the registered mark: use is obligatory within any five-year period from the registration date.
Duration - renewals: 10-year period from the filing date, renewable for further periods of ten years.
Opposition: may only be filed after registration has been granted, within six months from the date of publication of the granting decision.

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Industrial Designs

LEGAL BASIS

• Industrial Property Law of June 30, 2000, in force since August 22, 2001, with amendments.
• Regulation of Prime Minister of March 2, 2004 on payments.
• Regulation of Prime Minister of January 30, 2002 with a list of classes and goods of the classes.

MEMBERSHIP IN INTERNATIONAL CONVENTIONS

• Paris Convention, Stockholm Act.
• Hague Agreement, Geneva Act, since July 2, 2009.

FILING REQUIREMENTS

• Power of Attorney;
• Illustrative materials - drawings or photographs capable of being reproduced in a scale 1:3, samples of textile fabric may also be enclosed;
• Assignment deed if the inventor is not the applicant in Poland or the applicant of the priority application is not the applicant in Poland; respective statements on acquired rights could replace them;
• Priority document, as for patents;
• Short description of the main features of the design would be appreciated.

REMARKS

Duration - renewals: after formal examination: 5 years. Renewable for four additional 5-year periods.
Opposition: may only be filed after registration has been granted, within six months from the date of publication of the granting decision.

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Domain Names

LEGAL BASIS

• There is no specific legislation on country code top-level domain names.

FILING

• ccTLD: .pl
• Applicant: individuals and legal entities.
• Local Presence: not required.

REMARKS

Duration - renewals: one year - one year, renewable.
Uniform dispute resolution procedure: yes, before Arbitration Court at the Polish Chamber of Information Technology and Telecommunication (when one or both parties are registered or resident in Poland), or WIPO Arbitration Center (when both parties are registered or resident outside Poland).

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If you wish more detailed information concerning intellectual property protection in this territory please contact us or order Katzarov’s Manual on Industrial Property®.

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