Poland - Register Trademark

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Procedure

1. To register a trademark, an application must be submitted to the Patent Office of the Republic of Poland. An application may be filed by a natural or legal person, a state administration agency or by a state organisation without legal personality but acting on behalf of the Treasury.
2. The request for registration may be submitted to the Office (by post, by fax or personally) together with these following documents:
   1. A document of priority, if an applicant wishes to take advantage of the priority of an earlier application with a relevant declaration to that effect;
   2. Prints or photographs(in five copies with two additional copies in black and white in case of a colour trademark) of the trademark displayed graphically;
   3. A magnetic tape(two copies) in case of a sound trademark;
   4. A document authorising an applicant to use certain signs in the trademark;
   5. Regulations governing the use of the trademark in case the applicant seeks a right of protection for a collective trademark, a collective guarantee trademark or aims at obtaining a joint right of protection;
   6. Authorisation, if an applicant acts by a representative.
3. The Patent Office will consider an application to have been filed, if it contains at least a determination of the trademark and a list of goods for which the trademark is intended. An application will be deemed to have been filed at the date at which it has been received by the Patent Office or its transmission by means of fax has effected. In the latter case, the original copy of the application will be required to be furnished within 30 days from the date on which the transmission was effected. The above time limit is non-restorable. Where an application transmitted by fax is found illegible or not identical with the original copy, the date at which the original copy has been furnished will be deemed to be the filing date.
4. Before a decision on the grant of a right of protection is taken, the applicant may make additions and corrections to his application, provided that they may not alter the essential characteristics of the trademark nor extend the list of goods for which the trademark has been applied.
5. The Patent Office will publish the trademark application in the Biuletyn Urz?du Patentowego immediately after the expiry of three months from the filing date. As from the date of publication, third parties may acquaint themselves with the trademark determined in the application and with the list of goods for which the mark is intended; they may also submit to the Patent Office their observations as to the existence of grounds that may cause a right of protection to be denied.
6. The Office will decide whether to grant or refuse the grant of right of protection after it has performed examinations as laid down in the Act and in the regulation. A right of protection shall be granted subject to payment of a fee for a ten-year protection period. The grant of a right of protection for a trademark shall be evidenced by the issue of a certificate of protection for a trademark.

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Required Documents

• A request, containing, in particular:
  • indications concerning the applicant
  • indication of the representative, if appropriate
  • petition for the grant of a right of protection
  • description of the trademark
  • specification of the goods for which the trademark is intended
  • the signature of the applicant or his representative
• A document of priority, if an applicant wishes to take advantage of the priority of an earlier application with a relevant declaration to that effect;
• Prints or photographs(in five copies with two additional copies in black and white in case of a colour trademark) of the trademark displayed graphically;
• A magnetic tape(two copies) in case of a sound trademark;
• A document authorising an applicant to use certain signs in the trademark;
• Regulations governing the use of the trademark in case the applicant seeks a right of protection for a collective trademark, a collective guarantee trademark or aims at obtaining a joint right of protection;
• Authorisation, if an applicant acts by a representative.

Office Locations & Contacts

The Patent Office of the Republic of Poland

Al.Niepodleg?o?ci 188/192
00-950 Warsaw, P.O.Box 203
Poland

Switchboard: (+4822) 5790 000

Fax: (+4822) 5790 001

The PPO's A/c:
NBP O/O Warszawa

93101010100025832231000000

Eligibility

Any sign capable of being represented graphically may be considered as trademark (in particular: words, designs, ornaments, combinations of colours, the three-dimentional shape of goods or of their packaging, as well as melodies or other acoustic signals), provided that such signs are capable of distinguishing the goods of one undertaking from those of other undertakings.

Any organisation with the status of legal entity and created in order to represent interests of the undertakings, may be granted a right of protection for a trademark intended for use in the course of trade by that organisation and the entities grouped therein (collective trademark).

Rights of protection will NOT be granted for signs which:

1. cannot constitute a trademark,
2. are devoid of sufficient distinctive character,
3. have become customary in the current language and are used in fair and established business practices.

Rights of protection will NOT be granted for signs:

1. whose use infringes third parties personal or economic rights, or
2. that are contrary to law, public order or morality, or
3. which, as for their nature, may mislead the public, in particular as to the nature, properties of the goods or as to geographic origin thereof.

A right of protection will also NOT be granted for a sign, if:

1. it has been applied for protection with the Patent Office in bad faith,
2. it incorporates a name, an abbreviated name or a symbol for the use of which the applicant has no authorisation issued by a competent State agency nor a permission given by an organisation,
3. it incorporates elements being symbols, in particular of religious, patriotic or cultural nature to the extent to which it could hurt religious or patriotic feelings or national tradition,
4. it constitutes a form or another feature of the goods or their packaging, which is dictated exclusively by their nature, is necessary to achieve a technical result or it gives substantial value to the goods.

Fees

The basic fee for a trademark application is 500 zloty and, additionally, 100 zloty for each class of goods, over three, according to the classification of goods and services currently in effect. However, notice should be taken of the current fee rates, as they are subject to periodical changes.

Validity

The term of a right of protection for a trademark, a collective trademark, a collective guarantee trademark, as well as the term of a joint right of protection shall be 10 years counted from the date the trademark application was filed with the Patent Office.

The term of protection may, at the request of the right holder, be extended for subsequent ten-year periods in respect of all or of a part of the goods, with the request being submitted before the expiration of a running protection period, however not earlier than one year before the expiration thereof. The request shall be submitted together with the payment of a due protection fee.

The request may also be submitted, against payment of an additional fee, within six months after the expiration of a protection period. The said time limit is non-restorable.

Documents to Use

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Sample Documents

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Processing Time

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Related Videos

Videos explaining the procedure or to fill the applications. 
Attach videos using the following tag <&video type="website">video ID|width|height<&/video&> from external websites.
Please remove the "&" inside the tags during implementation.
Website = allocine, blip, dailymotion, facebook, gametrailers, googlevideo, html5, metacafe, myspace, revver, 
sevenload, viddler, vimeo, youku, youtube
width = 560, height = 340, Video ID = Can be obtained from the URL of webpage where the video is displayed.
e.g In the following url "http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0US7oR_t3M" Video ID is "Y0US7oR_t3M". 
	

Instructions

The Patent Office of the Republic of Poland receives and examines trademark applications. The Office is in charge with making decisions concerning grant of rights of protection and in keeping the Trademark Register.

Required Information

A list which displays the kind of information which is required to complete the procedure.
e.g.
1. Date of Birth.
2. City or County of Birth.

Need for the Document

This procedure provides information on how trademarks are registered in Poland.

Information which might help

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Other uses of the Document/Certificate

The right of protection confers the exclusive right to use the trademark for profit or for professional purposes throughout the territory of the Republic of Poland.

External Links

Patent Office of the Republic of Poland

Others

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