Patent registration in Poland. Poland officially the Republic of Poland is a country in Central Europe. Poland is a developed market and a middle power; it has the sixth-largest economy in the European Union by nominal GDP and the fifth-largest by GDP (PPP). It provides very high standards of living, safety, and economic freedom, as well as free university education and a universal health care system. The country has 17 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, 15 of which are cultural. Poland is a founding member state of the United Nations, as well as a member of the World Trade Organization, NATO, and the European Union (including the Schengen Area). Accordingly, many businesses want to enter this market and one of the most important preparations a business needs to take before expanding to this country is to learn the procedure of patent registration in Poland.
Patent in Poland
According to Poland law, a patent in Poland is a grant of a property right given by the Government to an inventor. With a patent, the inventor, or the patentee will have the right to exclude others from making, using, offering for sale, selling the invention in a country, or importing the invention into a country, along with other rights to protect their best interests.
To be patentable in Poland, an invention must satisfy the new, nonobvious, inventive, and industrially applicable requirements.
In addition, an invention that is patentable can also be an improvement on existing items or methods.
It should be noted that the novelty grace period in Poland is 6 months. This means that if the innovation of the patent application is published publicly 6 months before the submission of the patent application, that patent application will still be considered valid.
On the other hand, the unpatentable subjects in Poland are:
- Discoveries, laws of nature, and mathematical methods;
- Aesthetic designs;
- Systems, rules, and methods for the performance of mental labor, games or management, computer programs;
- Presentation of data and abstract ideas.
Necessary documents for patent registration in Poland
The necessary documents for patent registration in Poland include:
- The request to grant a patent (patent application);
- Detailed information on the applicant(s) including the applicant’s and inventor’s names, addresses, citizenships, etc.;
- A description of the invention;
- A signed and stamped power of attorney by the applicant(s);
- A copy of the amendments (if any);
- Priority documents (if any).
- Other required documents.
The deadline for filing documents claiming priority is 12 months from the date of priority. The restoration of this term is not stipulated in the law. Therefore, it should be understood that if the deadline is passed, late submission is not possible.
The official language of the patent application in Poland is Polish. The application can be filed in any language but the translation into Polish must also be submitted.
The procedure for patent registration in Poland
To obtain a patent in Poland, the applicant needs to file their patent application to the IP Office of Poland.
After examinations, the patent will be granted to the applicant and has a validity period of 20 years from the filing date.
To maintain this validity, the patentee needs to pay annuities.
The first annuities should be paid along with the fees for publication and grant within 3 months from the official publication of the Notice of Allowance.
The following annuities should be paid in advance before the anniversary of the filing date. Late payment is possible within 6 months after the due date provided that a 30% surcharge is paid.
You can see the list of Poland IP Firms here.