It is required to file a suitable application in order to have trademark registration in Poland. It is possible to obtain trademark protection on Polish territory through a national, community, or international procedure. The Polish Patent Office provides trademark rights on a national level.
Community trademarks registered with the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) in Alicante are valid in Poland after Poland’s accession to the EU. On the basis of a single exclusive right granted by EUIPO, such trademarks are protected in the European Union.
Effective protection in Poland can also be obtained by international registration with the World Intellectual Property Organization’s (WIPO) International Bureau in Geneva. The application to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) may be submitted via the appropriate national patent authority.
The following are the minimum conditions for submitting a TM application.
A trademark application in Poland must include the following items in order to obtain a filing date:
- a request to register a trademark, which must include information about the applicant;
- filling fee
- trademark representations;
- an indication of products and services where the trademark may be used.
Requirements for the Power of Attorney
Official legalization is not required. The POA may be submitted within a month from filing a trademark application in Poland. If the applicant is a legal person it is necessary to provide the Polish Patent Office with the excerpt from the Commercial Registry certifying the person signing a POA is duly authorized to act individually on behalf of the company.
Priority document
The priority document must be provided within three months from filing a trademark application in Poland. If the priority document is not in English, French, German or Russian, a certified translation thereof must accompany the document.
Opposition period
The term for filing an opposition against the Polish trademark is three months from the publication of the trademark.
Grant, validity term, and trademark renewal
The term for payment of the official grant fee for trademark certificate in Poland is three months after the decision on the granting of the right of protection was delivered. The validity of a trademark right in Poland is ten years from the date of filing of the application to the Polish Patent Office. Polish trademark may be renewed for ten years an unlimited number of times. Renewal fees must be paid within 12 months before the expiration of the registration period. The renewal is possible within six months after the renewal due date by paying the extra fee.
Representation by a trademark attorney
Foreigners residing outside Poland must perform the trademark prosecution through an agent, a registered Polish trademark attorney.
What can be registered as a trademark in Poland
The following, in particular, may be considered as trademarks: words, designs, ornaments, combinations of colours, the three-dimensional shape of goods or their packaging, holograms, multimedia, positions, patterns, motions, as well as melodies or other acoustic signals.
Please find the list of Poland IP Firms here.