INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS IN POLAND
Opposition Term |
03 Months |
Registration Term |
10 Years |
First Renewal Term |
10 Years |
Subsequent Renewal Term |
10 Years |
The Industrial Property Act, in force since August 22, 2001 - is the primary law governing the mechanism of trademark registration and protection in Poland.
For getting a trademark registered in Poland, an application has to be filed at the Patent Office, which administers the entire trademark registration process.
It follows a 'first-to-file' system, which means that trademark registration is mandatory to be granted rights over a trademark.
Poland follows the 11th edition of Nice Classification. Multi-class trademark applications are possible.
The opposition period is three (03) months from the date of publication of the trademark application in the bi-weekly ‘Biuletyn Urzedu Patentowego.’
In Poland, registered trademarks have a validity of ten (10) years from the date of application, which can be further renewed indefinitely for successive periods of ten (10) years each.
The grace period to renew a trademark after the date of expiry is six (06) months.
The term for cancellation of a registered trademark based on non-use is five (05) years from the date of registration.
Poland is a member of the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property.
The Industrial Property Act, in force since August 22, 2001 - deals with the mechanism of patent protection in Poland.
For seeking patent protection in Poland, an application has to be filed with the Patent Office, which administers the entire process of patent grant.
In Poland, an invention that satisfies the conditions of novelty, inventiveness, and industrial applicability, subjects to patentability. Process patent and product patent are the two types of patents that can be protected.
The types of patent applications that can be filed include Non-Convention Application and Convention Application.
In Poland, a pre-grant patent opposition cannot be filed.
Patents last for twenty (20) years in Poland.
Fees for subsequent protection periods are payable in advance; however not later than on a day of expiry of the preceding protection period. The renewal fees can be paid within one (01) year before the expiry date.
The Industrial Property Act, in force since August 22, 2001 - governs and deals with the mechanism of registration of industrial designs in Poland.
For getting an industrial design registered in Poland, an application has to be filed with the Patent Office, which administers the entire process of registration.
The types of industrial design applications that can be filed in Poland include Non-Convention Application and Convention Application.
Opposition against an industrial design application can't be raised in Poland.
The total duration of industrial design registration is twenty-five (25) years from the date of application. The initial registration term is five (05) years, which is further extendible for four (04) terms of five (05) years each upon payment of the renewal fee.
The time frame for payment of the renewal fee before the due date is six (06) months.
There is a grace period of six (06) months for renewal of industrial designs after the deadline.
Poland is a signatory to the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works.
The Act of February 4, 1994, on Copyright and Related Rights (as amended up Act of September 25, 2015) - is the basic legislation governing copyright protection in Poland.
In Poland, copyright comes into existence as soon as the work is created. There is no formal procedure for registration of copyright.
The standard copyright protection term lasts for the lifetime of the author plus sixty (60) years following his death. However, the duration of copyright protection varies depending on the type of work.
Except as specified otherwise below, copyright expires seventy (70) years from the author's death or from the last surviving co-author's death with works of joint authorship.
For anonymous or pseudonymous works, copyright expires seventy (70) years from the date of first being made public, unless the pseudonym does not leave any doubts as to the author's identity or the author disclosed his identity.
For the work to which copyright is entitled by law to a person other than the author, copyright lasts seventy (70) years from the date of being made public, or from the date of creation if it was not made public in this period.
In an audiovisual work, copyright lasts seventy (70) years from the death of the last survivor among the main director, author of the script, author of dialogues, and composer of the music composed for the audiovisual work.
For a musical work with words, if the words and music were composed specifically for this work, copyright lasts for seventy (70) years from the death of the last survivor of the author of the words and composer of the music.