RESTRICTEDWORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONIP/Q2/POL/1
12 September 2000
(00-3529)
Council for Trade-Related Aspects
of Intellectual Property RightsOriginal:  English
REVIEW OF LEGISLATION ON TRADEMARKS, GEOGRAPHICAL
INDICATIONS AND INDUSTRIAL DESIGNS
POLAND1
The present document reproduces the introductory statement made by the delegation of
Poland, the questions put to it and the responses given in connection with its legislation on
trademarks, geographical indications and industrial designs,2 in the review of legislation at the
Council's meeting of 26 to 29 June 2000.3
_______________
I. INTRODUCTORY STATEMENT
I would like to start with a few general comments which are also relevant to the more detailed
questions.  At present the following laws and regulations govern industrial property protection in
Poland:
- the Law of 19 October 1972 on Inventive Activity, with further substantial
amendments of 30 October 1993;
- the Law of 31 January 1985 on Trademarks;- the Law of 30 October 1992 on the Protection of Topographies of Integrated Circuits;- the Regulation of the Council of Ministries of 29 January 1963 on the Protection of
Ornamental Designs; and
- the Act of 8 December 1993 on Combating Unfair Competition (in part relating to the
protection of geographical indications).
The intensive legislative works on the new Industrial Property Law are just nearing
completion.  The draft of the Law was approved by the lower chamber of our Parliament – the Sejm -
on 17 March 2000 and now is awaiting the final voting of the amendments proposed by the upperchamber of the Parliament – the Senat.  The voting is scheduled to take place within the next few
days.  Once the new Law is signed by the President of the Republic of Poland (which is expected to
take place within three weeks from the adoption by the Parliament) it will become effective three
                                                     
1 As regards laws and regulations relevant to the areas of trademarks, geographical indications and
industrial designs as notified by Poland under Article 63.2 of the Agreement, reference is made to documents
IP/N/1/POL/1/Rev.1, IP/N/1/POL/2 and IP/N/1/POL/T/1.
2 The review of Poland's legislation in other areas of intellectual property was taken up in 1997 and
1998.  Questions posed in 2000 concerning legislation in these areas, and the responses given, appear indocuments IP/Q/POL/1/Add.1,  IP/Q3/POL/1/Add.2 and IP/Q4/POL/1/Add.1.
3 The minutes of this meeting have been circulated in document IP/C/M/27.IP/Q2/POL/1
Page 2
months thereafter, i.e. probably early November.  Consequently, all the existing laws and regulations
governing industrial property in Poland will be repealed.
Although the new Law failed to be adopted and become effective as from 1 January 2000, as
from that date the provisions of the TRIPS Agreement are applied by virtue of a decree of thePresident of the Polish Patent Office in proceedings before the Patent Office on any matters in which
the provisions of the effective laws remain incompatible with the provisions of the TRIPS Agreement.
This does not apply only to those of the TRIPS provisions, the application of which is infeasible
without a relevant statute being adopted earlier.
The new Industrial Property Law is intended to comply with Poland's obligations under the
TRIPS Agreement as well as those under the Europe Agreement establishing an association betweenthe Republic of Poland and the European Communities.  The Law covers the following subjects of
protection:  inventions, utility models, industrial designs, trademarks, geographical indications, trade
names and topographies of integrated circuits.  The new Law makes the following improvements
when compared with the present regulations.
Patents
The new Law provides for patent protection granted for inventions which are new, involve an
inventive step and are susceptible of industrial appli cation, in all fields of technology.  Consequently,
exceptions to patentability no longer include products obtained by nuclear transformation as wasprovided under the former Law on Inventive Activity.  The exceptions are limited only to those
indicated in Article 53 of the European Patent Convention.
The former institution of patents for secret inventions has been abandoned.  Now, inventions
concerning national defence or the security of the State may be considered secret inventions.
The principle was maintained in the new Law that a patent granted for a process of
manufacture also covers products directly obtained by means of that process.  As regards the reversal
of burden of proof in respect of patented processes, the Polish Law contains provisions almost
literally identical with Article 34 of the TRIPS Agreement.
There is also a new provision introduced to the effect that a patent granted for an invention
relating to the use of a substance comprised in the state of the art for the purpose of obtaining a
product eligible for a new use, also covers products intentionally prepared for such use by means of
that invention.  It is worth mentioning here that the new use may involve any kind of use, not only for
medical purposes as provided in the European Patent Convention, but new uses in any field of
technology, meeting the TRIPS non-discrimination clause in Article 27.1.
The new Law explicitly allows for the alteration of patent claims resulting in the extension of
the scope of protection originally sought, however, only up to the time of publication of the
application and provided that such alteration may not go beyond what has been disclosed in the
description of the application as filed.
The scope of the exclusive rights is determined in Article 66 of our new Law in which the
provisions corresponding to Article 28 of the TRIPS Agreement were transposed.  Naturally, patent
owners continue to have the right to assign or transfer by succession the patent and to conclude
licensing contracts.
The next issue which called for being approached in a particular manner was compulsory
licensing.  The provisions to that effect in the new Law fully satisfy the requirements of Article 31 of
the TRIPS Agreement.IP/Q2/POL/1
Page 3
Trademarks
The Law provides full protection for famous, well-known and having reputation trademarks
while including at the same time the definitions of the well-known and counterfeit trademarks.  In
respect of counterfeit trademarks, there are provisions providing for penal liability for acts ofcounterfeiting as well as making it possible for a product bearing a counterfeit trademark to be seized
at the border.
Under the new Law a trademark application is allowed to be divided in respect of a list of
goods.
A concept of a joined right of protection for a trademark has been introduced.The non-use period, being a ground for declaring a trademark registration lapsed, has been
extended from three to five years.  In this context, the term "use" has clearly been defined.
A series of provisions has been added regulating interrelationships between the protection of
trademarks and the protection of geographical indications including in respect of wine, beer and
spirits.
Geographical Indications
In addition to the provisions on combating unfair competition, the new Law provides
protection for geographical indications by way of registration.  Registration of a geographical
indication may be sought out by an organization representing interests of the producers from a given
territory or by a local or autonomous administration agency.
Foreign geographical indications are eligible for protection in Poland insofar as they are
protected in the country of origin.
Generic names are excluded from protection as geographical indications.  Additional
protection is provided for geographical indications for wine and spirits in accordance with Article 23
of the TRIPS Agreement.
Protection for a geographical indication is unlimited in time and starts from the date of
registration.  Similarly, as in the case of trademarks, products bearing a deceiving geographical
indication may be seized at the border.
Industrial Designs
Under the new Industrial Property Law, industrial designs, including textile designs, are
protected by way of registration.  The definition of the industrial design corresponds to the definition
given in Article 25.1 of the TRIPS Agreement.
The Law provides for the possibility of covering in one application various individual forms
of the subject having common essential features that are varieties of the design.
The duration of protection available amounts to 25 years.
After the termination of the protection under the Industrial Property Law, the protection may
be continued under the copyright regime.IP/Q2/POL/1
Page 4
Topographies of Integrated Circuits
In the new Law, the stated criteria of registrability of topographies of integrated circuits are
established consistent with those provided for in Article 35 of the TRIPS Agreement.  When
compared with the former Polish Law on the legal protection of topographies of integrated circuits,the new Law provides more detailed regulations in respect of the protection of topographies and
makes them harmonized with the TRIPS requirements.
Other issues
The new Law contains, additional to the customs regulations, rules and procedures for border
control in line with Section 4 of Part III of th e TRIPS Agreement, concerning special requirements
related to border measures.
Judicial review of the Patent Office's decisions, required under Article 41 of the TRIPS
Agreement, is exercised upon the parties' complaint by the Supreme Administration Court.
II. RESPONSES TO QUESTIONS POSED BY CANADA
1. We understand that draft legislation as well as amendments to existing intellectual
property legislation were submitted to Parliament to modify Poland's intellectual property
regime.
(a) Have these amendments and draft legislation been implemented?
(b) If not, when are they likely to be implemented?
The draft of the Industrial Property Law was approved by the lower chamber of the Polish
Parliament – the Sejm - on 17 March 2000 and now is awaiting final voting on the amendments
proposed by the upper chamber of the Polish Parliament – the Senat.  The voting is scheduled to takeplace on 28 June.  Once the new Law is signed by the President of the Republic of Poland (to be
expected within three weeks from the adoption by the Parliament), it will become effective three
months from the date of promulgation (probably in October).
 4
2. How are industrial designs, geographical designations and trade names protected under
Poland's Intellectual Property regime?
Industrial Designs
At present, industrial designs are protected in a form of ornamental designs tinder the
Regulation of the Council of Ministries of 1963.  A non-examination registration system is applied.
The term of protection is five years, subject to a renewal for a subsequent five-year period.
Under the new Industrial Property Law industrial designs, including textile designs, are
protected by way of registration.  The definition of the industrial design corresponds to the definition
given in Article 25.1 of the TRIPS Agreement.
The Law provides for a possibility of covering in one application various individual forms of
a subject having common essential features, i.e. varieties of a design.
                                                     
4 As regards the draft law on the amendment of the Law on copyright and related rights, about which
Poland also provided information in response to this question, see document IP/Q/POL/1/Add.1.IP/Q2/POL/1
Page 5
The duration of protection available amounts to 25 years.
After the termination of the protection under the Industrial Property Law, the protection may
be continued under the copyright regime.
Geographical Indications
At present, geographical indications are covered by the provisions of the still effective Law
on Trademarks of 1985 as well as those of the Act of 8 December 1993 (as subsequently amended) on
combating unfair competition by way of prohibition to use deceiving designations.
In addition to the provisions on combating unfair competition, the new Law provides
protection for geographical indications by way of registration.  Registration of a geographical
indication may be sought by an organization representing interests of the producers from a given
territory or by a local or autonomous administration agency.
Foreign geographical indications are eligible for protection in Poland insofar as they are
protected in their country of origin.
Generic names are excluded from protection as geographical indications.
Additional protection is provided for geographical indications for wines and spirits in
accordance with Article 23 of the TRIPS Agreement.
Protection for a geographical indication is unlimited in time and starts from the date of
registration.
Similarly as in case of trademarks, products bearing a deceiving geographical indication may
be seized at the border.
Trade names
Trade names are protected in Poland mainly under the provisions of the Civil Code and those
of the Act on combating unfair competition by way of registration in courts (in the case of companies)or in local administration agencies (in the case of entities running business activities). In cases of
infringement, right holders have recourse to the court.
The new Industrial Property Law provides additional instruments, which enable preventing
potential conflicts between trade names and trade marks.  It establishes pre-registration procedure in
which a party wishing to register its trade name may seek establishing whether that name under whichit intends to run its business activity is not similar to any other trade name entered in the specification
kept by the Patent Office or to a registered trademark.
3. What recourse do right holders have in respect of wilful trademark counterfeiting or
copyright piracy on a commercial scale, as required by Article 61? 
5
In cases of wilful trademark counterfeiting on a commercial scale the remedies available
include a monetary fine, limitation of freedom or imprisonment for a period of up to two years.
In the new Industrial Property Law there are two Articles to that effect, which read as follows:
                                                     
5 As regards the part of this question dealing with copyright piracy, see document IP/Q/POL/1/Add.1.IP/Q2/POL/1
Page 6
Article 315
1. Anyone marking goods with a counterfeit trademark for the purpose of
placing them on the market or placing on the market goods bearing such trademark,
shall be liable to a fine, limitation of freedom or imprisonment for a period of up to
two years.
2. A person committing the above acts unintentionally shall be liable to a fine.
3. A person who has made the offence referred to in paragraph (1) his continuing
source of proceeds or commits that offence in respect of the goods of handsome value,
shall be liable to imprisonment for a period from 6 months to five years.
Article 316
1. In case of conviction for the offence specified in Article 315(3), the court
shall order forfeiture, to the fiscus, of the goods proceeding from the offence as well as
the materials, tools and technical means, which have served or have been intended to
serve for the purpose of committing the offence; if such materials, tools or technical
means do not belong to the perpetrator, the court may order the forfeiture thereof to
the fiscus.
2. In case of conviction for the offence specified in Article 315(1), the court may
order forfeiture, to the fiscus of the goods proceeding from the offence as well as the
materials, tools and technical means, which have served or have been intended to
serve for the purpose of committing the offence, even if they do not belong, to theperpetrator.
In case of ordering the forfeiture referred to  in paragraph (1) or (2), Article 195 of the
Executive Penal Code shall apply accordingly,  whatever is the value of the goods, the
forfeiture of which has been ordered.
III. RESPONSES TO QUESTIONS POSED BY THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES AND
THEIR MEMBER STATES
A. T
RADEMARKS
1. Please give the definition of a sign under your national legislation and explain under
which conditions it can be protected.
At the present Trademark Law of 1985 the defini tion of a sign is given in Article 4, which
states the following:
(1) For the purpose of this Law, a trademark shall be any sign capable of
distinguishing the goods or services of a given enterprise from similar goods orservices of another enterprise.
(2) The following, in particular, are considered as trademarks: words, designs,
ornaments, combinations of colours, plasti c forms, melodies or other acoustic signals,
and a combination of such elements.
Under the new Industrial Property Law the definition of a sign is the following:IP/Q2/POL/1
Page 7
(1) Any sign represented or capable of being represented graphically may be
considered as trademark, provided that such sign is capable of distinguishing the
goods of one undertaking from those of other undertakings.
(2) The following, in particular, may be considered as trademarks within the
meaning of paragraph (1): words, designs, ornaments, combinations of colours, the
three-dimensional shape of goods or of their packaging, as well as melodies or other
acoustic signals.
Eligible for protection are registered trademarks as well as well-known (not registered) marks.
2. Please confirm whether or not services are a subject-matter which can be protected in
your trademark law.  Please confirm if signs, such as trade names, can be protected.  Please
describe if elements such as sound, perfumes and containers can be protected.
Services are eligible for protection although service trademarks do not constitute a separate
individual type of marks.  The Law states in this respect that any reference in the Law to trademarksalso means service marks.
A trade name may constitute an element of a trademark and a trademark as such, provided
that it is of a distinguishing nature.  Three-dimensional signs (also containers) and sounds are also
capable of protection.  As regards smells (perfumes), no trademark of this kind has been applied forprotection in Poland so far.  In the context of the general definition in the new Law, registrability of a
trademark concerning smell could be a subject of evaluation in case of it being presented in a
graphical form.  However, in such a case, establishing the individual characteristics of such sign and
evaluating it as to the similarity with other signs would give rise to some problems, since the
similarity should be evaluated by reference to the sm ell itself, rather than to its graphical presentation.
3. Please explain what the requirements of use are, if any, as a condition for a trademark
registration. Please explain the definition of use and the conditions of maintenance of a
registration in that respect.
Both the present Trademark Law and the new IP Law do not make the registration of a
trademark conditional upon its use.
Under the Trademark Law of 1985, the use of a trademark consists, in particular, of affixing
the mark to goods of the type registered or to their packaging, of marketing goods so marked, or of
affixing the mark on documents relating to the marketing of such goods or for the purposes of
advertising in the Polish mass media.
Under the new IP Law, the use of a trademark consists of:(i) affixing the trademark to the goods covered by the registration or to the packaging
thereof and putting the goods on the market;
(ii) using the trademark on business documents handled in putting the goods on the
market or in rendering services;
(iii) using the trademark in advertising.As far as maintenance of the registration is concerned, Article 28(1) of the Trademark Law
states that the right of registration lapses, if the right holder has not used the mark within a period of
three consecutive years in Poland.IP/Q2/POL/1
Page 8
Under the new IP Law the registration is maintained where a trademark is put to genuine use.
The right of protection for trademark lapses on failure to put to genuine use the registered trademark
for the goods covered by the registration for a period of five successive years, unless serious reasons
of non-use thereof exist.
4. Please confirm whether or not your legislation permits that the registration of
trademarks be indefinitely renewable.
Both under the present Trademark Law and under the new Industrial Property Law the term
of the right of protection is 10 years counted form the date of filing of a trademark application with
the Patent Office.  The term of protection may, at the request of the right holder, be extended in
respect of all or of a part of the goods for subsequent ten-year periods.
5. Please describe the special requirements, if any, prescribed by your legislation
concerning the use of a trademark.
Use by a third party with the authorization (licence) of the right holder or only for export
purposes is considered as the use of a trademark.  The use must be genuine, not seeming to be
genuine.  Consequently, the new IP Law contains a clause to the effect that the use of a trademark is
not considered to be genuine, if the trademark is only used for advertising purposes, while the product
actually is neither made available on the domestic market nor manufactured for export purposes.
B.G EOGRAPHICAL INDICATIONS
6. Please explain whether or not your trademark registration authority refuses a
trademark application if it contains a geographical indication.
No protection is granted by the PPO for a trademark, the subject of which is protected as a
geographical indication.  Protection is also refused for a trademark containing any element of a
geographical nature, if it would mislead the public as to the origin of the goods.  This is provided in
the new IP Law in the following way:
Article 131(4): A right of protection shall not be granted for a trademark which contains
geographical elements which, although literally true as to the territory, region or locality, in which the
goods originate, are of such a nature as to misl ead the public by false representing that the goods
originate in another territory famous of given goods.  In the case of homonymous geographical
indications for wines and beers, protection shall be accorded, provided that the Patent Office invites a
subsequent applicant, who has later filed his application, to alter his trademark so as to make it
distinguishable from the trademark earlier registered or applied for registration.
Additionally, Article 132(1)(ii) states that a right of protection shall not be granted for a
trademark in respect of goods of the same kind, if the trademark is similar to a registered geographical
indication, unless the applicant is entitled to use that indication and the grant of a right of protection
for the trademark is not supposed to excessively restrain other entitled parties from using the
registered geographical indication.
7. Please give the definition of a geographical indication in your legislation.
Geographical indication is indirectly defined in Article 8 of the Act on combating unfair
competition, according to which a geographical indication constitutes any sign, which directly orindirectly designates a country, a region or locality, from which the products or services originate.
Under the new Law the following constitute geographical indications:IP/Q2/POL/1
Page 9
(i) names of regions used to describe products:
(a) originating in a specific territory;  and
(b) the properties of which are essentially or exclusively due to a particular
geographical environment with its inherent natural and human factors, and the
production or processing of which takes place in that territory;
(ii) designations of origin used to describe products:
(a) originating in a specific territory; and
(b) the properties or other characteristics of which are essentially attributable to
their geographical origin, that is the territory on which they are produced or
processed.
2. Geographical indications shall also mean designations used to describe the products
produced of raw materials or intermediate products coming from a defined area larger that the
production or processing area, provided that special conditions for the preparation of the raw
materials or intermediate products exist and there are inspection arrangements to ensure that
those conditions are adhered to.
3. Subject to the conditions referred to in paragraph 2, geographical indications shall
also be geographical designations which do not correspond to the true place, in which the
product originates, or other traditional designations, if they are normally used in respect of the
goods originating in a defined area.
The new Law additionally introduces a possibility of obtaining protection for geographical
indications by way of registration, which may prove more convenient for a right holder in case of
enforcing his rights.
8. Please describe and explain the provisions of your legislation establishing a link, if any,
between the characteristics of an indication and its geographical origin.
According to the provisions of the Act on combating unfair competition, protection may be
granted for any sign directly or indirectly designating (for example with the use of a graphical
element) the territory, from which the products originate.  Additional and self-executing protection by
way of registration is, under the new IP Law, applicable to word signs, which directly or indirectly
refer to the origin of the product, if the quality, reputation or other characteristics of the product areattributable to this particular geographical origin.
9. Please describe whether or not additional protection is granted by your legislation to
wines and spirits and if such protection is granted, please describe how. Please mention other
types of products, if any, covered by this additional protection.
The new IP Law clearly provides that elements of a geographical nature may not be contained
in a trademark for wines or spirits, if the geographical indication concerned is untrue with the actual
origin of the goods.  Other types of products are not covered by such severe protection.  The
protection is supposed to be refused in case of an element of a geographical nature being misled to thepublic as to the true origin of the product (i.e. by making the impression that the product originates
from the territory, which is untrue); that is not going to be applicable in case of elements eligible for
being considered as fancy ones (for example, when the name "Sahara" is used in respect of refreshing
drinks).IP/Q2/POL/1
Page 10
10. Please explain how exceptions under Article 24 of the TRIPS Agreement are used in
your jurisdiction. Please provide examples of the use of the exceptions by courts or lists of
names considered as generic in your jurisdiction.
As genuine names the following may be referred to as typical: "Krakow sausage" or "Vienna
cheese cake".  It is possible to use in a trademark a name or a personal name of the right holder,
provided that the trademark is in its entirety easily distinguishable from those used in respect of other
products.
C.I NDUSTRIAL DESIGNS
11. Please explain whether or not your legisl ation extends to the protection of designs
dictated essentially by technical or functional considerations. Please explain how textile designsare protected.
The present regulations on the protection of ornamental design generally correspond, at least
as far as the definition is concerned, to the institution of industrial designs. In practice, the protection
of industrial designs provided for under the new IP Law, has been modified only in terms of the nameof the protected subject-matter.
Under the new Industrial Property Law (Article 102) the definition of the industrial design is
the following:
Any new, original and capable of multiple reproduction appearance of a product, which
manifests itself in particular in the shape, the features of the outside surface, colours, lines or
ornamentation, shall be an industrial design.  An appearance of a product dictated solely by its
technical function shall not constitute an industrial design.
Under the new Law, textile designs are directly eligible for protection (textile fabrics). Under
the present law on ornamental designs no designs of this kind have been applied for protection with
the Polish Patent Office.
Additionally to the protection provided for under the IP Law, industrial designs are eligible
for protection under the copyright law (provided that they meet the criteria of an artistic work).
12. Please explain how your legislation protects right holders of a design against importing
of articles bearing embodied or copied design.
Under the new IP Law, any act of making, putting on the market or importing, for commercial
purposes, of the products being counterfeit of that design shall be considered infringement of the rightin registration of the industrial design.  The present regulations on the protection of ornamental
designs fail to contain a provision to that effect, nevertheless importation is covered by a general
definition of the exclusive right.
13. Please mention whether or not your legislation provides for the right to issue a
compulsory licensing for industrial designs.
No.  There is no possibility to grant a compulsory licence for an industrial design neither
under the present nor under the new IP laws.
14. Please indicate for which period of time your legislation grants protection for industrial
designs.IP/Q2/POL/1
Page 11
According to the present regulations on the protection of ornamental designs, the term of
protection is five years subject to extension for further consecutive five-year periods.
The term of a right in registration under the new IP Law is 25 years counted from the date of
filing of an industrial design application with the Patent Office.
IV. RESPONSES TO QUESTIONS POSED BY JAPAN
A. TRADEMARKS
1. Please explain how Polish Trademark Law provides publication of trademark as
stipulated in  Article 15.5 of the TRIPS Agreement.
At present, under the Law on Trademarks (Article 56), a trademark is published in the official
gazette "Communications of the Patent Office" immediately after the registration.
In the new Industrial Property Law of 17 March 2000, Article 143 provides additionally for
the publication of a trademark application.
B.G EOGRAPHICAL INDICATIONS
2. Please explain how additional protection is  provided for geographical indications for
wines and spirits in Poland as stipulated in Article 23 of the TRIPS Agreement.
At present, protection for geographical indications for wines and spirits is provided in Poland
on general principles (i.e. in respect to any geographical indications) under:
- the Act of 16 April 1993 on combating unfair competition; and- the Law of 31 January 1985 on trademarks.
New Industrial Property Law provides for more stringent requirements in respect of
trademarks eligible for registration – no elements of a geographical nature discordant with the true
origin of the goods may be used.  The law additionally provides for protection of geographical
indications by way of registration which meets all of the requirements of Article 23 of the TRIPS
Agreement and is applicable in respect of any registered indication (not only to wines and spirits).
Until the new law comes into force, the TRIPS requirements will be applied directly by virtue
of the Constitution.
V. RESPONSES TO QUESTIONS POSED BY SWITZERLAND
GEOGRAPHICAL INDICATIONS
1. How does Polish law define "geographical indications"?  Does this definition cover
visual and symbolic signs?
The protection of geographical indications is at present regulated in:
1. the Act of 16 April 1993 on combating unfair competition (O.J. 47, item 211), which
provides for the prohibition to use false or deceptive indications of geographical origin of
goods or services on pain of civil and penal liability; where a given indication is protected inIP/Q2/POL/1
Page 12
the country of its origin, it is prohibited to use it also when accompanied by expressions such
as "kind", "type", "method" or the like.
2. the Law of 31 January 1985 on trademarks (O.J. 5, item 17), which provides for the
prohibition to register a trademark (or invalidate the trademark already registered), if itcontains geographical or other elements that refer or designate a state or a region or
community within such st ate, in respect of goods (or services) that do not originate in that
territory, and if the use of the trademark may mislead purchasers as to the origin of the goods
and if the exclusion of the trademark from registration derives from international conventions.
Both legal Acts are supposed to also cover visual and symbolic signs:
- in the Act on combating unfair competition – any false or deceptive sign, which
directly or indirectly indicates a state, a region or a community in which the goods
(services) originate;
- in the Trademark Law – any sign, which contains elements of a geographical nature
or others that designate a state, a region or a community.
The Act of 17 March 2000 – Industrial Property Law (which has as yet not become effective)
provides also for the protection of word geographical indications (Polish and foreign) by way of
registration with the Patent Office.  The registration obtained under the Law will constitute, inaddition to measures applied under the Act on combating unfair competition and under the Law on
Trademarks, a ground for immediate enforcement of claims for infringement of the right of
registration granted for a geographical indication.
Follow-up question:
When will the Act of 17 March 2000 1ndustrial Property Law enter into force?
The draft of the new Law was adopted by the Polish Parliament on 30 June 2000 and is
expected to enter into force by the end of this year.
VI. RESPONSES TO QUESTIONS POSED BY THE UNITED STATES
A. G
ENERAL
1. With respect to each form of intellectu al property covered by the TRIPS Agreement,
including plant variety protection, please de scribe the way, in which nationals of WTO
Members are ensured of national treatment and most-favoured nation treatment.
In the field of industrial property protection Polish law ensures national treatment and most
favoured nation treatment for national s of WTO Members in twofold manner:
- by way of a direct regulation under which foreign natural and legal persons are
afforded the rights by the Polish law in accordance with the international agreements
to which the Republic of Poland is party (Article 4 of the Law on Inventive Activity,
Article 3 of the Law on Trademarks, Ar ticle 3 of the Law on the protection of
topographies of integrated circuits, Article 5(1) of the new Industrial Property Law);
- by way of special statutory regulations governing the rights of applicants and owners
of rights granted irrespective of whether they are Polish or foreign nationals.IP/Q2/POL/1
Page 13
One exception relates to mandatory representation (by patent agents) of foreign nationals in
proceedings before the Polish Patent Office, another one involves an obligation for Polish nationals to
apply an invention or a utility model for protection in Poland before seeking protection abroad
national security consideration).
B. TRADEMARKS
2. Please describe in detail all of the provisions in Poland’s laws that ensure protection for
well-known marks and provide citations to those provisions.
The present Law on Trademarks ensures protection for well-known marks by way of
prohibition to register, or the invalidation of already registered, a trademark, if it is similar to a
trademark well-known (not registered) in Poland (Article 9(1)(ii) – "Registration of a trademark for
goods of the same kind shall not be permissible where (....)" (ii) it is similar to a trademark that iswell-known in Poland as a trademark for goods of another enterprise to an extent that it could mislead
purchasers as to the origin of the goods in ordinary economic activity.)  It is also possible for the user
of a mark that is well-known in Poland to enforce his rights (to seek the invalidation of the right
deriving from a registration obtained in violation of the trademark law, or that the use of the mark or
of a similar mark by other enterprises for the same goods be prohibited, if there exists the risk ofpurchasers being misled as to the origin of the goods).
Under the Industrial Property Law of 17 March 2000, protection for well-known trademarks
and trademarks having a good reputation ("famous", "renown") is provided, which is applicable to any
goods and services.
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