Trademark protection

In Poland, the registration of individual trademarks, i.e. trademark protection, is still a rare practice. Entrepreneurs who are even aware of the importance attached to the identification of a company on the basis of markings often do not decide to register their own trademark. Perhaps the registration procedure or simply the price is discouraging ... The entrepreneurs' approach is to be changed by new regulations, which provide for the simplification of the procedure for verifying the registration of the mark and for lowering its price.

The scope of the changes to the regulations is to cover source international regulations concerning applications and patent protection. Currently, an application for a trademark with international protection can be used only after prior registration of the mark in the territory of the country. Responsible for accepting trademark registrations is the Patent Office of the Republic of Poland.

Procedure for filing a trademark

The current regulations stipulate that the verification of a registered trademark in the national registration procedure is subject to both absolute and relative grounds for protecting the mark. The planned simplification of the procedures is to allow for the omission of the relative premises that relate to the verification of the mark in terms of the existence of previous similar or identical marks belonging to other entities.In practice, the examination of the relative premises turned out to be ineffective, as evidenced by, for example, the number of disputes between competitors entitled to similar trademarks.

The reduction in the costs of registering a trademark concerns Community trademarks registered at the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market (OHIM) in Alicante. After patenting, these trademarks are protected throughout the territory of the European Union. However, it is not known whether the reduction in registration prices will be reflected in national procedures. In the Polish Patent Office, the first registration fee for a basic trademark is PLN 550. Entrepreneurs who have an electronic signature can register on-line (the fee is lower and amounts to PLN 500).

Importance of a trademark for an entrepreneur

Nowadays, a trademark is an important element that makes it possible to distinguish a given product from other products of the same type. It is often the basis for promotion or building the image of the company itself and brand reputation. A trademark can therefore be a bargaining chip in competition on the market. Therefore, an investment in patent protection should be considered, which would eliminate the possibility of its unlawful duplication.