Author: Patpol

We are pleased to officially announce the cooperation between Patpol and the PANDA Foundation, under which our firm became a sponsor and took the honorary adoption of suricates living in the Warsaw Zoo.

The act of adoption and the board that will be installed at the suricates paddock were handed over to us by the director of the Warsaw Zoo, Dr. Andrzej Kruszewicz.

Although our contribution is only a drop in the ocean of needs, we are sure that it will help to provide the best care that these cute animals may require.

This action on our part is also intended to encourage everyone to visit and support the zoos wherever the need arises.

It is worth remembering that zoos play an extremely important role not only in making us aware of how beautiful the nature is, but also (and perhaps above all) in rebuilding the population of the endangered species.

Therefore, we would like to speak it out loud – let’s support zoos and visit them … not only with children!

Author: Joanna Rafalska, Polish and European Trademark and Design Attorney.

In the circles of Polish intellectual property experts and practitioners, for some years there has already been going a discussion about the growing need for a coherent amendment to the Industrial Property Law. The Act itself has been amended a number of times, incorporating the changes resulting from the updates in the EU legislation and international laws. As a result, the present form of this legal Act may boldly be considered non-transparent. Too many cross-references appearing in the Act caused that it has lost its uniformity and clarity, and the implications resulting from the specific provisions have often been found hardly interpretable.

Now both professional practitioners and legislators stand at the long-awaited moment, in which not merely “a modification”, but a profound and systemic amendment of the Polish IP Law is to be performed. Simultaneously, one is wondering whether the proposed changes will properly solve the problematic issues, and to what extent they will simplify the practical application of law and conducting the proceedings, or on the contrary – what complications may potentially arise after implementing the amendments.

Below I will focus on the most essential changes that have been proposed in the draft amendment of the Polish Law on Industrial Property in the field of trademarks and industrial designs.

First of all, according to the draft, the double-step payment of fees in the application-registration proceedings before the Polish Patent Office will not be applicable any longer. Currently, payment of the official fees is divided into two steps: the first fee is paid at the application stage (the application fee), while the second one is paid upon registration of the mark (the fee for publication and the first ten-year protection period). After the amendments come into effect, the two fees will be replaced by a single one, which shall be paid at the time of filing a trademark or design application, as it is done for example in the European Union Intellectual Property Office.

In my opinion, this is a very good and practical change, because in Polish practice, a conditional decision (issued on condition of payment of the second fee) often expired due to lack of payment. As a result, a trademark that had not faced any registration obstacles did not obtain registration. The introduction of one fee in place of two seems to be an effective remedy for such frequent cases.

The draft amendment of the IP Law also provides for the abandonment of the joint right of protection for a trademark. The draft will refer in this regard to civil law provisions on joint ownership. Joint trademarks and guarantee marks are to remain without major changes.

Changes are also to be made in the nature and place of publications. Until now, the publications used by the Polish Patent Office (PPO) were the Patent Office Bulletin and the Patent Office Journal. The former published, among others, information on the applied trademarks, while the latter published information on registrations. The draft to amend the IP Law provides for the introduction of the institution of “public disclosure” in place of publication in the Bulletin. The public disclosure of a new trademark application will be of particular importance here, as the deadlines in the opposition proceedings (after the amendment ? the objection proceedings) will be calculated from this date. Similarly, the disclosure of a trademark and the subsequent publication after examination of the absolute grounds for granting protection will take place on the Patent Office’s website instead of the Bulletin.

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Dr. Magdalena Tagowska is yet another expert from our firm recommended in the latest IAM Patent 1000 ranking!

To justify the recommendation, the authors of the ranking have underlined many years of experience of Dr. Tagowska in the field of patent applications and her effectiveness in handling patent litigation cases.

Dr. Magdalena Tagowska specializes in patent applications in the field of chemistry, pharmacy and biotechnology, she also has extensive experience in obtaining Supplementary Protection Certificate (SPC).

Our congratulations and best wishes of continued success to her!

We are proud and happy to announce another success of Patpol! Once again, we have been recommended in the prestigious IM Patent 1000 ranking in the category ?Prosecution?.

In justifying the recommendation, the editors of the ranking emphasized over five decades of our Firm?s experience and the well-established position as a leading firm for prosecution patent services.

The effective representation of our clients before the Polish Patent Office and the European Patent Office in various fields, from natural sciences to mechanical engineering, was also underlined.

The ranking was created on the basis of market opinions and recommendations from various clientele.

A big ?thank you? to everyone supporting us and congratulations to Patpol?s team!

IAM PATENT 1000 for 2022 – full ranking of Polish jurisdiction

The jubilee 10th Company Run turned out to be quite a challenge, but we were not afraid of rain, wind and early hours – the Patpol IP Runners  team managed it as always! ?

This is another year in a row when our athletes took part in a charity relay race, whose goal was to support the youngest children in need of the Everest Foundation.

On Saturday, Monika Kawecka, Karolina Oświęcimska, Nina Jankowska, Piotr Jeżółkowski and Karol Szymańczak ran for little heroes.

We are proud of you!

It is already in the coming week when the next edition of Packaging Innovations trade fair will be held, or in other words ? the B2B event, which is a great occasion to connect producers and distributors of packaging and entrepreneurs looking for innovative solutions for their products.

It is also a perfect opportunity to meet Patpol’s patent attorneys – you can find us at stand A26, where Nina Jankowska and Joanna Rafalska will introduce you to the legal possibilities of brand protection.

In the workshop part, you will have a chance to participate in the panel held by Joanna Piłka, who will explain whether it is worth protecting the packaging design and how to obtain funding for the protection of intellectual property.

See you at EXPO XXI Warsaw!

Dr. Magdalena Tagowska is yet another expert from our firm distinguished in this year’s IP STARS (Managing IP) ranking.

One of the leading patent attorneys in Poland received the title of “Patent Star 2022” in recognition of her broad experience and substantive work with clients, primarily on the market of chemistry, pharmacy and biotechnology.

Congratulations!