Trademarks
A trademark is a recognizable sign, design, or expression which identifies products or services of a particular source from those of others. It identifies the brand owner of a particular product or service.
The most common trademarks are verbal signs (word, sentence), graphic (drawings, ornaments) and verbal and graphic (combinations of verbal and graphic elements). There are also spatial signs (including the shape of the good or packaging), sound (melodies, other sound signals) or their combinations, e.g. verbal-graphic-spatial signs.
Trademarks are protected by law. It is a monopoly, and therefore it is limited to its owner.
Depending on the type of trademark and the nature of authorized entities, we distinguish:
- Individual trademark - only one authorized person is entitled, ensuring that the trademark is used exclusively for the entity for whom the trademark was registered
- Common Law Protection - granted for a trademark, intended for use by several people, including entrepreneurs who have submitted it jointly, if such use is not contrary to the public interest and it is not intended to mislead the public, in particular as to the nature, purpose, quality, properties or origin of the goods. The rules for using the trademark under a common protective law are set out in the trademark regulations adopted by entrepreneurs.
Trademarks and their territorial limitations
Registered trademarks only grant protection in the country they are registered in. As a general rule, having your trademark registered within the territory of the Republic of Poland does not prevent others from registering the exact same trademark in other countries or territories.
However, it is possible to extend the territorial limitation of the trademark to other countries, as follows:
- national system – a trademark registration at the office competent for protection of industrial property in the selected country. In many countries, when making such a registration, it is necessary to act through a proxy;
- regional system – a trademark registration at the appropriate regional office. The trademark will then be protected on the territory of all member states of this system. This is the procedure applicable to community trademarks. The entity, by submitting a single application with the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) (new window) in Alicante, may obtain protection of its trademark throughout the European Union. Other regional offices are: Benelux Trademark Office (BTO) (new window), African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO) (new window);
- The International Trademark System (the Madrid System) – a trademark registration at the International Bureau of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) (new window) in Geneva through the Patent Office of the Republic of Poland. Registration is possible in selected countries that are parties to the Madrid System.