I. The law
The main sources of binding laws in the Republic of Poland are the Constitution of 2 April 1997, acts passed by the Parliament, ratified international treaties and regulations issued, for example, by the Prime Minister or the Council of Ministers – Polish government. Regulations are issued for the purpose of implementation of acts. The main legal acts on industrial designs protection in the Republic of Poland are the following.

I.A. Substantive law

• Act of 30 June 2000 on Industrial Property Law – IPL – (in Polish: ustawa Prawo własności przemysłowej), published in Journal of Laws (Dziennik Ustaw) of 2001 No 49, item 508, consolidated text of 13 June 2003, Journal of Laws (Dziennik Ustaw) No 119, item 1117, with subsequent amendments.
• Act of 16 April 1993 on Combating Unfair Competition – CUC – (in Polish: ustawa o zwalczaniu nieuczciwej konkurencji), published in Journal of Laws (Dziennik Ustaw) No 47, item 211, with subsequent amendments.

I.B. Procedural law

• Administrative Proceedings Code – APC – (in Polish: Kodeks postępowania administracyjnego) of 14 June 1960, published in Journal of Laws (Dziennik Ustaw) No 30, item 168, consolidated text of 9 October 2000, Journal of Laws (Dziennik Ustaw) No 98, item 1071 with subsequent amendments.
• Act of 30 August 2002 on Proceedings Before Administrative Courts – PBAC – (in Polish:Prawo o postępowaniu przed sądami administracyjnymi), published in Journal of Laws (Dziennik Ustaw) No 153, item 1270, with subsequent amendments.
• Civil Proceedings Code – CPC (in Polish: Kodeks Postępowania Cywilnego) of 17 November 1964, published in Journal of Laws (Dziennik Ustaw) No 43, item 296, with subsequent amendments.
• Act of 11 April 2001 on Patent Attorneys – APAT – (in Polish: ustawa o rzecznikach patentowych), published in Journal of Laws (Dziennik Ustaw) No. 49, item 509, with subsequent amendments.

I.C. Case law
See “Polish case law on industrial designs“.

II. Definition of an industrial design
A product that is new and has individual character, appearance of the whole or a part of a product resulting from the features of, in particular, the lines, contours, colours, shape, texture or materials of a product or of its ornamentation may constitute an industrial design. As “product” is considered, in this context, any industrial or handicraft object, among others including packaging, get-up, graphic symbols and typographic characters, but excluding computer programs. Also considered as “product” are furthermore: (i) a product composed of multiple components which can be replaced allowing disassembly and re-assembly of the product (“complex product”); (ii) a part of a complex product if, once it has been incorporated into the complex product, it remains visible during normal use of that product (whereby maintenance, servicing or repair work are not considered “normal use”); and (iii) a part of a component product as such if it may by itself be subject of commercialization. Design protection cannot be obtained for: (i) features of a product which are exclusively dictated by the technical function of the product concerned; and (ii) features of a product which must necessarily be reproduced in their exact form and dimensions in order to allow the product in which the design is incorporated or to which it is applied to be mechanically connected to or to interact with another product. However, an industrial design which serves the purpose of allowing the multiple assembly or connection of mutually interchangeable products within a modular system may be protected. Design protection cannot be obtained for products constituting a component part of another complex product, usable for repair of that complex product in a way enabling recovery of its original appearance. Third parties may use the said component part in the meaning of its production, offering, introducing to the market, import, export or the use of a product comprising the said component part.

III. Applicant
The creator of the design or any assignee of the same. Foreigners may apply for and obtain registration to the same extent as nationals of Poland provided that reciprocity exists. Applicants residing abroad must be represented by an admitted patent attorney permanently residing in Poland.

IV. Procedure for Registration
Applications for the registration of a design are examined as to compliance with the formal requirements, and as to whether the design belongs to any of the categories mentioned above under “Not registrable. There is no examination as to novelty. If no objections are found a decision on grant of registration will be made, and applicant will be invited to pay within three months the fee for the first protection period of five years from grant and the publication fee; if the fees are not timely paid the decision on the grant will be revoked. After registration particulars thereof are published in the Patent Office Journal. The registration will be recorded in the Industrial Designs Register. A certificate of registration, of which the design specification, that is, the description of the design and the drawing(s) and (where applicable) the photographs or the textile samples form an integral part, will be issued. During the period until registration the Office will give information on the application only with the consent of applicant. During the procedure amendments that would alter the design and the forms of the design as presented in the description, drawings and photographs are not allowed; however, if the claimed form of a product is modified a corresponding amendment might be acceptable if the identity of the product is retained and the amendment is necessary for the grant of the registration.

IV.1. Requirements for Registration
An application may comprise up to ten forms of a design for which the essential features are common, except if the various forms together constitute a complete set of products, in which case the limitation to ten forms does not apply. All the forms of the industrial design contained in one application shall be presented in a form of figures on one of the illustrations (drawings or photographs);

The required documents are:
– request, comprising the full name and domicile of the applicant(s) and full names of the creator(s), and an indication of the article to which the design is to be applied; if applicable, comprising claim to priority,
– Power of attorney, not legalized,
– description of the main features of the design, in Polish language, in triplicate. (Claims and an abstract are not required for an industrial design application),
– Drawings, three sets, sizes of A4. An industrial design application shall contain illustrations, in particular drawings or photographs. An industrial design application may also contain samples of a textile fabric. The drawings must be made on sheets of white, flexible paper in solid lines, and must be made in such manner that all details can still be clearly distinguished after reduction in size to one third. At any rate a drawing or photographs presenting a perspective view must be filed. Additionally, drawings may be filed of other views, and also photographs of min. size 5 cm X 5 cm, max. size 13 cm X 18 cm (coloured photographs allowed). In the case of an application relating to more than one form of the design all of them should be presented on common illustration in perspective view, and additional illustrations may be filed for each form;
Priority claim priority must be claimed on filing, giving date, country and number of the application whose priority is claimed. A priority document, i.e. a certified copy of the application whose priority is claimed, must be filed (may be filed within three months from the filing date). If the priority document is not in English, French, German or Russian, a certified translation thereof must accompany the document.

IV.2. Registrable designs
Two dimensional, three dimensional, single deposits, multiple deposits.

IV.3. Not registrable designs
– Designs not complying with the definition of a design;
– Designs lacking the required novelty or individual character;
– Designs, the exploitation of which would be contrary to public order or morality, provided that exploitation of a design shall not be deemed to be contrary to public order only because it is prohibited by law;
– Designs including the name or abbreviated name of the Republic of Poland or its symbols, the names or armorial bearings of Polish voivodships, towns or communities, the insignia of the armed forces, paramilitary organizations or police forces, reproductions of Polish decorations, honorary distinctions or medals, military medals or insignia, or other official or generally used distinctions and medals, in particular those of the government administration, local self-administration or social organizations performing activities in vital public interests, if the activities of these organizations extend to the entire territory or a substantial part of the territory of the State, unless applicant can furnish evidence (such as an authorization from a competent State agency or a permission given by an organization) of his right to use the sign concerned in the course of trade;
– Designs incorporating the abbreviated names, armorial bearings, flags or emblems of other countries or international organizations, or official signs or hallmarks indicating control and warranty adopted in other countries, if the prohibition to register these follows from international agreements, except if applicant can produce an authorization from a competent authority allowing him to use the sign concerned in the course of trade.
– Designs incorporating officially recognized signs accepted for use in trade, such as safety marks, quality marks, hallmarks etc., in so far this could mislead the public with regard to the nature of those signs, unless applicant can prove his right to use these.
– Designs incorporating elements which are symbols of a religious, patriotic or cultural nature, in so far as this could hurt religious feelings, sense of patriotism or national tradition.

IV.3. The novelty requirement
An industrial design must be new and have an individual character. A design will be considered to be new if, before the date of filing the application for its registration or, if priority is claimed, before the priority date, no identical design has been made available to the public anywhere in the world by use, exhibition or any other means. In this context it must be noted that designs are still considered identical if their characteristics differ only in immaterial details. A design will not be deemed made available to the public if before the filing or priority date it could not have become known to the circles specialized in the sector to which the design belongs.

A design will be considered to have individual character if the overall visual impression that it produces on the informed user differs from that produced by any design made available to the public before the date of filing the application for registration or, if priority is claimed, before the priority date. For the assessment of the individual character, the degree of freedom of the creator in developing the design is to be taken into consideration.

The novelty and individual character of a design incorporated in or applied to a product which is a component part of a complex product will only be assessed in consideration of its visible features. (As “complex product” is considered, a product composed of multiple components which can be replaced allowing disassembly and re-assembly of the product).

Not a bar to novelty are (i) disclosure of the design to a third party under explicit or implicit conditions of confidentiality;(ii) disclosure of the design during the 12 months preceding the filing date or, if priority is claimed, during the 12 months preceding the priority date by the creator or his successor in title, or by a third party with the consent of the creator or his successor in title; (iii) disclosure of the design during the 12 months preceding the filing date or, if priority is claimed, during the 12 months preceding the priority date as a consequence of an abuse in relation to the creator or his successor in title.

IV.4. Publication
Industrial design are kept secret prior to registration. Description of a registered design is available to the public in the Polish Patent Office.

V. Copyright Protection
A product according to a registered industrial design and put on the market after the lapse of the registration of the design shall not benefit from the the material copyrights under the provisions of the Polish Act of 4 February 1994 on Authors Rights and Neighbouring Rights – ARNR – (in Polish: ustawa o prawie autorskim i prawach pokrewnych), published in Journal of Laws (Dziennik Ustaw) No 24, item 83, consolidated text of 16 May 2006, Journal of Laws (Dziennik Ustaw) No 90, item 631, with subsequent amendments.

VI. Duration of the rights in registration for industrial designs
25 years from the date of filing of the application, which period is divided into five five-year periods.

Categories: industrial designs | Polish Act on Industrial Property Law | Polish law | regulations.