The Voivodeship Administrative Court in its judgment of 24 February 2006 case file VI SA/Wa 1946/05 held that the term mentioned in the provisions of Article 31 of the old Polish Act of 31 January 1985 on Trade Marks – TMA – (in Polish: Ustawa o znakach towarowych), published in Journal of Laws (Dziennik Ustaw) No 5, item 15, with subsequent amendments, is a term of substantive law, and it should not be shortened or extended.

Article 31
The request for annulment of a right deriving from registration of a trademark may be filed within five years of the date of registration. After the expiry of that period, such request may only be filed in respect of an owner who has obtained registration in bad faith.

The Court also ruled that bad faith mentioned in Article 31 of the TMA, cannot be treated extensively in relation to all grounds for invalidation of the registration, because this would undermine the sense of the institutions of mutability of the registration. The Supreme Administrative Court in its judgment of 5 December 2006 case file II GSK 167/06 dismissed the cassation complaint. This case concerned DELIC-POL R-81280 trade mark.

Categories: Art. 31 TMA | Art. 315 IPL | Art. 8(1) TMA | Art. 8(2) TMA | Art. 9(1)(i) TMA | bad faith | distinctive character | Polish Act on Trade marks | trade mark examination | trade mark invalidation | trade mark refusal | trademark law | Voivodeship Administrative Court.