The Supreme Administrative Court in its judgment of 28 November 2007, case file II GSK 236/07 held that the distinctive character of a trade mark may orginally arise from the nature of a sign or may later originate from the use of such trade mark on the market (acquired distinctiveness). A sign acquires the secondary meaning, if it lacked the distinctive character earlier, but during the use it became the source of information about the origin of a product.

Categories: acquired distinctiveness | Art. 7(2) TMA | case law | distinctive character | Polish Act on Industrial Property Law | Polish courts | Polish law | Polish Supreme Administrative Court | secondary meaning | trademark law.