The Supreme Court in its judgment of 24 May 2005 case file I KZP 13/05 interpreted the meaning of the term “introducing to market” and clarified the provisions of Article 305(1) of the Polish 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 on 13 June 2003, Journal of Laws (Dziennik Ustaw) No 119, item 1117, before amendments of 2007.

Anyone marking goods with a counterfeit trademark for the purpose of introducing them on the market or introducing on the market goods bearing such trademark, shall be liable to a fine, limitation of freedom or imprisonment for a period of up to two years.

The Supreme Court defined the term “introduction to market” as a passing on of goods labelled with a fake trade mark for the first time by a producer or importer of those goods. A subsequent sale of such a product should not therefore be recognized as “introduction to market” and could not therefore be the subject of criminal proceedings.

Categories: Art. 305(1) IPL | counterfeiting | criminal law | Polish Act on Industrial Property Law | Polish courts | Polish law | Polish Supreme Court | trade mark infringement | trademark law.