The Voivodeship Administrative Court in Warsaw in its judgment of 4 November 2008 case file VI SA/Wa 1054/08 ruled that the requirement for the issuance of a preliminary decision by other authority or a court, is one of the conditions for stay of the administrative proceedings pursuant to the provisions of Article 97 § 1 point 4 of the Polish 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, but while looking for the justification that there exists the preliminary issue in a given case, one has to establish a causal connection between the settlement of the case and the preliminary issue. The lack of such connection makes the stay of proceedings under Article 97 § 1 point 4 of the APC unacceptable. The issue of the infringement of the exclusive right referred to in Article 284(6) of the IPL, and civil claims relating thereto are decided by a civil court under civil procedure and the question wheather the use of industrial design that violates personal rights or property of third parties within the meaning of article 117(2) of the IPL, which come with the Polish Patent Office duties (the condition for invalidation of the rights in registration) are separate issues. Therefore, there is no reason to assume that the preliminary issue occurs in this case because the civil court is a proper one to settle the matter of the infringement of an exclusive right.

This case concerned the industrial design “Butelka cylindryczna” (in English: cylindrical bottle), Rp-5873. See also “Polish regulations on industrial designs” and “Polish case law on industrial designs“.

Categories: Art. 117 IPL | industrial designs | invalidation of a right in registration | Polish Act on Industrial Property Law | Polish courts | Polish law | Polish Patent Office | Voivodeship Administrative Court.