The Appellate Court in Wrocław in its judgment of 30 December 2008 case file I ACa 1047 published in LEX under the no. 519268, held that descriptive signs which present information about the goods, its characteristics, not its origin from the designated entrepreneur, lacks distinctive character. The descriptive elements may be one of the components of the trade mark, such as fitting of a particular word or symbol indicating a characteristic of the goods. Then the sign is assessed as a whole and not only through the prism of one component – a descriptive word, but also other accompanying elements. To acquire the distinctive character, all the symbols (signs) used in the course of trade as a descriptive trade marks, must also include a word which would develop in the collective consciousness of the consumers of the product a clear association between the sign and a product, distinguishing it as originating from a given entrepreneur.

Categories: acquired distinctiveness | distinctive character | Polish Appeallate Court.