Trade mark law, case Sp. 213/06
February 19th, 2009, Tomasz RychlickiThe German company Berentzen Brennereien GmbH from Haselunnein Germany has requested invalidation of the word trade mark Pushkin R-110616 registered for Belvedere Company in class 33 for alcohol beverages. The request was based on articles 6 and 8(i) of the old Polish Trade Mark Act – TMA – (in Polish: Ustawa o znakach towarowych) of 31 January 1985, Journal of Laws (Dziennik Ustaw) No 5, item 15, with subsequent amendments.
(1) A trademark shall be registrable on behalf of a specific enterprise, but only in respect of goods falling within its field of economic activity.
(2) The registration of a trademark for specific goods shall not prevent registration of other trademarks on behalf of the same enterprise in respect of the same or different goods falling within its field of economic activity.
(3) The registration of a trademark for specific goods shall not prevent registration of the same trademark on behalf of the same enterprise in respect of other goods falling within its field of economic activity.Article 8(i)
A trade mark shall not be registrable if:
(i) it is contrary to law or to the principles of social coexistence;
The German company alleged that the mark has been submitted by entrepreneur who had no licence to operate as an alcohol dealer but it was engaged in exports of alcohol. The disputed trade mark was then transferred to Belvedere company. The German company also claimed that the applicant was acting in bad faith because it was aware of the fact that such a sign exists on the same competitive Western markets. The PPO dismissed the request in its decision of 20 January 2009 case act signature Sp. 213/06. The PPO did not agree that trade mark registration was done against provisions of article 6 because, according to the judgment of the Supreme Administrative Court of 16 September 2004, case file GSK 774/04, the export of alcohol from the country did not require a licence.