The Voivodeship Administrative Court in Warsaw in its judgment of 9 October 2009 case file VI SA/Wa 189/09 interpreted the provisions of Article 103 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, with subsequent amendments.

1. An industrial design shall be considered new if, before the date according to which priority to obtain a right in registration is determined and subject to paragraph (2), no identical design has been made available to the public, i.e. used, exhibited or otherwise disclosed. Designs shall also be deemed to be identical with those made available to the public if their features differ only in immaterial details.

2. The designs shall not be deemed to have been made available to the public within the meaning of paragraph (1), if it could not have become known to the circles specialised in the sector, to which the design belongs.

The VAC ruled that it is not about the mere fact of the disclosure of the design, but whether it was possible for an unlimited number of persons from the circles specialised in the sector, to which the design belongs, to actually get acquainted with the given design.

This case concerned the industrial design “Tkanina meblowa” (in English: furniture fabric), Rp-12269. See also “Polish regulations on industrial designs” and “Polish case law on industrial designs“.

Categories: Art. 103 IPL | industrial designs | Polish Act on Industrial Property Law | Polish courts | Polish law | Voivodeship Administrative Court.