The Voivodeship Administrative Court in Warsaw in its judgment of 11 May 2010 case file VI SA/Wa 504/10 held that the scope of creative freedom is determined by the functional features of the object and the previous designs. In case of designs that must meet particular functional requirements, the scope of creative freedom is smaller than in the case of designs, which have more of the aesthetic features. Where the scope of creative freedom is broader, the differences between designs should be more noticeable than in the narrow scope of that freedom. The informed user must have information on the object, that is sufficient to assess the scope for creative freedom and be able to see even relatively small differences, that are important in the case of designs with little creative freedom.

This judgment concerned the industrial design “Podstawka reklamowa Star base” (in English: advertising pad Star base) Rp-11748. See also “Polish regulations on industrial designs” and “Polish case law on industrial designs“.

Categories: Art. 102 IPL | Art. 103 IPL | Art. 103(3)(ii) IPL | Art. 104 IPL | Art. 117 IPL | industrial designs | informed user | invalidation of a right in registration | novelty of an industrial design | Polish Act on Industrial Property Law | Voivodeship Administrative Court.