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Archive for: Art. 132(2)(iii) IPL

Trade mark law, case Sp. 424/06

May 10th, 2009, Tomasz Rychlicki

On 28 February 2005, the PPO issued a positive decision and registered the word-figurative trade mark METAL-CHEM R-162449 in Class 6 for goods such as steel, in Class 7 for goods such as machinery and equipment for special treatment, technological lines for waste treatment as well as the teams line and accessories, machinery and equipment for the production of cobblestones, bricks and masonry, welders for pipes, in class 11 for electric heaters and in Class 40 for production of special machines, mechanical and thermal processing, casting of non-ferrous metal. It was applied for on 24 September 2001 by the Polish company Zaklad Urzadzen Metalowych “METAL-CHEM” Sp. j. A. Pochec, L. Szymanski, M. Aplas from Rudki.

R-162449

Another Polish company, Instytut Inzynierii Materialów Polimerowych i Barwników (the Institute for Engineering of Polymer Materials and Dies), from Torun filed a request to invalidate the right of protection. The request was based on 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 of 13 June 2003, Journal of Laws (Dziennik Ustaw) No 119, item 1117, with subsequent amendments.

Article 129(1)(i)
Rights of protection shall not be granted for signs which:
(ii) are devoid of sufficient distinctive character.

Article 131(1)(i)
Rights of protection shall not be granted for signs:
(i) whose use infringes third parties’ personal or economic rights,

Article 132(2)(i) and (iii),
A right of protection for a trade mark shall not be granted, if the trade mark:
(i) is identical to a trade mark registered or applied for registration with an earlier priority date (provided that the latter is subsequently registered) on behalf of another party for identical goods,
(iii) is identical or similar to a renowned trade mark registered or applied for registration with an earlier priority (provided that the latter is subsequently registered) on behalf of another party for any kind of goods, if it without due cause would bring unfair advantage to the applicant or be detrimental to the distinctive character or the repute of the earlier trade mark. The above provision shall apply to well-known trade marks accordingly.

The company from Toruń presented its trade mark METALCHEM R-51184 registered with an earlier priority on 12 April 1973. This trade mark was applied for on 15 May 1972, for goods in Class 6, 7, 9, 20 such as worm pumps, pumps, vertical and horizontal rotational pumps for aggressive liquids, valves, clamps, agitators, mixers, pressure-type apparatus made of stainless steel and carbon steel, containers for transporting granular substances, containers and tanks of plastics.

The PPO has invalidated METAL-CHEM trade mark in its decision of 29 January 2009 case act signature Sp. 424/06. The Adjudicative Board of the PPO has taken into account only arguments based on article 132(2)(ii) of the IPL. The board acknowledged that METALCHEM trade mark has distinctive character and is successfully used at the market. As regards arguments based on article 132(2)(i) the Board held that both signs are identical, the separate spelling is not a significant argument and the goods are similar and complementary. The reputation has not been proven by the company from Toruń so the motion based on article 132(2)(iii) of the IPL was rejected. The decision is not final.

Trade mark law, case Sp. 158/08

March 26th, 2009, Tomasz Rychlicki

On 17 October 2006, the Polish Patent Office registered the word-figurative trade mark BATCZEW KOMPERDA R-181286 in Class 29 for goods such as bacon, meat extracts, meat jellies, blood pudding, smoked meat, sausages, canned meat, meat, canned meat, canned meat, salted meat, pork, pie with liver, lard, ham, liver, cured and pork and in Class 40 for services such as the slaughter and food smoking. This sign was applied on on 22 March 2004 by the Polish company “FIRMA BATCZEW Stanislaw Komperda” from Morawczyn.

R-181286

The European Commission filed a request to invalidate the registration based on article 131(2)(iii) of the Polish Act of 30 June 2000 on Industrial Property Law – IPL – (in Polish: ustawa Prawo własności przemysłowej) of 30 June 2000, published in Journal of Laws (Dziennik Ustaw) of 2001 No 49, item 508, consolidated text of 13 June 2003, Journal of Laws (Dziennik Ustaw) No 119, item 1117, with subsequent amendments.

2. A right of protection shall not be granted for a sign, if:
(iii) it incorporates the abbreviated names or symbols (armorial bearings, flags, emblems) of other countries, international organisations, as well as official signs, hallmarks indicating control and warranty adopted in other countries, if the prohibition of registration follows from international agreements, unless the applicant is able to produce an authorisation issued by a competent authority, which authorises him to use such signs in the course of trade.

The EC alleged that the sign imitated the European Union flag and that the symbolism of its additional elements did not change the overall impression.

Permission to use the European emblem does not confer on those to whom it is granted any right of exclusive use, nor does it allow them to appropriate the emblem or any similar trademark or logo, either by registration or any other means. Each case will be examined individually to ascertain whether it satisfies the criteria set out above. This will be unlikely in a commercial context if the European emblem is used in conjunction with a company’s own logo, name or trade mark.

The Adjudicative Board of the Polish Patent Office in its decision of 6 March 2009 act signature Sp. 158/08 agreed with the EC’s arguments that FIRMA BATCZEW Stanislaw Komperda’s trade mark imitated the flag of the European Union. In PPO’s view the flag of the European Union can not be used in a trade mark, even if it is stylized, and even if the sign has more elements. The PPO cited judgment of the Court of First Instance of 21 April 2004 in case T-127/02, Concept v. OHIM (ECA).

40. State emblems and emblems of international intergovernmental organisations are protected not only against the registration and use of marks which are identical to them or which incorporate them but also against the inclusion in such marks of any imitation of those emblems from a heraldic point of view”.

The PPO’s decision is not yet final. The Polish comapany may file a complaint to the Voivodeship Administrative Court in Warsaw.

Trade mark law, case Sp. 564/07

March 4th, 2009, Tomasz Rychlicki

On 21 July 2006 the PPO issued a positive decision and registered the word trade mark PLUSPIRYNA R-175822 in class 5 for pharmaceuticals products. It was applied for on 4 November 2005, by the Polish company Zakłady Farmaceutyczne Polpharma S.A. from Starogard Gdański. The German company Bayer Aktiengesellschaft from Leverkusen filed a request to invalidate the right of protection. The request was based on article 131(2)(i) and article 132(2)(ii) and (iii) of the Polish Act of 30 June 2000 on Industrial Property Law – IPL – (in Polish: ustawa Prawo własności przemysłowej) of 30 June 2000, published in Journal of Laws (Dziennik Ustaw) of 2001 No 49, item 508, consolidated text of 13 June 2003, Journal of Laws (Dziennik Ustaw) No 119, item 1117, with subsequent amendments.

Article 131(2)(i)
2. A right of protection shall not be granted for a sign, if:
(i) it has been applied for protection with the Patent Office in bad faith,

Article 132(2)(ii) and (iii)
2. A right of protection for a trade mark shall not be granted, if the trade mark is:
(ii) a trade mark which, before the date according to which priority to obtain a right of protection is determined, has been well-known and used as a trade mark in respect of the goods of another party,
(iii) a trade mark earlier registered in the Republic of Poland, whose registration has terminated, provided that an interval between the date of lapse of the right of protection for the trade mark and the date on which a similar trade mark has been applied for by another party, is, subject to Article 133, no longer than two years.

Bayer presented its earlier rights of protection for the trade mark ASPIRIN R-41042, which was applied for in the Republic of Poland on 20 June 1958, in class 5 for pharmaceutical preparations. Bayer alleged that Polpharma’s mark was confusingly similar to ASPIRIN and that PLUSPIRYNA is build on the reputation of Bayer’s trade mark. The disputed trade mark includes “pirin” component which in its overall assessment makes it similar to the ASPIRIN trade mark and it also weakens its reputation. Bayer has also registered other trade marks such as ASPIRIN-C R-105171, ASPIRIN R-105170 – applied for on 18 January 1994, these signs were registered on 8 September 1998 and ASPIRIN R-94326 – registered on 26 February 1997, in class 5 for goods such as medicines, pharmaceutical preparations, chemical proudcts for health care.

Polpharma argued that it has been registered a lot of trade marks including the “piryn” element. Although ASPIRIN trade mark has been applied to register in Poland in 1958, but for many years products bearing this sign were not available on the market in general, only in Pewex and Baltona shops – these two types of shops operated in the communist Poland selling otherwise unobtainable Western goods in exchange for Western currencies. Polpharma provided a whole series of trade marks that include “piryna” element – a well-known word mark POLPIRYNA R-48888 protected since 1969, and available on the Polish market since 1955, word trade mark POLOPIRYNA C R-55084 protected since 1976, the word trade mark CALCIPIRYNA R-96016 protected since 1994 and the word trade mark Etopiryna R-59876 protected since 1983.

The Polish Patent Office did not agree with Bayer’s arguments and dismissed the invalidation request in its decision of 3 February 2009, case file Sp. 564/07.

Trade mark law, case Sp. 10/08

February 10th, 2009, Tomasz Rychlicki

On 7 November 2002, the Polish company DAKAR from Krasne by/Rzeszów applied for word trade mark registration for DAKAR in class 3 for goods such as preparations for cleaning and maintenance of upholstery and body of a car, cosmetics for cars, in class 27 for goods such as car rugs and also in class 37 for services such as maintenance, repair, overhaul, cleaning, and car tuning. The Polish Patent Office registered this sign (R-174205) in its decision of 6 June 2006. French company (société par action simplifiée) PARIS-DAKAR filed a request for invalidation of the right of protection based on article 132(2)(iii) of the Polish Act of 30 June 2000 on Industrial Property Law – IPL – (in Polish: ustawa Prawo własności przemysłowej) of 30 June 2000, published in Journal of Laws (Dziennik Ustaw) of 2001 No. 49, item 508, consolidated text of 13 June 2003, Journal of Laws (Dziennik Ustaw) No. 119, item 1117, with later amendments.

2. A right of protection for a trade mark shall not be granted, if the trade mark:
(iii) is identical or similar to a renown trademark registered or applied for registration with an earlier priority (provided that the latter is subsequently registered) on behalf of another party for any kind of goods, if it without due cause would bring unfair advantage to the applicant or be detrimental to the distinctive character or the repute of the earlier trademark. The above provision shall apply to well-known trade marks accordingly.

The French company claimed that the PARIS-DAKAR and DAKAR brands are widely known beacause of the world-wide popular rally which has around thirty years of tradition. In PARIS-DAKAR opinion the Polish company applied for trade mark protection knowingly. It works in the cars trade which may causing a risk of association between the registered mark and the French company’s brand and it has been done in order to use its popularity and reputation.

R-174205

The Polish company argued that, when it applied for trade mark registration, the indication Paris-Dakar was usually associated with the rally, not “Dakar” itself. In addition, there are other trade mark registrations consisting of Dakar word, which means that such sign may function on the market.

On 9 December 2008, the Polish Patent Office postponed the hearing in this case case file Sp. 10/08, and ordered the French company to supplement its evidence.