The procedures governing the administration of industrial
property rights, managed by the Polish Patent Office, have to date
been regulated by the Industrial Property Law of 30 June 2000
("IPL").
According to the current status (ie as of 20 October 2015), only a
patent attorney may act as a party's representative before the
Polish Patent Office in registration proceedings
(ie in cases relating to the filing and examination of applications
and maintaining protection for inventions, utility models,
industrial designs, trademarks, geographical indications, and
topographies of integrated circuits). By way of exception, a
physical person may be also represented by a co-holder, parent,
spouse, siblings, descendant of the party, or person in an adoptive
relationship.
Notwithstanding the above, a person originating from
outside of Poland (ie a person who or an entity that does
not have their place of residence or registered office in the
Republic of Poland), may act through the mandatory intermediate,
namely the patent attorney.
On 5 August 2015, the Polish Parliament revised the abovementioned
provisions of the IPL. Based on the amendment which will enter into
force on 30 November 2015, an attorney at law will
also be entitled to act as the party's representative in
registration proceedings concerning trademarks.
Furthermore, the abovementioned rules on representation of persons
originating from outside of Poland have also been changed. Now,
such parties will be divided by the region of origin. Those
originating from outside of the European Union, the European Free
Trade Association or the Swiss Confederation, will still need to
act through the mandatory representative in registration procedure;
however, attorneys at law will also be allowed to serve as such a
representative. The rules have also been relaxed for entities
originating from within of the abovementioned jurisdictions: as of
30 November 2015, they will be entitled to act directly, just as
Poland-located persons already are.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
