"The Law on Industrial Property in Poland has undergone several important amendments in recent months. The first amendment, which came into effect on December 1 2015, introduced, among other things, the possibility of filing letters of consent with the Polish Patent Office.

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The second amendment of September 15 2015 due to come into effect on April 15 2016 will transform the process of examining trademark applications. When the second amendment comes into effect, the Polish Patent Office will operate in accordance with the principles of the so-called "opposition system". This means that only formal requirements and absolute grounds for refusal shall be examined ex officio by the Patent Office.

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The amendments are intended, among other things, to simplify and expedite application proceedings before the Polish Patent Office. Registering a trademark, which now takes between 12 and 18 months will become much faster. However, despite many improvements resulting from the amendments to the Law on Industrial Property, the fact that the Polish Patent Office will not provide information of new similar or identical applications to the owners of earlier marks will make it necessary to regularly monitor new applications in order to secure protection of a mark."

To learn about the latest amendments in the polish Industrial Property Law, which bring significant changes to trademark registration proceedings in Poland please read full article – Important amendments to the Law on Industrial Property – newest publication by Aleksandra Kryśka, Head of Trade Mark and Design Department at Patpol.

This article first appeared on WTR Daily, part of World Trademark Review, in March 2016. For further information, please go to www.worldtrademarkreview.com.

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