Trademark registration in Poland for foreigners – a step-by-step guide

Foreigners and foreign companies can register a trademark in Poland to protect their brand on the Polish market. This step-by-step guide shows how foreigners can complete the registration procedure in Poland.

First and foremost, registering a trademark in Poland by a foreign entity allows for obtaining the exclusive right to use the mark in relation to specific goods or services in Poland. In practice, this means that no other entrepreneur may use an identical or similar mark in the same industry without the consent of the trademark owner. This allows for the creation and development of a brand without the risk that competitors will use the same name, logo or slogan. By registering a trademark, an entrepreneur can be almost certain that consumers will associate their products or services with the entrepreneur’s brand.

In addition, registration enables and facilitates effective action against trademark infringements by other entrepreneurs, for example through copying, counterfeiting or impersonating the brand. A foreigner who registers a trademark in Poland may take legal action to stop the use of the mark, obtain compensation or destroy counterfeit goods.

Obtaining a trademark in Poland will also be useful in the context of online trade and on e-commerce websites. A registered trademark becomes an intangible asset that can be sold, licensed for a fee, or used in a franchise. As a result, it can generate additional sources of income for the entrepreneur.

Of course, apart from issues strictly related to marketing, registration also has a number of other practical advantages, for example, it shows that the brand is legally protected, which can facilitate negotiations with business partners or investors. A protected trademark also increases the value of the company, which is important for valuations, sales or attracting investors.

This step-by-step guide shows how foreigners can protect their products and services on the Polish market. In this publication, we will answer the following questions:

–    What can be a trademark in Poland?

–    Which entity registers a trademark in Poland?

–    How can a foreigner apply for a trademark in Poland?

–    What information should be included in a trademark application in Poland?

–    What are the costs of registering a trademark in Poland for foreign entities?

–    How long does trademark protection last in Poland for foreign entities?

–    What is the procedure for opposing the registration of a trademark in Poland?

What can be a trademark in Poland for foreigners?

Pursuant to Article 120(1) of the Polish Industrial Property Law Act, a trademark in Poland may be any sign that distinguishes the goods of one undertaking from those of another undertaking and can be represented in the trademark register in a manner that allows for the unambiguous and precise determination of the subject matter of the protection granted.

A trademark in Poland (but also in the EU) is therefore not just a sign, but a connection between the sign and the goods that functions in the minds of consumers. A designation in a specific form (e.g. a word, graphic, shape) is a component of a sign that only becomes a trademark when it is associated with a product and evokes specific associations in the minds of consumers.

A practical example from Polish case law:

“Any sign that distinguishes the goods of one undertaking from those of another undertaking may be a trademark. In particular, a trademark may be a word, including a name, a drawing, a letter, a number, a colour, a three-dimensional shape, including the shape of the goods or packaging, and a sound. Therefore, only the trademark owner is able to grant valid authorisation for a given brand (judgment of the Polish National Appeal Chamber of 15 June 2020, KIO 653/20).”

Which entity registers trademarks in Poland?

In Poland, trademark registration is carried out by the Patent Office of the Republic of Poland (UPRP). An application for trademark registration may be made in person or through a professional representative.

How can a foreigner apply for a trademark in Poland?

Every foreigner registering a trademark in Poland should begin the procedure with a preliminary analysis to check whether the trademark can be registered in Poland and whether there are any grounds for refusing registration. The purpose of the analysis will be to assess whether the selected designation can become a trademark within the meaning of the Polish Industrial Property Law Act and, consequently, whether there is a risk that the UPRP may refuse to register the trademark on the basis of absolute grounds for refusal. These grounds include, among others (Article 1291(1) of the Act):

• conflict with a previously registered mark,
• inability to function as a trademark,
• application in bad faith,
• misleading consumers,
• contradiction with public order or morality, etc.

However, if a preliminary analysis of the trademark shows that there are no absolute grounds for refusing registration, the next step for a foreigner applying for trademark registration in Poland will be to prepare and submit a completed registration application to the Patent Office of the Republic of Poland. This application should include a description of the goods or services for which the mark is to be used.

Currently, it is possible to apply for a trademark electronically via a dedicated UPRP website. However, if a foreigner does not have a place of residence or registered office in the European Union, it is mandatory to appoint a representative in Poland, e.g. a solicitor, legal advisor or patent attorney. The representative represents the applicant in proceedings before the Polish Patent Office.

A practical example from Polish case law:

“Trademarks that lack sufficient distinctive characteristics in relation to the goods for which they are intended to be used are considered incapable of functioning as trademarks. Such characteristics are not possessed by signs that do not allow the goods to be identified as originating from a specific undertaking. This group of signs includes descriptive signs, i.e. signs which consist exclusively of elements which may serve in trade to indicate, in particular, the type of goods, their origin, quality, quantity, value, intended purpose, method of manufacture, composition, function or usefulness (Article 129[1] (1)(3) of the Polish Industrial Property Law Act), i.e. elements whose sole function is to convey information about the goods (services) and not about their origin from a specific undertaking (judgment of the Polish Provincial Administrative Court in Warsaw of 5 March 2024, VI SA/Wa 6431/23).”

What information should a trademark application in Poland contain?

Pursuant to Article 138(1) of the Polish Industrial Property Law, a trademark application must specify the trademark and indicate the goods for which it is intended. In practice, this means, first and foremost, that the application should specify the type of mark being registered, i.e. whether it is:

• a word mark – consisting exclusively of letters, words, numbers or a combination of these elements;
• a word and graphic mark – combining verbal and graphic elements, e.g. a logo with a company name;
• a graphic mark – comprising only visual elements, such as an image, symbol, shape of goods or packaging.

If a foreigner wishes to apply for a word and figurative or figurative trademark in Poland, it should also be remembered that the application must include a graphic attachment that clearly depicts the mark. In our experience, the Polish Patent Office requires that the image of the mark be legible, clear and in a format compliant with the UPRP guidelines, and that the mark be presented in a manner that allows it to be reproduced and assessed. If the mark features colour elements, these should be indicated in the application, as they may be relevant to the scope of protection. Failure to submit an attachment or an illegible attachment may result in a request for supplementation or even rejection of the application.

In addition, the application should indicate the scope of goods and services covered by the brand. This is the so-called Nice Classification (‘International Classification of Goods and Services’) used in Poland and the European Union, which aims to define the scope of the brand’s activity and the scope of legal protection of the trademark, as well as to facilitate the Polish Patent Office’s assessment of possible conflicts with previously registered trademarks. The Nice Classification consists of 34 classes of goods and 11 classes of services.

For foreigners planning to develop their business in Poland, the correct choice of classes will be crucial for the scope of trademark protection. This is because trademark registration only protects the trademark within the specified classes. Therefore, if an entrepreneur wants to protect a mark for marketing services in Poland, the protection will not automatically cover, for example, food products, as these must be registered separately in the appropriate classes. Importantly, the Polish Patent Office requires a precise description within the selected class. An inappropriate or overly general description may result in limited protection or a request to supplement the application.

Furthermore, an entity that registers a similar mark in a given class may block the possibility of operating under the brand name within that class. Consequently, a foreigner planning to register a trademark in Poland should carefully select the classes of goods and services, precisely describing the scope of activity, and monitor new trademark applications in selected classes in order to respond quickly to potential conflicts.

What are the costs of registering a trademark in Poland for foreign entities?

The registration of a trademark in Poland involves fees payable to the Polish Patent Office. The fees for registering a trademark are the same for Polish and foreign entities. At the outset, when submitting an application, the applicant is required to pay an official fee of PLN 450, which covers one class of goods and services, in accordance with the Nice Classification. If the applicant wishes to register more classes, each additional class increases the official fee by PLN 120. Therefore, if an entrepreneur wishes to register 5 classes, for example, they are required to pay PLN 930.

Furthermore, when the Polish Patent Office issues a conditional decision granting protection rights to a trademark, the applicant is required to pay an additional fee covering 10 years of trademark protection in the amount of PLN 400 for each class applied for, plus a fee of PLN 90 for publication in official databases.

Therefore, considering the scope of protection and the predictability of costs, the registration procedure does not seem particularly expensive, and the benefits of granting protection rights to a foreigner planning to develop a business in Poland outweigh the expenses incurred.

What actions does the Polish Patent Office take after receiving an application for trademark registration?

Once the application has been submitted, the Polish Patent Office then subjects it to a verification procedure:

1. The Office formally checks the application, i.e. verifies that all the necessary documents have been submitted and that the application itself has been correctly completed by the applicant.
2. The Office publishes the application in the e-search engine in the trademarks section within two weeks of the date of application.
3. The Office assesses whether there are circumstances that prevent the granting of protection, i.e. the so-called absolute grounds for refusal of protection for a trademark referred to above. If this is the case, the Patent Office will issue a decision refusing to grant protection for the trademark.
4. However, if the Patent Office decides that the trademark can be registered, it will publish the trademark application in the Patent Office Bulletin. From that moment, other entities have three months to file any objections.
5. If no opposition is filed, and thus after the decision to grant protection rights for the trademark becomes final, the Polish Patent Office enters the trademark in the public register of trademarks.
6. The Patent Office then announces the granting of protection rights and issues a protection certificate to the applicant.

Trademark protection period in Poland for foreign entities

Pursuant to Article 153(2) of the Industrial Property Law, the duration of trademark protection rights is 10 years from the date of filing the trademark application with the Patent Office. Importantly, the date of protection therefore begins not when protection is granted to the trademark, but on the date of filing the trademark application with the Patent Office.

However, pursuant to section 3 of the Industrial Property Law, trademark protection is extended for a further 10 years, provided that the fee for the further period of protection is paid. Therefore, if a foreigner wishes to extend the protection of a trademark, they may extend it for another 10 years.

What is the procedure for opposing the registration of a trademark in Poland?

As indicated above, after the disclosure of a trademark application in the Bulletin of the Patent Office of the Republic of Poland, a 3-month period begins for entities that consider their rights to have been infringed to file a possible opposition. This period cannot be extended — once it has expired, it is definitively impossible to block the registration of the mark.

The condition is the existence of a prior right that may be infringed by the applied-for mark. Therefore, the entities referred to in the provision may be:

• the owner of an earlier trademark (national, EU or international),
• an entity holding earlier personal or property rights,
• the holder of a protected designation of origin or geographical indication.

The most common circumstances in which an opposition may be lodged include situations where:

• the mark applied for is identical or similar to an earlier mark for identical or similar goods or services,
• there is a risk of misleading consumers,
• the trademark applied for infringes the reputation of an earlier trademark,
• the trademark is widely known in Poland, despite the lack of formal registration,
• the use of the trademark infringes the personal or property rights of third parties.

Of course, from the perspective of the person applying for a trademark, filing an opposition is a situation to be avoided. However, for an entrepreneur who uses a mark that is already functioning on the market and generating business value, the situation will generally be different. Failure to file an opposition may lead to confusion between brands and, as a consequence, to a weakening of the protection of the mark, loss of its distinctive character and, in the long term, real financial losses.

A successful opposition may lead to a complete refusal to register the mark, a restriction of the list of goods or services, or possibly a settlement between the parties.

A practical example from Polish case law:

“In order to consider the opposition valid on the basis of Article 1321(1)(3) of the Polish Industrial Property Law Act of 30 June 2000, the Patent Office had to assess whether: 1) the goods or services designated by the disputed mark are identical or similar to the goods or services designated by the complainant’s opposing trademarks, 2) the compared designations (the disputed mark and the complainant’s mark) are identical or similar in three aspects: visual, phonetic and semantic, 3) there is a risk that the designation of goods or services with the disputed mark may mislead consumers as to the origin of those goods or services from a specific entity.

When comparing trademarks, the first step is to assess the similarity or identity of the goods for which the marks are used. Only after determining that the goods are of the same type is it necessary to compare the marks. In turn, determining the risk of error as to the source of origin of the goods and/or services will consist in determining the resultant identity (similarity) of the goods and/or services designated by the opposing trademarks and the identity (similarity) of the designations themselves. (Judgment of the Provincial Administrative Court in Warsaw of 14 February 2024, ref. no. VI SA/Wa 5160/23).”

International trademark registration strategies in Poland

Foreign entities planning to protect their brand in Poland may also consider a broader trademark registration strategy covering other European Union countries or even countries outside the EU.

There are two main mechanisms available for this purpose:

• the EUIPO system and
• the international MADRID system operated by the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO).

The EUIPO (European Union Intellectual Property Office) system allows a trademark to be registered in a single application, which automatically provides protection in all EU Member States, including Poland. This means that entrepreneurs do not have to submit separate applications in individual countries, which significantly simplifies the procedure and reduces administrative costs. The registration of an EU trademark also provides a uniform legal basis for taking action in the event of infringements in any EU country, including Poland.

The MADRID system (MADRID Agreement and WIPO Protocols) allows trademark protection to be extended to many countries covered by the international convention, including both EU countries and countries outside the Union. A foreigner can submit a single application in their country of origin and then indicate the countries in which they wish to obtain protection. Each designated country carries out its own registration procedure, and a successful application under the MADRID system results in trademark protection in those countries under local regulations.

It seems that the use of these systems allows for coordinated brand protection not only in Poland, but also in other markets, minimises the risk of legal conflicts with local entrepreneurs, and facilitates the pursuit of claims in the event of infringements. Furthermore, it enables effective planning of marketing and business expansion strategies, as the brand can operate in different countries under the same trademark, which increases its recognition and market value.

Summary

Foreign entities can register a trademark in Poland on the same terms as Polish entrepreneurs, which means that they have the right to exclusive use of the mark for specific goods or services and can thus effectively protect their brand against copying, counterfeiting or unfair competition. Proper registration ensures legal security, enables easy enforcement of claims in the event of infringements, and increases the credibility of the company in the eyes of business partners, investors and customers.

In addition, a registered trademark becomes a valuable intangible asset that can be licensed, sold or used in franchise strategies, opening up new opportunities for generating revenue on the Polish market.

In practice, this means that a foreign entrepreneur not only secures their presence on the market, but also builds brand recognition and a long-term competitive advantage in Poland.