Poland News Archives
January 27, 2012
Polish Customs Seize Counterfeit Euro 2012 Medals
Last month the Polish customs officials in Mazovia, Poland’s east-central region, seized 1,000 counterfeit commemorative medals bearing the 2012 European Football Championship (Euro 2012) marks.
A Polish company ordered the medals to be made in China without authorization and planned to distribute them in Poland. The Polish customs will destroy the fake medals at the company’s expense.
Earlier in 2011 about 41,000 pairs of sneakers bearing the Euro 2012 marks were seized by the Polish customs.
Euro 2012, the 14th European soccer championship for national teams, will take place in Poland and Ukraine in June and July 2012.
For more information, please contact Masa Lopicic at our Balkan Regional Office.
Source: Polskie Radio
October 28, 2011
Polish Wine Producer Loses against Ferrero over Raffaello Trademark
On July 29, 2011, the Polish Voivodeship Administrative Court (county) ruled in favor of the Belgian chocolate maker Soremartec, member of the Ferrero Group, in its trademark opposition case against Vinpol, a Polish wine and liquor manufacturer, over Ferrero’s well-known Raffaello trademark.
Soremartec filed a claim against Vinpol with the Polish Patent Office (PPO) requesting invalidation of Vinpol’s sparkling wine trademark Raffaello Spumante Dolce Sweet Spumante QUALITA SOPERIORE R-182895.
Soremartec argued that the two marks are confusingly similar, which can mislead the consumer as to the origin of goods, and that Vinpol acted in bad faith seeking to unfairly exploit the established reputation of the Raffaello trademark.
Soremartec had been aware that Vinpol registered a word mark RAFFAELLO R-87046 in 1993 and subsequently other trademarks that included the word ‘Raffaello’ but did not oppose them. However, Soremartec in this case opposed the visual, graphic similarity of the two trademarks.
To support its claims, Soremartec provided reports on brand recognition and the development of the praline market in Poland showing that the Raffaello pralines were among the most popular sweets in Poland and that their advertising campaigns were one of the most memorable. Additionally, Soremartec provided a report on Ferrero Group’s advertising investments in Poland in the period 2001-2005, as well as the sales report for Raffaello pralines for the period February 2001-February 2006, proving that Raffaello has built a reputation in Poland over the years and that the demand for its products continues to grow.
Soremartec also emphasized that Vinpol applied for two other trademarks, MON CHERI R-194468 and Mon Cheri CHERRY BRANDY & Delicious 18 High Quality R-203339, the verbal elements of which are identical to Soremartec’s trademark.
Vinpol on the other hand claimed that there was no danger of misleading the public because wine and pralines are different products.
The PPO ruled in Soremartec’s favor and cancelled Vinpol’s sparkling wine trademark registration, claiming that, apart from the proven reputation of Raffaello pralines in Poland, sweets and alcohol are not completely different products as both are consumed for pleasure and can be produced by one company and sold as a set. The PPO thus argued that there is a possibility for the public to link these two products and believe they came from the same company, especially if the trademarks’ graphic elements are confusingly similar. According to the PPO, this would give Vinpol’s products unfair advantage on the Polish market entirely based on the reputation that Soremartec has been building for the Raffaello pralines.
Vinpol filed a complaint against the PPO’s decision and the case went to the Voivodeship Administrative Court (VAC), which dismissed the complaint. Considering all the evidence Soremartec provided, the VAC ruled that Soremartec’s trademark Raffaello is renowned and that Vinpol would be taking unfair advantage of Soremartec’s trademark reputation and misleading consumers about the origin of the product.
For more information, please contact Masa Lopicic at our Balkan Regional Office.
Source: Polish IP news portal, Rychlicki.net
June 21, 2011
Polish Police Arrest Counterfeit Viagra Gang
The Polish police have recently arrested 12 people suspected of selling counterfeit Viagra on the Internet since 2007. The suspects have been arrested in Polish cities Warsaw, Szczecin and Katowice.
The suspects registered web domains in other countries, including Malaysia, and have sold the fake pills, containing carbon and plaster, to more than 10,000 Poles at prices three times lower than the original. The criminal group, also suspected of money laundering, earned EUR 1.8 million (USD 2.6 million).
For more information, please contact Masa Lopicic at our Balkan Regional Office.
Source: Polskie Radio
May 26, 2011
Polish Customs Seize Counterfeit Cigarettes
In April 2011, the Polish customs officials seized 10,000 cigarettes suspected of being counterfeit.
After inspecting a freight train in Dorohusk, a village in eastern Poland, the customs officials discovered the cigarettes buried under tons of coal. The officials believe that the shipment was intended for the Ukrainian market. The train has been impounded and investigation is underway.
For more information, please contact Masa Lopicic at our Balkan Regional Office.
Source: Austrian Times online news
April 27, 2011
Red Bull Loses Against Polish Beverage Producer
On December 14, 2010, Warsaw’s Voivodeship Administrative Court ruled against Austrian beverage company Red Bull in a dispute against the Polish leading beverage and mineral water producer Dodoni, which registered the trademark Red Dragon (R-179732) in Class 32, same class as for the Red Bull energy drink.
Red Bull claimed that Red Dragon is similar to its trademarks Red Bull (R-207549), Red Bull Energy Drink (IR-0715531) and the Community Trade Mark Red, and that Dodoni would gain unfair advantage by registering the Red Dragon trademark.
The court ruled that the Red Dragon trademark, composed of the English word “red” and of the Polish word “dragon”, meaning mounted infantry or a tall, stout, vigorous, sprawling woman, cannot hurt Red Bull’s distinctiveness and market reputation.
The Polish Patent Office (PPO) had previously dismissed Red Bull’s opposition notice against Dodoni claiming that the two marks were aurally, verbally and conceptually different, having in common only the word “red”, which is also present in other trademarks registered for goods in Class 32.
For more information, please contact Masa Lopicic at our Balkan Regional Office.
Source: Rychlicki, Polish IP news portal
March 24, 2011
Polish PTO Invalidates Unilever’s Trademark
On December 20, 2010, the Polish Patent Office (PPO) ruled against Unilever, owner of many of the world’s consumer product brands, in the trademark infringement dispute against the Polish packaging manufacturer Rosinski i Sk-a.
The PPO had invalidated the industrial design registration “bottle with cap” (Rp-2543) belonging to Rosinski, following Unilever’s claim that the design infringed its 3D trademark (R-134678), registered on March 20, 2002 (with a priority date of January 29, 1999) in Classes 3 and 5 covering products such as detergents, soaps, deodorants, fungicides, germicides and insect repellents. The disputed bottle is used for Domestos, a liquid toilet cleaner.
The Polish manufacturer first filed an appeal with the Voivodeship Administrative Court (county), which upheld the PPO’s decision, and later a cassation appeal with the Supreme Administrative Court, which ruled that the PPO should reconsider its decision.
Rosinski also requested that the PPO invalidate Unilever’s 3D trademark, arguing it is a “weak mark”, because the bottle alone, without the label, is not significantly different from other liquid detergent bottles on the Polish market. Rosinski emphasized that 50 percent of Unilever’s bottle is covered with the Domestos label, and that the bottle with the label is registered separately as a trademark (figurative trademark DOMESTOS SPRING FRESH THICK DISINFECTING CLEANER KILLS ALL KNOWN GERMS, Registration 155952). Rosinski therefore argued that Unilever did not use the 3D mark in its registered form.
In response to Rosinski’s arguments, Unilever tried to prove that the 3D trademark was put to genuine use by presenting evidence in the form of a 2009 market research showing that consumers recognized the shape of the Domestos bottle. Unilever also showed evidence of its significant investment into both print and television advertising campaigns. Finally, Unilever submitted several judgments issued by French and German courts that supported its arguments.
The PPO however ruled that the evidence Unilever provided was insufficient because it failed to prove that the 3D mark was used in its registered form on the Polish market for five consecutive years since the date of its registration.
The PPO further noted that the television commercials were of poor quality and without dates and that Unilever did not provide evidence that they had ever been aired in Poland. As for the print advertisements, Unilever failed to provide dates as well as the names of newspapers in which the advertisements appeared. The PPO also noted that the foreign court judgments that Unilever presented were not legally binding in Poland.
In addition, the PPO determined that Unilever’s invalidation of Rosinski’s industrial design was done in bad intention and infringed upon Rosinski’s freedom to conduct business-related activities.
At the time we distributed our newsletter, we did not have information on whether Unilever filed an appeal with the Voivodeship Administrative Court.
For more information, please contact Masa Lopicic at our Balkan Regional Office.
Source: Polish IP news portal, Rychlicki.net
February 23, 2011
YouTube Pays Royalties to Polish Artists
The popular video-sharing website YouTube and the Association of Polish Authors and Composers (ZAIKS) have signed a license agreement, in force as of January 1, 2011, protecting the copyright of Polish artists and guaranteeing royalty payments for their videos played on YouTube.
Under the agreement, Polish artists registered at ZAIKS will receive an unidentified percentage of the revenue that YouTube earns from the advertisements displayed next to the videos.
Artur Waliszewski, country business manager at Google Poland, Google being the owner of YouTube, said the agreement is a milestone for Polish artists, as it will provide them with both the promotion and financial compensation.
YouTube has signed more than 10,000 similar agreements with copyright organizations around the world and, as Waliszewski explained, it will continue to sign agreements with other copyright collectives in Poland.
For more information, please contact Masa Lopicic at our Balkan Regional Office.
Source: Polish news portals Poland.pl and Thenews.pl
December 21, 2010
Polish Court Rules in Favor of Croatia’s Spice Brand Vegeta in Dispute with Polish Spice Producer
On October 12, 2010, the Polish Supreme Administrative Court ruled that the Polish company Japart cannot obtain protection for the brand Master Cook, thus ending the lengthy trade dress and unfair competition dispute between this company and the Croatian company Podravka, which produces the well-known spice Vegeta.
In 2005, the Polish Patent Office (PPO) granted registration for the Master Cook seasoning brand with similar packaging as Vegeta, namely a bag with the images of the cook and vegetables on a blue background. Podravka filed a trademark opposition against the registration arguing substantial similarity of Japart’s product and Vegeta, which has been present on the Polish market since 1994. On June 13, 2008, the PPO ruled that Vegeta is a reputed trademark and cancelled Master Cook’s registration.
Japart filed a complaint with the Voivodeship Administrative Court (VAC, county), which dismissed the complaint on May 22, 2009 on grounds that Master Cook would gain unfair advantage by building a brand on Vegeta’s reputation. The VAC ruled that Japart used images on its spice packaging confusingly similar to those used by a reputed mark. Japart then filed an appeal with the Polish Supreme Administrative Court, but this court also dismissed the appeal.
For more information, please contact Masa Lopicic at our Balkan Regional Office.
Source: Polish IP news portal, Rychlicki.net
November 29, 2010
Gucci Loses Claim Against Polish Gucio
On August 30, 2010, the Voivodeship Administrative Court in Warsaw, Poland, ruled against the Italian fashion giant Gucci in the dispute against the Polish owner of the Gucio trademark, registered in 2007 by the Polish Patent Office (PPO).
As the Polish IP news portal, Rychlicki.net, reported on November 8, 2010, the PPO granted protection for trademark Gucio in class 25 for goods such as children’s shoes on January 27, 2007. Guccio Gucci S.p.A, the owner of Gucci trademarks, filed an opposition against the registration on the grounds that Gucci is a well-known mark, which also sells children’s shoes among other high-quality clothing items. The Italian manufacturer also argued that the use of the mark would mislead customers about the origin and the quality of products.
The defendant, Sławomir Piwowarczyk, the holder of the Gucio trademark, argued that Gucio is a diminutive of the name Gustaw. Piwowarczyk also argued that the colorful Gucio logo was significantly different from Gucci’s, that the two names are pronounced differently and that there is no danger of misleading consumers or building brand recognition on Gucci’s reputation.
The PPO dismissed Gucci’s claim in December 2009. The Italian fashion house appealed against the decision at the Voivodeship Administrative Court, which dismissed Gucci’s appeal on the grounds that Gucio’s logo can neither mislead customers nor harm Gucci’s worldwide reputation.
For more information, please contact Masa Lopicic at our Balkan Regional Office.
Source: Polish IP news portal Rychlicki.net
September 21, 2010
20 Servers with Pirated Films Found at Polish University
On September 7, 2010, during a raid at the Silesian University of Technology in the city of Gliwice in the south of Poland, the police discovered and seized 20 illegal servers with pirated movies that may have been used by the file-sharing website The Pirate Bay.
The raid at the Polish university was part of a larger operation organized by the EU authorities after a two-year investigation by the Belgian police. The raids targeted a major online piracy network and happened simultaneously in Belgium, the Netherlands, France, Britain, Italy, Norway, Poland, Sweden, Croatia, Czech Republic, Germany, Austria and Hungary.
According to the French news agency Agence France-Presse (AFP), the police searched 57 servers operated by four large distribution groups, shut down a total of 49 servers and detained 10 people in Belgium, Norway, Sweden and Poland, who were the leaders of the four groups. One of the biggest servers with 150-180 terabytes of pirated material was found in Poland.
For more information, please contact Jelena Jankovic at our Balkan Regional Office.
Source: Warsaw Business Journal, AFP
July 21, 2010
American Photography Student to Sue Polish Clothing Label for Copyright Infringement
A 19-year old American photography student Rockie Nolan is planning to sue the Polish clothing brand Reserved for copyright infringement, after Reserved reproduced her photograph on their T-shirt collection without her authorization.
The photograph was allegedly taken from deviantART, an online artist community. One of its members recognized the image on a Reserved T-shirt and informed Nolan about the infringement. After Nolan approached the clothing chain, the company publicly apologized to her on its Facebook page and offered USD 150 (EUR 117) to buy the rights to her photograph. They also offered to buy six more of her photographs for commercial use. Nolan, a student at the Savannah College of Art and Design in Savannah, Georgia, declined the offer saying it cannot justify the fact that they illegally reproduced her work of art and profited from it.
Reserved, owned by LLP, the biggest clothing chain store in Poland, has sold around 2,000 shirts with Nolan’s photo. LPP, also the owner of Cropp, House and Mohito brands, is based in Gdansk, Poland, with stores in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Russia, the Baltic States, Ukraine and Romania.
For more information, please contact Masa Lopicic at our Balkan Regional Office.
Source: Polskie Radio
March 30, 2010
Polish Customs Seize Counterfeit Soccer Shoes with Euro 2012 Logo
Polish customs officials have recently seized 10,656 pairs of soccer shoes bearing the Euro 2012 logo in Gdynia, a port in northern Poland.
It is estimated that the seized goods are worth EUR 110,000 (USD 152,000). This is the first trademark infringement of the Euro 2012 logo in Poland.
Euro 2012, the 14th European soccer championship for national teams will take place in Poland and Ukraine in June and July 2012.
For more information, please contact Masa Lopicic in our Balkan Regional Office.
Source: MARQUES - AFP
July 21, 2009
Polish PTO Hosts Regional Symposium on Teaching IP at Universities
The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), in cooperation with the Polish Patent Office and the Jagiellonian University in Krakow, has recently held an inter-regional symposium on teaching intellectual property at universities in countries in transition.
The symposium took place in Krakow, Poland, on June 18 and 19, 2009. According to the WIPO and the Polish PTO, the objective of the event was to exchange experiences in developing modern teaching curricula and teaching materials among countries in transition.
Besides WIPO and Polish PTO representatives, the event also gathered representatives of various European and international universities and research institutions. They discussed the following topics:
- Importance of capacity building in intellectual property in the 21st century;
- Methodologies and experience in IP teaching and training;
- Example of teaching IP at Polish universities;
- Government support in IP teaching in countries in transition;
- Country reports: experience, practices, methodologies in developing IP teaching curricula;
- Strategies and programs for IP education in South Korea;
- Methodologies for IP teaching and training and experience of WIPO and the WIPO Worldwide Academy (WWA).
Symposium participants adopted a decision to improve teaching methods in the field of intellectual property, and to create conditions for the introduction of specialized departments for training of IP specialists at the universities in countries in transition.
For more information, please contact Jovana Miocinovic in our Balkan Regional Office.
May 12, 2009
Poland Accedes to Geneva Act and Singapore Treaty
On April 2, 2009, Poland acceded to the Geneva Act of the Hague Agreement on the International Registration of Industrial Designs, and to the Singapore Treaty on the Law of Trademarks.
The Geneva Act and the Singapore Treaty will enter into force in Poland on July 2, 2009.
According to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the accession to the Geneva Act will allow companies to obtain design protection with a single application in all the countries that are members of the Geneva Act.
For more information, please contact Jovana Miočinović in our Balkan Regional Office.