Polish legal systems ensures protection of intellectual property in two basic fields. The first of them is copyright, which applies to all types of creative activity (from written word to music, to film etc.). This protection extends to personal and property rights. The scope of protection in Poland is in accordance with the stipulations of Bern Convention. The protection of author's material rights is extended to 70 years after the author's death, while his personal authorship rights is perpetual

The second and, from the point of view of business entities, more important field, are patent rights and related rights (not only patent rights and utility models, but also trademarks, industrial design, geographical indications and places of origin, topographies of integrated circuits). The Polish Patent Office is responsible for protection of these rights (http://www.uprp.pl/English).

Additionally, it is possible to obtain EC trademark (registration takes place in the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market in Alicante (Spain), see: http://oami.europa.eu/), or obtain international protection of a trademark (registration in the Headquarters of the World Intellectual Property Organization in Geneva, http://www.wipo.int).

Some basic information on protection offered by the Patent Office:

Patent registered in the Office is in force for 20 years since registration (after that it can be prolonged by 10 years at a time), and industrial designs are protected for 25 years. Geographical indications and names of origin are protected indefinitely.

The duration of a patent or a protective right is conditional on payment of fees for the protection of inventions and utility models. Basic fee for the registration of invention or utility model is PLN 500.

The full list of fees of the Patent Office for any activity related to patent and trademark protection is available at: http://www.uprp.pl/English/Procedure+before+the+PPO/Fees/

IMPORTANT: companies and individuals whose residence is not on the territory of the Republic of Poland can apply and communicate with the Patent Office ONLY via a patent attorney who is a Polish resident.

More information about the protection of industrial property in Poland is available in a paper prepared by the Stopczyk & Mikulski Legal Counselling Company, at the website of Polish Information and Foreign Investment Agency, at:

http://paiz.gov.pl/index/
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