PoLAnD
PoLAnD
PoLIsH BUsInEss Is InCREAsInGLY
CRItICAL of PAtEnt PRotECtIon PoLICY
from foreign capital. Moreover, bearing in mind the growing number
Consequently, if Poland becomes party to the London Protocol, it will
of EP patents valid in Poland that are owned by the foreign entities, the
probably adversely aff ect Polish fi rms operating in their domestic market.
number of possible infringement confl icts will also grow.
It is also noteworthy that Polish entities can already take advantage of
Supposing now that Poland becomes a party to the London Protocol, the
London Protocol savings when validating their EP patents in other countries
following results should be expected:
that are party to the protocol.
• Th e cost of obtaining an EP patent valid in Poland will decrease for foreign
Unsurprisingly, Polish business is increasingly critical of patent protection
applicants because there will be no need for translations into Polish
policy. Th e prospect of joining the protocol is widely opposed. Public
• Polish entrepreneurs will be forced to bear translation costs in order to
criticism resulted in a special advisory meeting hosted in the Ministry of
be aware of the patents valid in their own country. Hence, the burden
Economy in June 2009, which was attended by IP professionals among
of translation will be transferred from the patent owners to the passive
others. Will common sense prevail? Hardly anyone can predict the answer.
patent system users
• In cases where the language barrier and the translation costs will be too
high, the prospect of an unexpected patent infringement will become Katarzyna Karcz is a European patent attorney and the managing director of
quite real Patpol. She can be contacted at: katarzyna.karcz@patpol.com.pl
• Th e cost to Polish companies of doing business will increase because
of the growing cost of conducting searches in foreign languages, not to
mention the costs of current patent monitoring
Katarzyna Karcz has a Msc degree in Civil Engineering
• Th e level of legal certainty will be lowered. If an infringement matter
from Warsaw University of technology, as well as a Certifi cate
involves court action, the essential document—the patent at issue—will
of Postgraduate Intellectual Property studies at Jagellonian
initially be published in a foreign language. Th e translation of the patent
University in Kraków. since 1999, she has been a Polish patent
text into Polish, if prepared at the expense of the foreign patent owner,
and trademark attorney, and since 2004, a European patent
may give the advantage to the party that ordered it, as confrontation with
attorney. In June 2009, she was appointed managing director
another version of the translation undertaken by the alleged infringer
of Patpol.
would be necessary.
132 World Intellectual Property Review Digest 2009 www.worldipreview.com
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