POLISH TRADEMARKS
Under Polish legislation, a trademark is any sign that is capable of being represented graphically and can distinguish the goods or services of one undertaking from those of others.
WELL COVERED:
DOMAIN NAMES AND TRADEMARKS IN POLAND
Recent Polish trademark cases concerning the status of domain names have been solved in favour of brand owners, as Marta Skrobot explains.
Pursuant to Article 154 of the Law on Industrial Property, the use of a registered trademark in particular consists of affi xing the trademark to the goods covered by the right of protection or
their packaging, off ering and putting the
goods on the market, importing or exporting them, or storage for the purpose of off ering and putting them on the market, as well as off ering or providing services under that trademark, or using the trademark on business documents handled in putting the goods on the market or in rendering services, and using the mark in advertising.
Additionally, in accordance with a judgment of the Conciliation Court of November 18, 2005, in a case concerning the domain names ‘manpower. pl’ and ‘
manpower.com.pl’, placing a trademark within a domain name will also be considered genuine use, and it is irrelevant whether there is an actively operated website under a given name. “In the context of disputes over domain names, the very fact of registering a domain name comprising a trademark, or another designation used in trade, shall be regarded as genuine use of the mark or designation,” the court said.
On the other hand, there remains a question as to what happens if a third party forestalls the rightful owner and registers a domain name incorporating somebody else’s trademark in its own name. T e answer to the question seems to have been provided in one of decisions issued under the Uniform Domain-Name Dispute- Resolution Policy:
the World Intellectual
Property Organization’s decision in the ‘telstra. org’ domain name case found that “passive blocking of a domain name shall be regarded as acting in bad faith”.
T e National Conciliation Court for Domain Name Disputes in Warsaw confi rmed that view in a judgment of October 24, 2011, in which it stated that if a party registers another party’s trademark as its own domain name with the intention of making fi nancial profi ts by reselling that domain name to the rightful trademark owner, such activity is contrary to law and good morals. As for Internet domain names, the court found that “registration of a domain name which is infringing a third party’s rights, eg, the rights deriving from trademark registration or personal rights, shall be considered contrary to good morals. According to the doctrine, such activity is called ‘cybersquatting’ or abusive domain name registration” (K. Felchner, ‘Infringement
34 Trademarks Brands and the Internet Volume 2, Issue 1
www.worldipreview.com
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