Source: http://rychlicki.net/en/issue/polish-law/polish-civil-code/page/3/
Timestamp: 2019-04-19 00:35:35+00:00

Document:
– The regulation of the Minister of Justice of 28 December 2009 on the action of the court relating to the enforceability of a judicial decision rendered in the electronic admonition proceedings.
So, since 1 January 2010, XVI Civil Department of the Regional Court in Lublin is formally and officialy the first Polish e-court.
The electronic admonition proceedings were introduced as a separate proceeding – having the nature of summons for payment – in cases where the facts are not complicated and there is no requirement of the evidence proceedings. The suit in the electronic admonition proceedings may be filed by a natural person or a person acting on behalf of the plaintiff (the agent, legal representative) who also has an account enabled at www.e-sad.gov.pl website and a valid certificate to create the electronic signature. The plaintiff’s pleadings have to be lodged electronically to produce legal effects as provided by the law with regard to pleadings filed in the court.
Electronic versions of the statement of claim and other pleadings may be signed with a qualified certificate issued by a Qualified Certification Center. A person who does not have a valid qualified certificate should request a certificate from the Certification Center EPU and download the certificate, before filing a suit.
The suit should also include plaintiff’s number in the Universal Electronic System for Registration of the Population – PESEL – (in Polish: Powszechny Elektroniczny System Ewidencji Ludności) which is the national identification number used in Poland since 1979 or Tax Identification Number – NIP – (in Polish: Numer Identyfikacji Podatkowej) of the plaintiff other than a natural person, if the plaintiff is obliged to have one, and the number of the National Court Register (in Polish: Krajowy Rejestr Sądowy), or the number in the other appropriate register or other records. This is much stronger requirement when it comes to e-pleadings because such a requirement does not apply to actions brought in writing.
The plaintiff should indicate the evidence to support his/her claims in the petition. The evidence is not attached to the petition.
Court fees in the electronic admonition proceedings are paid only electronically via the payment service provider. Activities during the electronic admonition proceedings may be exercised by court’s referendary (division official).
The ruling issued in the electronic admonition proceedings is deemed as the writ of execution. The enforcement clause is only left in the computer system. After the decision issued during the electronic admonition proceedings becomes final, the enforcement clause is issued ex officio. The plaintiff, or person acting on behalf of the plaintiff, may submit a request for execution of the decision to the selected bailiff through the communications system of the e-court based on the electronic writ of execution received.
Categories: admonition proceedings | e-court | e-proceedings | Polish Civil Code | Polish Civil Proceedings Code | Polish courts | Polish law | Polish Regional Court.
Categories: Art. 23 CC | Art. 24 CC | personal rights or interests | Polish Supreme Court.
Act of 16 April 1993 on Combating Unfair Competition – CUC – (in Polish: ustawa o zwalczaniu nieuczciwej konkurencji), Journal of Laws (Dziennik Ustaw) No. 47, item 211, with later amendments.
Act of the Protection of Certain Consumer Rights and on the Liability for damage caused by a dangerous product – PCCR – (in Polish: ), published in Journal of Laws (Dziennik Ustaw) of 31 March 2000, No. 22 , item 271.
Act on Protection of the Purchasers of the Right to use a building or residential unit for a specified time each year and on amendment to the Civil Code, Code of Minor Offenses,and the Law on Land and Mortgage Registers and Mortgage, published in Journal of Laws (Dziennik Ustaw) of 2000, No. 74, item 855.
Act on Specific Terms and Conditions of Consumer Sale and Amendments to the Civil Code.
Act of 16 February 2007 on competition and consumer protection, Journal of Laws – CCP – (in Polish: Ustawa o ochronie konkurencji i konsumentów), published in Journal of Laws (Dziennik Ustaw) of 2007, No. 50, item 331.
Act of 23 August 2007 on Combating Unfair Commercial Practices – CUCP – (in Polish: ustawa o przeciwdziałaniu nieuczciwym praktykom rynkowym), published in Journal of Laws (Dziennik Ustaw) No. 171, item 1206.
See “Polish case law on abusive clauses in B2C IT and IP contracts“.
Prohibited contractual provisions or “abusive clauses” are understood as provisions of the contract concluded with the consumer that were not agreed individually and in consequence shape consumer’s rights and obligations in a manner contrary to good customs and grossly violate consumer’s interests. Such provisions are not binding on the consumer, but the parties are bound by other provisions of the contract.
exclude the jurisdiction of Polish courts or submit the matter to a Polish or foreign arbitration court, or other authority, and impose the adjudication by the court which is not locally relevant according to the Civil Code.
These are couple of examples of the so-called “gray abusive clauses”.
The District Court in Warsaw, the Court of Competition and Consumer Protection decides if a given provision is prohibited and abusive. Anyone who has been or may be offered a contract containing such a clause, consumer organizations, consumer ombudsmen and the President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection may bring an action before the Court. Consumers may obtain assistance from the local consumer ombudsman or one of the state-funded consumer organizations.
The clauses which have been found abusive by a final decision of the Court are entered into the Register of Prohibited Clauses that is available on the website of the President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection and as of this moment cannot be used in relations with consumers. The application of such clauses may be regarded as an infringement of collective consumer interests and may result in a fine of up to 10% of the trader’s revenue.
Categories: consumer protection law | contract law | Polish Act on Combating Unfair Commercial Practices | Polish Act on Combating Unfair Competition | Polish Act on Protection of Competition and Consumers | Polish Civil Code | Polish Court of Competition and Consumer Protection | President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection | regulations.
Allegro.pl wishes to apologize to CezCez for using comments by one of its employees which publicly appeared on the New Cafe Allegro on 17 January 2003,– wording that implied CezCez was dishonest, he lies, he is selfish and that he pursues his own self-interest. These actions and comments affected the good name of CezCez, which was not the intention of QXP Poland.
The above statement was to be published on the Allegro.pl website but both parties appealed. The Appellate Court in Lodz did not share the conclusions of the court of first instance that the username (a nickname) used in internet services is personal right/interests (i.e. intangible personal property) eligible for protection under Articles 23 and 24 of the Civil Code – CC – (in Polish: Kodeks Cywilny) of 23 April 1964, published in Journal of Laws (Dziennik Ustaw) No. 16, item 93, with subsequent amendments.
The Appellate Court did not agree with the arguments that the user name (a nickname) has parallels with a pseudonym. The case went to the highest court in a further appeal as a cassation complaint. The Supreme Court of Republic of Poland in its judgment of 11 March 2008 case file II CSK 539/07 dismissed the case for procedural reasons. However, the SC did not agree with conclusion of the Appellate Court with regard to protection of nicknames or usernames in the digital environment. The court noted that a username fulfils a variety of functions. First, the creation of a username is a prerequisite to registering on the allegro.pl website in order to obtain its own account and so participate in auctions. A person using such a nickname may be a buyer or a seller. Secondly, a username allows a person to log into Allegro.pl website. In the process of logging in, the user is given a pair of identifiers, such as a username and password. Thirdly, the username/nickname identifies the individual in question in the online environment, in this particular case, in the environment of people using Allegro.pl services. The individual is therefore recognised as a user using a specific nickname. The Supreme Court could not agree with the position of Court of Appeal that the nickname is purely a technical issue used to personalise the operation. On the contrary it argued, the username/nickname defines and characterises the person who uses such an auction site, bids on it, is the party to a contract of sale, issues comments or is involved in correspondence with other users. The Court found that in some cases, participations in the auction website by a user using a specific name can be a source of information for other participants who know that this user typically takes part in an auction of that type, bids only to a certain amount of money, only on certain days, in a certain way, does not compete with users using specific names, that the user is honest, efficient and immediately carries out transactions, etc. The Supreme Court also ruled that a username identifies a specific natural person. A username consists of a series of signs and letters, and there are no counter-indications that a person who created his or her own username could use his or her own name, surname, artistic pseudonym, pen name, or alias or it could even be a natural person who is the agent and uses the company name (the firm) under which it operates its business. It appeared to the court that in the assumption of a username by a person rather than his or her own name, the pseudonym (which has so far been used as an example in artistic activities) is meant as the assumption of a nickname in order to allow for individualisation of that particular person. The word “nickname” comes from the Greek language (“pseudonymos”–bearing a false name, falsely named) and it means a first name, last name or another name which someone uses to conceal his real name or surname. The court found irrelevant the motivation of a person who takes a nickname which is used as a pseudonym only in the “internet environment” or that the nickname may only be associated with the activities of that particular person carried out within the scope of services offered by Allegro.pl, since it may also have a broader meaning and go beyond the services of Allegro.pl. Consequently, the court noted that a username is subject to legal protection on the same basis on which protection is granted for any name, pseudonym or firm name, under which a person has established its business (whether it is a company name or that of a private person). At the same time, the court found no reason to treat a username/nickname as a separate personal right.
Categories: Art. 23 CC | Art. 24 CC | case law | computer law | criminal law | defamation | e-auctions | e-law issues | ISP liability | legal regulations on computer networks | personal rights or interests | Polish Civil Code | Polish courts | Polish law | Polish Supreme Court | pseudonym | review.
The Supreme Court in a judgment of 10 November 1986, case file III CZP 17/86, published in OSNCP 1987, No. 10, item 145, ruled that the circumstances excluding the unlawfulness of an infringement of personal rights/interests include: the exercise of personal rights, the consent of a harmed person. It should be noted, however, that the consent as a condition repealing the illegality, applies if its expression does not affect either existing legislation or the rules of the application of a consent.
Categories: Art. 23 CC | Art. 24 CC | case law | personal rights or interests | Polish Civil Code | Polish courts | Polish law | Polish Supreme Court | review.
The Supreme Court in a judgment of 19 October 1989, case file III CR 419/89, published in OSP 1990, book 11-12, p. 377, ruled that the circumstances excluding the unlawfulness of an infringement of personal rights/interests include inter alia actions that are allowed under the law, i.e. an action that is permitted by an applicable legal regulation and an action taken in the defense of a legitimate interest.
The Regional Court for Warszawa-Mokotów in its judgment case file II C 1091/04 ruled that according to Article 3851 § 1 the Civil Code – CC – (in Polish: Kodeks Cywilny) of 23 April 1964, Journal of Laws (Dziennik Ustaw) No. 16, item 93, with subsequent amendments, the provisions of a contract concluded with a consumer, which have not been individually agreed with him, shall not be binding thereupon, if his rights and duties have been stipulated in conflict with public decency and in flagrant violation of his interest (wrongful contractual provisions). According to Article 3853 § 1 of the CC, in the case of doubt, the wrongful contractual provisions should be, in particular these which exclude the jurisdiction of the Polish courts, or have the case decided by a Polish or a foreign conciliatory court or another authority, or force a decision in the case to be made by the court which has no local competence. According to the court’s decisions, the obligatory referral of a domain name dispute to a court of arbitration is a wrongful contractual provisions. For this reason Article 23 of the Domain Names Regulations issued by NASK, does not relate to or is not binding for consumers.
22. In case a third party initiates a legal action in the Arbitration Court against the Subscriber claiming that the Subscriber has infringed the rights of that person by entering into or performing the Agreement, the Subscriber shall submit to that Arbitration Court a duly signed arbitration clause to the Arbitration Court in due time stated in the summon to sign this arbitration clause.
23. The non-signing of the arbitration clause specified above shall result in the termination of the Agreement three months after the time stated to sign this arbitration clause, and this time limit shall be shortened to the date of the expiry of the calculating period based on the Price List if this date occurs before the end of the three month-period after the time stated to sign this arbitration clause. If the NASK has been informed during the time period specified above by the Arbitration Court about the delivery of the signed arbitration clause to that Court, the Agreement shall not be terminated.
Consequently, the termination of the contract based on these provisions could be regarded as invalid. The court also noted that such provisions could be challenged even in the course of a professional trade, as affecting the principle of contractual freedom and the right to a court.
Categories: Art. 385¹ CC | computer law | domain names | e-law issues | Polish Civil Code | Polish Regional Court | Polish TLDs.
There is no definition of “trade secrets” in Polish law. However, there are regulations that allow for very effective protection.
Act on Combating Unfair Competition – CUC – (in Polish: Ustawa o zwalczaniu nieuczciwej konkurencji) of 16 April 1993, Journal of Laws (Dziennik Ustaw) No 47, item 211, with later amendments.
An act of unfair competition is the transfer, disclosure or use of third party information, which is company confidential or their receipt from an unauthorised person, if it threatens or violates the interests of the entrepreneur.
2. The provisions of section 1 shall also apply to the person who has been rendering work based on employment contract or another legal relation, for the period of three years from its expiration, unless the contract stipulates otherwise or there is no longer secrecy.
3. The provisions of section 1 shall not apply to the person who, bona fide, by way of a legal operation against payment, acquired the information constituting a business secrecy. The court may oblige the acquirer to the appropriate remuneration for its use, nevertheless for a period not longer than duration of secrecy.
4. Company confidentiality is understood to include the entrepreneur’s technical, technological organisational or other information having commercial value, which is not disclosed to the public to which the entrepreneur has taken the necessary steps to maintain confidentiality.
Article 23.1. Every person, who contrary to her obligation towards the entrepreneur discloses to another person or uses in her own economic activity information which is a business secrecy, shall be liable to the fine, probation or imprisonment up to 2 years, provided it is to the significant detriment of the entrepreneur.
2. The same sanctions shall apply to the person, who having acquired illegally the business secrecy, discloses it to another person or uses in her own economic activity.
It is noteworthy that definition of “company confidentiality” provided in article 11(4) CUC explicitly included “trade secrets” term before amendments in 2002. The CUC protection of “company confidentiality” can be enforced in civil or crminal proceedings. However, regulations afforded in the CUC basically apply only to relations between entrepreneurs (commercial relationships).
The Civil Code – CC – (in Polish: Kodeks Cywilny) of 23 April 1964, Journal of Laws (Dziennik Ustaw) No 16, item 93, with later amendments.
Article 72 . § 1. If during the negotiations, a party has provided information as confidential, the other party is required not to disclose and not to transfer of such information to others and not to use such information for its own purposes, unless the parties otherwise agreed.
§ 2 In the event of failure of performance or improper performance of duties as described in § 1, the entitled person may demand from the other party to undo the damages or to return profits received by the other party.
The Criminal Code – CRC – (in Polish: Kodeks Karny) of 6 June 1997, Journal of Laws (Dziennik Ustaw) No 88, item 553, with later amendments.
§ 1. Whoever, without being authorised to do so, acquires information not destined for him, by opening a sealed letter, or connecting to a wire that transmits information or by breaching electronic, magnetic or other special protection for that information shall be subject to a fine, the penalty of restriction of liberty or the penalty of deprivation of liberty for up to 2 years.
§ 2. The same punishment shall be imposed on anyone, who, in order to acquire information to which he is not authorised to access, installs or uses tapping, visual detection or other special equipment.
§ 3. The same punishment shall be imposed on anyone, who imparts to another person the information obtained in the manner specified in § 1 or 2 discloses to another person.
§ 4. The prosecution of the offence specified in § 1 – 3 shall occur on a motion of the injured person.
The mentioned above regulations are the basic. There are some other legal acts that govern specific fields of law. For instance the Act on Acountancy, the Code of Commercial Companies, the Code of Labour, the Act on Banks Law etc.
Categories: Art. 267 CRC | Polish Act on Combating Unfair Competition | Polish Civil Code | Polish Criminal Code | Polish law | regulations | review | trade secrets law.
The Supreme Court in its order of 22 October 2007 case file III CZP 109/07 decided in case brought by Naukowa i Akademicka Sieć Komputerowa (Research And Academic Computer Network ) against two tenders with regard to the payment of fees for the maintenance of the domain name, held that the agreement/contract on the maintenance of the domain name is not a telecommunications services agreement but rather an unknown type of a contract similar to the contract of mandate. By a contract of mandate, the mandatary shall assume the obligation to perform a definite act in law for the mandator. The provisions on mandate shall apply respectively to contracts on performance of services not regulated by other provisions. Therefore the claim for compensation under the contract on the maintenance of the domain name terminates based on the general civil law rules on the expiration of time limits, i.e. unless a special provision states otherwise, the period of limitation shall be ten years and for claims pertaining to periodical performances and claims resulting from an economic activity, three years.
Categories: Art. 750 CC | domain names | Polish Civil Code | Polish Supreme Court | Polish TLDs.
The Register of Prohibited Clauses operated by the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection contains contractual clauses found unlawful by a legally binding judgements. According to the latest judgment of the Polish Court of Competition and Consumer Protection of 26 December 2006, case file XVII AmC 170/05, it won’t be so easy to get cybersquatters who are private persons before any ADR court. This case concerned two clauses of the Domain Names Regulations issued by NASK.
After this judgment, the ADR in trade mark cases is unlikely to succeed if the disputed domain name is registered in the name of a natural person.
Categories: contract law | domain names | Internet domains law | Polish Civil Code | Polish Court of Competition and Consumer Protection | Polish courts | Polish law | Polish TLDs.
The Regional Court in Warsaw in its judgment of 6 February 2007 case file II C 903/06 held that Internet auctions organized by the popular websites such as allegro.pl and ebay.com are auctions as defined in article 70 ¹ of the Civil Code. Auction’s closing within the meaning of the Civil Code is a statement generated by the system or by auction’s organizer and sent to the bidder which has submitted the best offer. This message should be treated just as a statement of will of the seller who accepted the offer. It means that the contract takes effect not due to the passage of time, but precisely upon a receipt by the bidder of seller’s statement of acceptance of his offer.
Categories: Art. 70¹ CC | case law | contract law | e-auctions | Polish Civil Code | Polish Regional Court.
The Polish entrepreneur Wierzbicki Jan, Krzywdziński Andrzej Przedsiębiorstwo Produkcyjno Handlowo Usługowe MACRO applied to the Polish Patent Office for the right of protection for the trade mark ŚWIAT KAWY I HERBATY (TEA AND COFFE WORLD) Z-205579, for goods in Classes 30, 42. Dariusz Z. who conducts its business under the company name “Świat Kawy i Herbaty”, and who had established contractual relationships with the applicant, submited to the PPO his observations as to the existence of grounds that may cause a right of protection to be denied. The PPO refused to grant the right of protection for the trade mark “ŚWIAT KAWY I HERBATY”. MACRO filed a complaint against this decision.
The Voivodeship Administrative Court in its judgment of 27 July 2006 case file VI SA/Wa 871/06 upheld the contested decision and MACRO filed a cassation complaint.
The Supreme Administrative Court in its judgment of 24 May 2007 case file II GSK 13/07 held that the company name (firm) of a individual person is its personal right/interest and it may be an obstacle to registration of a trade mark. According to the SAC, the sale of goods on the stand/trading post under the trade name identical to that trade mark cannot be treated as a trade mark use since the essence of the trade mark is to identify the goods with a particular trader, and the use of the mark should primarily consist of placing a mark on the products or their packaging.
Categories: Art. 23 CC | Art. 24 CC | Art. 28(1) TMA | Art. 8(1) TMA | Art. 8(2) TMA | bad faith | company name or firm | genuine use | non-use | personal rights or interests | Polish Act on Trade marks | Polish Civil Code | Polish Supreme Administrative Court | similarity of signs | trade mark use | trademark law.
The Supreme Court in a judgment of 3 December 2003, case file I CK 312/02, has denided the right of action to a collecting society that wanted to initiate a copyright suit in the name of a living person. The Court held that the collective management does not include protection and management of moral and personal rights of living persons, creators or authors. In this case, the Polish Society of Authors and Composers (ZAIKS) wanted to bring an action for the protection of personal rights of a living author who composed music/soundtrack for the movie.
Categories: Art. 104 ARNR | Art. 23 CC | Art. 24 CC | Art. 78 ARNR | case law | collecting society | personal rights or interests | Polish Act on Authors Rights and Neighbouring Rights | Polish Civil Code | Polish Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court in a judgment of 30 Ocrober 1991, case file I ACr 436/91, that was issued under the old Act on authors rights of 1952, ruled that the personal interests in copyrights, are special personal rights as defined by the general rules of civil law, and they are not a separate conceptual category.
Categories: Art. 23 CC | Art. 24 CC | case law | personal rights or interests | Polish Act on Authors Rights and Neighbouring Rights | Polish Civil Code | Polish Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court in a judgment of 26 September 1991, case file II CR 753/90, published in Przegląd Sądowy 1993, no. 1 p. 95, ruled that a threat or a violation of personal rights/interests of an entiled person and its unlawfulness are the circumstances for the appropriate application of article 24 of the Civil Code – CC – (in Polish: Kodeks Cywilny) of 23 April 1964, Journal of Laws (Dziennik Ustaw) No. 16, item 93, with later amendments.
The unlawfulness is defined as an action of a third party that is contrary to the widely understood rules of legal order, i.e. legal regulations and rules of social coexistence.
Categories: Art. 24 CC | case law | personal rights or interests | Polish Civil Code | Polish Supreme Court | review.
The Supreme Court in its judgment of 3 September 1998 case file I CKN 818/97, published in OSP 1999, No. 7-8, item 142, ruled that the protection of personal rights/interests provided in Article 23 and 24 of the Civil Code – CC – (in Polish: Kodeks Cywilny) of 23 April 1964, published in Journal of Laws (Dziennik Ustaw) No. 16, item 93, with subsequent amendments, also includes author’s personal rights.
Categories: Art. 23 CC | Art. 24 CC | Art. 78 ARNR | case law | personal rights or interests | Polish Act on Authors Rights and Neighbouring Rights | Polish Civil Code | Polish Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court in its judgment of 5 January 2001 case file V CKN 499/00 ruled that the protection granted by the civil law to personal rights/interests is independent of the protection afforded by the provisions of other laws. It means that this kind of the protection is cumulative. The provisions of Article 23 and 24 of the Civil Code – CC – (in Polish: Kodeks Cywilny) of 23 April 1964, published in Journal of Laws (Dziennik Ustaw) No. 16, item 93, with subsequent amendments, have the fundamental importance.
The Court held that one of the most important tasks of the civil law is the protection of personal rights/interests, especially human rights. This is a relatively new sphere of the civil law, which traditionally has been oriented to the protection of financial and economical interests.
Categories: Art. 23 CC | Art. 24 CC | case law | personal rights or interests | Polish Civil Code | Polish law | Polish Supreme Court.
The Polish Patent Office invalidated the right of protection for word-figurative trade mark OCETIX R-135047 based on provisions of Article 8(2) of the old Polish Act of 31 January 1985 on Trade Marks – TMA – (in Polish: Ustawa o znakach towarowych), published in Journal of Laws (Dziennik Ustaw) No 5, item 15, with subsequent amendments. The request was filed by the competitior of Szczęsna Ewa DELTA L.T.D, who claimed its prior rights to the company name (firm).
Ewa Szczęsna filed a complaint against this decision. The Voivodeship Administrative Court in Warsaw in its judgment of 20 July 2005 case file VI SA/Wa 67/05 dissmissed the case. The VAC agreed with the PPO that the registration of the word-figurative trade mark OCETIX constituted the infringement of the firm of the competitor of Ewa Szczęsna, who established its undertaking in 1991. The Court ruled that the dominant element is the word OCETIX, it attracts the attention and has the distinctive character, while other elements are informative and are indicating the scope of the activities of Szczęsna Ewa DELTA L.T.D.
The Supreme Administrative Court in its judgment of 5 April 2006 case file II GSK 377/05 upheld the contested judgment and ruled that in accordance with Article 164 of the IPL, the right of protection for a trade mark may be invalidated at the request of any person who has legitimate interest. Article 315(3) of the IPL provides the principle according to which the registrability of signs registered or applied for the registration before 22 August 2001, is assessed on the basis of existing regulations. Thus, the law underlying the assessment of trade mark protection for OCETIX that was applied for the registration on 14 October 1998 are the provisions of the TMA.
The SAC repeated that the right of protection for a trade mark is deemed as an exclusive, absolute, transferable and heritable property right. It’s a sign intended to distinguish the goods of one undertaking from those of the same type from another entrepreneur. A trade mark performs a distinctive, warranty and advertising functions. The Court noted also that in the course of trade, the category of distinctive signs, in addition to trade marks, are also brands/signs that are distinguishing of companies. The firm is one of such signs. It is the name under a which the registered merchant (general partnership, limited partnership, limited liability company, joint stock company) operates its undertaking. The firm of an undertaking distinguishes a given undertaking from other undertakings, in the same and/or other object/way of business. See R. Skubisz, Prawo znaków towarowych. Komentarz (in English: Trade mark law. Commentary), Warszawa 1997, p. 13 and 17. The Court also ruled that the Paris Convention of 20 March 1883 on the Protection of Industrial Property, published in Journal of Laws (Dziennik Ustaw) of 1975, No. 9, item. 51 and 52), introduced to the Polish law the term of the trade name, which previously was not used in the Polish legislation. The term collectively covers all the markings of companies enjoyed by the persons mentioned in Articles 2 and 3 of the Convention. The SAC agreed that Article 8 of the Convention does not constitute an independent basis to protect the trade name of the entrepreneur, because it does not specify conditions for such protection and does not indicate what claims should be used in the case of infringement of the rights to the company name. However, this affect the domestic law. See also “Trade mark law, case II SA 2914/01“. The Court ruled that the firm is protected under the Article 37 Code of Commerce (it was repealed by the Code of Commercial Companies later on) and Article 43 of the Civil Code. According to Article 37 of the Code of Commerce, the protection of the firm arises upon its entry into the commercial register, and will expire on the date a court order to withdraw its registration from the register comes into force. The infringement of the firm occurs if there is unlawful use by unauthorized person of a sign which does not distinguish definitively from the firm in a given locality (Article 37 in connection with Article. 35 of the Code of Commerce). Pursuant to Article 43 of the Civil Code, the firm is subject to the protection provided for personal rights/interests (Articles 23 and 24 of the CC). This protection arises from the date of the first use of a firm in business.
Categories: Art. 164 IPL | Art. 23 CC | Art. 24 CC | Art. 315 IPL | Art. 43¹ CC | Art. 51¹ CC | Art. 8 Paris Convention | Art. 8(2) TMA | bad faith | company name or firm | distinctive character | Polish Supreme Administrative Court | similarity of goods | similarity of services | similarity of signs | trade mark examination | trade mark refusal.
The Supreme Court in its judgment of 13 July 2006 case file III SZP 3/06 ruled that the application of standardized agreements which provisions are identical with the provisions deemed as prohibited contractual provisions (abusive clauses) by the District Court in Warsaw, the Court of Competition and Consumer Protection, and were entered into the register kept by the President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection, may be considered in relation to another undertaking as the practice detrimental to/infinging on the collective interests of consumers.
Categories: case law | Polish Act on Combating Unfair Commercial Practices | Polish Act on Combating Unfair Competition | Polish Act on Protection of Competition and Consumers | Polish Civil Code | Polish Court of Competition and Consumer Protection | Polish Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court in its judgment of 30 March 2006, case file III CZP 14/06, held that a legal advisor who makes the first procedural step and is acting as a representative of legal person, should under the pain provided in the law, attach power of attorney and a document showing that a person, for instance a CEO, who empowered the adivisor had all required powers to issue such POA. The evidence of such powers can be a copy of an extract from appropriate register of commercial companies that was authenticated by a legal advisor himself.
Categories: case law | Polish Act on Patent Attorneys | Polish Act on Proceedings Before Administrative Courts | Polish Administrative Proceedings Code | Polish Civil Code | Polish Civil Proceedings Code | Polish patent attorneys | Polish Supreme Court.

References: Art. 23
 Art. 24
 Art. 23
 Art. 24
 Art. 23
 Art. 24
 § 1
 § 1
 Art. 385
 § 1

§ 2
 § 1

§ 1

§ 2

§ 3
 § 1

§ 4
 § 1
 Art. 267
 Art. 750
 Art. 70
 Art. 23
 Art. 24
 Art. 28
 Art. 8
 Art. 8
 Art. 104
 Art. 23
 Art. 24
 Art. 78
 Art. 23
 Art. 24
 Art. 24
 Art. 23
 Art. 24
 Art. 78
 Art. 23
 Art. 24
 Art. 164
 Art. 23
 Art. 24
 Art. 315
 Art. 43
 Art. 51
 Art. 8
 Art. 8