Industrial design protection in Poland covers the appearance of a product and may be obtained through national, EU or international filing routes.
Industrial design applications in Poland are filed and prosecuted before the Polish Patent Office, Urząd Patentowy RP (UPRP).
Foreign applicants who do not reside in Poland must act through a registered Polish patent attorney.
A 12-month grace period may apply where disclosure of the industrial design was made by the creator or successor in title.
The application is filed with UPRP electronically or on paper. The Office checks whether the required elements are present and whether the documents comply with formal requirements.
Formal examination usually takes approximately 3 months. If defects are identified, the applicant is given a term to correct them.
Important: The Office does not examine novelty and individual character in the same way as a substantive patent examination. The review is focused on formal requirements and obvious exclusions from protection.
After successful formal examination, UPRP issues a decision to register the industrial design.
The applicant must pay the publication fee and the fee for the first five-year maintenance period within 3 months from receipt of the registration notice. If these fees are not paid, the registration decision is cancelled.
The design is then entered in the register, published in the official bulletin and the certificate of registration is issued.
The application must be filed in Polish. If it is filed in a foreign language, a Polish translation must be submitted within the term set by the Office.
If convention priority is claimed within 6 months from the first filing, a certified copy of the priority document must be submitted within 3 months from filing the Polish application.
Legalisation of the power of attorney is not required. If the applicant is a legal entity, an extract from the commercial register confirming the authority of the signatory may be requested.
An industrial design registration in Poland may remain valid for up to 25 years from the filing date.
Protection is renewed for successive five-year periods by payment of the relevant fees.
Important: Unlike annual patent maintenance, Polish industrial design protection is maintained through five-year renewal periods.