Fast Tract to Register Trademarks in Poland

As of March 17, 2021, the Patent Office of the Republic of Poland introduced the system of “Fast Track” trademarks and industrial designs registration. Unlike the standard procedure,   in this procedure applications will be examined and published significantly faster. This procedure is currently selected by applicants very often.

The Patent Office determined the following conditions for Fast Track trademark applications:

1. Fast Track applications may only be made in electronic form via the Electronic Services Platform of the Patent Office (PUEUP).
2. The applicant or the representative must have a profiled customer account at PUEUP.
3. The application should be made only using the “Application for a protection right for a trademark – accelerated mode”, intended for submitting applications in the Fast Track mode.
4. The payment for the application should be made using the electronic payment service (e-Payments) – a service available in the applicant’s account on PUEUP, before sending the application to the Office.
5. Throughout the proceedings, the notification should be processed electronically. The applicant or the representative may not submit a declaration of resignation from electronic correspondence delivery. A change in the method of delivery shall be deemed to exclude the trademark from Fast Track.
6. A trademark application may only concern an individual protection right. The application may not relate to a common trademark, trademark guarantee trademark under common law protection.
7. The trade mark application must be uniform. Non-uniformity of the application will be considered a circumstance excluding the application of the trademark from the Fast Track mode.
8. The form “Application for a protection right for a trademark – accelerated mode”, should be correctly completed. Irregularities in this respect will be considered as a circumstance excluding the trademark from the Fast Track mode.

Detailed list of the requirements in order to use the Fast Track procedure for trademarks is available under the following address: https://uprp.gov.pl/pl/przedmioty-ochrony/tryb-fast-track/warunki-dla-zgloszen-znakow-towarowych.

Before filing an application, it is good to check whether the application will meet all the requirements. Thanks to that procedure, the Patent Office may start formal examination of the trademark immediately after the application is filed. Therefor, a period between the moment of filing the application and the publication is significantly shortened which means that the protection may be obtained faster.

If the application stops to meet the requirements during the proceedings, it will be excluded form the Fast Track system and it will be proceeded according to the standard rules. For example, it will happen if the Patent Office determines existence of unconditional obstacle for registration mentioned in Article 129¹ of the Industrial Property Act. The Patent office informs about that in writing the applicant or his representative.

Applicant shall make list of goods and services for the application selecting the specific positions exclusively via TMclass tool which contains harmonized database of terms (Harmonized Database HBD).

Fees, in case of Fast Track system, shall be paid in advance using electronic payment service (e-Payments) available on the applicant’s PUEUP profile.

Certificates of registrations in the Fast Track system also may be issued faster. In order to achieve it, the applicant after receiving positive decision, should:

• pay all relevant fees for the whole term of protection and publication;
• make a statement on waiving the right to file an application for a review; as a result of such statement the decision becomes final; such statement also results in loosing right to appeal to the administrative court.

To summarize, the Fast Track system for trademarks and industrial designs registration is an easement for applicants which seeks for possibilities for faster protection of their industrial property rights.