Legal interest before the Polish Patent Office and courts

According to the Polish Administrative Code and Law on Industrial Property, a party must prove its legal interest in order to start administrative proceedings before the Polish authorities.

The following case between a Czech company and its Polish local representative illustrates the importance of legal interest.

Druchema, a chemical manufacturer from the Czech Republic, moved for invalidation of the ‘Tempo’ trademark (below right) granted in the name of Inter Global, which was its Polish local representative. The Czech company claimed before the Polish Patent Office (PPO) to be the rightful owner of the trademark ‘Tempo’, as the holder of many identical registrations in the Czech Republic.