Trademark battle over a blade of grass

After World War II, all Polish liquor manufacturers became state-owned companies associated within Polmos, the Polish spirits monopoly, until 1990.

In 1990 transformation into a free market economy meant each liquor factory became an independent business. The companies still shared the name Polmos, but used additional local names to identify themselves (eg, Polmos Białystok, Polmos Lublin, etc). In 1999, by way of tender, the trademarks which were a common property of Polmos were shared between the local companies, eg, Polmos Białystok became the holder of rights for the trademark ‘Żubrówka’.