Applying for patents and utility models in Poland

In order to obtain protection for an invention on the territory of Poland, applicants must first file a submission with the Patent Office of the Republic of Poland. This submission should contain an application for patent or utility model protection along with legally required documentation describing the invention.

If the application contains all the necessary elements, the Patent Office will date the application and assign it a unique number. In the next step, Polish Patent Office clerks will draw up a state-of-the-art report, which is a review of the available patent literature and which will be taken into account when assessing the submitted invention. The formal and legal aspects of the patent are also examined. If the documentation is found to contain any defects at this stage, the applicant will be permitted to correct such defects. The Patent Office will also carry out other checks, such as making sure that the submitted invention is not excluded from patentability, does not violate the Industrial Property Law, and does not contravene public order and decency.

Eighteen months after receiving the application, the Polish Patent Office will publish the patent or utility model application in the Patent Office Bulletin and will examine the subject matter of the application. Depending on the result of the examination, the office will issue a decision to grant or refuse to grant the exclusive right or to terminate the proceedings. If the decision is positive, and the applicant pays all the required fees, the decision is entered in the register and announced in the Patent Office News, and the applicant receives an official patent document or protection certificate as confirmation.