The issue that naturally appears as one of the first when we want to protect our brand is the issue of costs. This text will discuss official fees related to trademark registration in Poland.

Mark application

The structure of fees charged by the Patent Office of the Republic of Poland is somewhat complicated, which results from the fact that they are collected at the application stage and the formal registration stage. The basic fee we must pay when filing a trademark application is PLN 400. It covers one class of goods or services, established based on the so-called Nice classification. Each subsequent class means an additional PLN 120 payable to the account of the Patent Office of the Republic of Poland.

In the case of registering a trademark in Poland and using the services of a professional representative, e.g. a lawyer or patent attorney, it is also necessary to pay a stamp duty on the power of attorney for PLN 17.

Registration stage

After paying the above-mentioned fees, the Polish Patent Office will examine whether our application meets the formal requirements, and then a 3-month opposition period will begin. If everything goes smoothly and no owners of previous marks come forward who would like to block the registration of our mark, the registration procedure will come to an end. The Patent Office will then ask us again to make further payments. The first one will be PLN 90 for publishing information about the granted protection right. This fee is fixed and does not depend on the number of classes. Additionally, we will have to pay for a 10-year protection period. In this case, the fee is PLN 400 for each class.

As it is easy to calculate, the minimum amount we will have to pay in total at this stage is PLN 490. In the case of registering a mark in two classes, this amount will increase to PLN 890, and in the case of three classes - PLN 1,290.

The need to spend additional funds at the registration stage can be a bit irritating. There are patent offices around the world that, in the case of trademark registration, charge a one-time fee at the application stage. On the other hand, the two-stage toll collection system also has some advantages. We must remember that the mere application of a trademark only begins the procedure for granting protection rights and is not equivalent to its registration. It may happen that our mark will be recognized by the office as unsuitable for registration or that registration will not take place due to an effective opposition by the owner of the earlier mark. In such a situation, official fees will be limited to those paid at the filing stage, which will, to some extent, limit our losses.

An investment that pays off

As you can see, protecting intellectual property involves some expenses. The minimum budget we need to plan for official fees alone is PLN 890, excluding the stamp duty on the power of attorney. However, it is an investment that is definitely worth making, especially if we are serious about developing our brand. Having a registered trademark not only gives us a de facto monopoly on the use of a given mark in the territory of the Republic of Poland but also significantly facilitates the use of claims provided for, for example, in the Act on Combating Unfair Competition.