A patent is a form of legal protection for an invention. It grants its holder exclusive rights to use the invention for a specific period and within the territory where the patent is valid.
Patents are granted for inventions in any field of technology, provided that they are new, involve an inventive step, and are capable of industrial application. The law does not define what constitutes an invention; it is only known that it must be a technical solution.
According to Article 63 of the Polish Industrial Property Law, obtaining a patent grants the right to exclusively use the invention for profit or professional purposes throughout the entire territory of the Republic of Poland. The scope of the patent is defined by the claims contained in the patent description. The description of the invention and drawings can be used to interpret the claims.
See an example of a European patent description.
The maximum duration of a patent is 20 years from the date of filing of the invention application with the Patent Office. Annual fees must be paid to maintain the patent for subsequent years.
First and foremost, the invention must be filed with the appropriate patent office. To obtain a patent in Poland, the application should be submitted to the Polish Patent Office (PPO), while in Germany, it should be submitted to the German Patent and Trademark Office (DPMA). It is also possible to file the invention with the European Patent Office (EPO) or to use the international PCT application procedure.
The application must include a detailed description of the invention and its uses. Such application must meet a number of stringent formal requirements. Therefore, to submit a correct application to the patent office and maximize the chances of obtaining a patent, it is advisable to have the application prepared by a professional— a patent attorney.
Upon receiving the invention application, the patent office will assess whether the invention is eligible for protection and issue a decision to grant or refuse the patent. This process usually takes at least two years.
For an invention to be patentable, it must be new and involve an inventive step on the date of filing with the patent office. The novelty is crucial: a patent cannot be granted for a solution that is already available on the market, as it would not be considered new.
There is no “worldwide patent.” A patent is always a territorial right— either national or regional (covering several countries). Inventions patented by the PPO are protected in Poland, and those by DPMA are protected in Germany.
Within 12 months from the first filing of an invention (e.g., with the PPO), the same invention can be filed with patent offices in other countries, claiming priority from the initial filing. After 12 months, this option is no longer available.
Unlike trademarks, which can be registered for the entire European Union with EUIPO, there is no “EU patent” for inventions. The European Patent Office (EPO) is not an EU body and does not grant “EU patents.” The EPO operates under an international agreement—the European Patent Convention (EPC) — currently involving 39 countries, which more than the 27 EU member states.
When the EPO grants a European patent, it is kind of “suspended in the air,” as it does not automatically apply in any of the 39 countries. For the European patent to become effective in a specific country, it must be validated within three months from the publication date of the grant (publication B1).
As of June 1, 2023, there is an option to obtain a unitary effect for a European patent in 17 countries and as of September 1, 2024 in 18 countries (Poland is not among them) — this is known as the “Unitary Patent.” To achieve this, a relevant request must be submitted to the EPO within just one month from the B1 publication date.
Ideas as such cannot be legally protected.
The Polish Industrial Property Law explicitly states (in Article 28) that the following are not considered inventions:
Therefore, they cannot be patented.
However, if an innovative idea pertains to a specific technical solution that is both new and non-obvious (i.e., involves an inventive step), it can indeed be patented as an invention.
A brand or logo cannot be patented, but they can be registered as trademarks. A brand can be registered as a word trademark, while a logo can be registered as a graphic or combined word-graphic trademark. Registering a trademark with the patent office provides legal protection for the brand and logo.
The design, i.e., the appearance of a product, can be registered as an industrial design with the Patent Office or EUIPO.
Patents are reserved exclusively for inventions.
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