Invalidity of the trademark as the reason for suspension of the civil law proceedings

Abstract

 The purpose of the article is to present the problem of the trademark protection in Polish law. This protection takes place in a civil law proceedings. It may be impeded if the defendant begins to challenge the validity of the trademark. The court cannot decide on the validity of the trademark; the decision on the invalidation of the trademark may be taken only by the Patent Office. For this reason, the court should suspend the civil law proceedings which can last a very long time. Therefore, in Polish law, following the example of EU law, consideration should be given to the possibility of determining the validity of the trademark also by a court, if such a need occurs during the civil law proceedings.