Znaki towarowe jako wskaźnik innowacyjności?

Ad cuius bonum? : o wartościach i interesach zasługujących na ochronę prawną : księga jubileuszowa Profesor Heleny Żakowskiej-Henzler / redakcja naukowa Żaneta Zemła-Pacud, Tomasz Zimny. Warszawa : Wydawnictwo INP PAN, 2023, s. 385-397.

This piece examines the relationship between trade marks and innovation activities and outputs. It acknowledges the growing interest of the legal doctrine as to how trade Marks may enhance and transgress their basic function of being source-indicator and reputation-related asset in order to support the development of innovation activities. However, market studies do not confer consistent results as to whether trade marks facilitate the re investment in innovation, serve as valuable intangibles monetized to attract capital, ensure successful commercialization of outputs, or are simply used as barrier to entry with various anti-competitive effects. The present piece looks into two recent economic studies to verify the assumption concerning the positive corelation between trade marks and innovation. One study analyses the role played by trade marks in the commercialization of sustainable innovations by Dutch SMEs. Another study maps the regional trade mark activity in 47 Japanese prefectures in order to evaluate the extent to which trade marks capture soft innovation. This piece supports the need of interdisciplinary studies in order to correctly assess such issues as: the meaning of innovation, the stage at which trade marks connect with and determine innovation, the consequences of the trade marks-innovation link, and the parameters for measuring it.

EU Trade Mark Law and Product Protection : A Comparative Analysis of Trade Mark Functionality

Abingdon, Oxon ; New York : Routledge, 2023

ISBN 9781032446318; 9781032452289; 9781003376040

[10], 338 stron. Bibliografia przy poszczególnych rozdziałach. Indeks.

This book employs scholarly analysis to ground practical tools for applying the EU Trade Mark law (EUTM) functionality refusal grounds to address business needs when registering trade marks consisting of product characteristics. The study comprehensively examines the absolute grounds for a refusal of registration of functional signs under EUTM. It interprets the functionality refusal grounds through objective tests, focusing on the pro-competition rationale of denying trade mark exclusivity on product features that are technically or aesthetically important for competitors’ ability to trade in alternative products. The work takes a comparative approach looking at the US trade dress functionality doctrine, and a law and economics perspective on the role of trade marks and brands in the marketplace. It explores how competition rules related to market definition and the substitutability of products, as well as marketing and design findings related to branding and aesthetics, could be integrated into the legal assessment of EUTM functionality. The volume will be of interest to academics and researchers working in the areas of Intellectual Property Law, Trade Mark and Design Law, EU Law, Comparative Law, and Branding.

Publication financed under the program of the Minister of Science and Higher Education under the name “DIALOG” in the years 2019–2023 as part of the project “Excellence in Legal Research. Promoting Polish Achievements in the Area of Legal Sciences Abroad” implemented under the leadership of Celina Nowak by the Institute of Law Studies of the Polish Academy of Sciences.

Modular systems, interconnecting features and technical function in EU design law : GC rules on relationship between functionality provisions in Article 8 CDR

Journal of Intellectual Property Law & Practice 2023, t. 18, nr 6, s. 409-413.

The General Court ruled that not all the features ensuring the interconnection between two products and covered by the must-fit prohibition are also solely dictated by the technical function of one of the products; a design right conferred over a modular product may, however, be invoked for the benefit of all of its must-fit features, irrespective of whether or not they are solely dictated by the technical function.

Protecting and Understanding Digital Designs : The Shape of Things to Come

Studia Iuridica 2023, nr 101, s. 42-59.

This study looks into aspects of the new EU design legislation that relate to the subject-matter of digital designs and the extent to which Polish law should adapt for full harmonization. The first part examines the new open-ended definitions of a ‘design’ and ‘product’ with a focus on dematerialized items that exist solely through appearance. The second part touches upon several legal parameters serving the identification of the object of design protection. It discusses the visibility requirement embedded by the filing requirements, the eye-perception of design features, and the disconnection of the scope of protection from the designated product category. The last part takes an interdisciplinary approach based on the rules of psychology and design engineering in order to explain the issues that underline human vision, with a focus on the appearance of user interfaces. The understanding of sensory and cognitive determinants of human perception is a useful guide for a judge or examiner in the assessment of the overall impression of two designs. Because of the challenges resulting from the specificity of digital designs, this article argues that Polish law should comprehensively implement the new EU design provisions in order to prevent further difficulties in enforcement.