IP Infringement

Start by securing evidence: take dated screenshots, buy a sample of the disputed product with an invoice or receipt, and keep copies of offers and advertising materials. Do not contact the infringer at this stage – you would only give them time to remove the traces. Check that your right is in force and paid up, and what exactly it covers. Then consult a patent attorney, who will assess the strength of the case and choose the strategy: a cease-and-desist letter, an application for a preliminary injunction, or a takedown notice on a marketplace. Time matters: delay weakens your chances of getting sales blocked quickly.

Do not ignore the letter – but do not admit anything or make hasty declarations either; they can be used against you. First check whether the sender actually holds a valid right and whether your activity really infringes it – many demands are deliberately overblown. Observe the deadline and reply within it, even if only to ask for time to analyze the claims. It is worth reviewing the letter with a patent attorney: sometimes negotiation and a settlement are best, sometimes a firm refusal. Ignoring the letter altogether risks a lawsuit and an application for an immediate ban on your sales.

If your patent, trademark or design is infringed, you can primarily demand that the infringement stop, that unlawfully obtained profits be surrendered, and that your loss be compensated – on general terms or as a lump sum equal to a reasonable license fee. The court can also order the disputed goods to be recalled from the market or destroyed, and the judgment to be published. You can pursue similar claims under unfair competition law as well. The right mix depends on your evidence and your goal – whether you mainly want sales stopped fast or damages paid.

Yes – and often very quickly. Marketplaces such as Allegro have a dedicated infringement-reporting procedure (the Rights Protection Cooperation program, Współpraca w Ochronie Praw), and under the EU Digital Services Act (DSA) they must act on credible notices – a listing can come down within a few hours. Google Ads lets trademark owners report ads that abuse their brand. An effective notice requires proof of your right (e.g. a trademark registration), a power of attorney and a description of the infringement. Where infringements keep recurring, combine takedown notices with a cease-and-desist letter and, if needed, a court application for a preliminary injunction.

The line runs through what was copied. Inspiration means drawing on a general idea, style or function – none of which is protected as such. Infringement begins where a specific, creative form of expression has been taken over (copyright), or where a product produces the same overall impression on an informed user as a protected design. Access to the original also matters, as does similarity of aesthetic details – not purely technical features dictated by function. The assessment is always case-by-case and comparative, so in borderline situations it is worth having a patent attorney analyze the matter before you take further steps.

These cases are heard by specialized IP courts – dedicated divisions in several Polish cities, with patent cases heard exclusively in Warsaw. Realistically, proceedings usually take from well over a year to several years, depending on complexity and whether expert opinions are needed. The court fee on a monetary claim is, as a rule, 5% of the amount in dispute, plus the costs of representation and experts. Running a case usually costs at least EUR 3,000–5,000, sometimes EUR 10,000–20,000, and truly complex disputes can run to EUR 25,000 or more. That is why, before going to court, a cease-and-desist letter and an attempt to reach a settlement are often the faster and cheaper route.

Yes – registration is not the only basis for protection. If you genuinely use the name in trade, the Polish Unfair Competition Act protects you: you can demand that the other party stop using a sign that misleads customers about the origin of goods or services. Company names are additionally protected under civil law. You will, however, need to prove that you used the name first and that there is a real risk of confusion in the market – a higher hurdle than with a registered trademark. That is why registration remains the best protection going forward – file your trademark application as soon as you can.

Yes. Before you can calculate damages, you often need data only the infringer has: how much they sold, to whom, and at what price. Poland's rules on IP litigation let you demand information on the origin and scale of distribution of the goods from the infringer – and sometimes from intermediaries. You can also apply to have evidence secured or disclosed before it disappears. These are powerful tools, but they require you to substantiate the infringement, so the court examines such requests carefully. A well-prepared request for information can be a turning point – it converts a general suspicion into quantifiable amounts.

Yes – that is exactly what an application for a preliminary injunction is for: a temporary ban on sales issued before or at the start of the lawsuit. It is one of the most effective tools, because it works fast and actually stops the infringer before judgment is given. You must substantiate your right and the fact of infringement. Timing is critical, though: in exclusive-rights cases the court will usually dismiss an application filed more than 6 months after the day you learned of the infringement. So do not delay once you discover an infringement – hesitation can cost you the fastest route available.

In some cases, yes – it is not just a civil matter. Counterfeiting a registered trademark and trading in counterfeit goods are criminal offenses (Article 305 of the Polish Industrial Property Law), as are misappropriating authorship and unlawfully distributing someone else's work under copyright law. Penalties range from fines and restriction of liberty to imprisonment in more serious cases. The criminal and civil tracks can run in parallel. In practice, what matters most to a business is usually stopping the infringement fast and getting compensated, so the criminal route is used mainly against organized, large-scale counterfeiting.