Trade marks play a vital role in distinguishing goods or
services of businesses. They may exist as non-registered
intellectual property but they can also serve as registered one.
The registration of a trade mark gives the authorized person or
company the exclusive right to use the trade mark in a commercial
or professional manner in a specific territory.
One of the stages of the trade mark registration procedure, both
in Poland and the European Union, is the possibility of filing an
objection to the trade mark application. If examination of such
opposition reveals that the trade mark may not be registered in
respect of some or all of the goods or services for which the trade
mark application has been made, the application shall be refused in
respect of those goods or services. The opposition procedure should
enable trade mark offices to refuse the registration of trade marks
that collide with earlier trademarks or other rights of third
parties.
