Zjawisko trademark trollingu — problem, z jakim mogą zmierzyć się polscy przedsiębiorcy po zmianie procedury uzyskiwania prawa ochronnego na znak towarowy
The phenomenon of trademark trolling — a problem that Polish entrepreneurs may face after changing the procedure for obtaining the right to protect a trademark

Summary/Abstract: Subject matter of the article concerns a phenomenon of a registring act of other people’s trade marks as their own by trademark trolls in order to call for payment for using such trademarks or to require the conclusion of appropriate licenses for using such trademarks from real owners of trademarks. Generally speaking, this unfair registring act is named as „trademark trolling”. Currently, registering a trademark in Poland is faster and cheaper than obtaining a patent right. It is caused by amendments to the Industrial Property Law Act that come into force on 15 April 2016. The amendment changed registration system of trademarks in Poland from a “research system” to an “objection system”. This change may significantly contribute to unfair registration of trademarks. The article also describes examples of infringements of trademark rights based on the most popular cases like: Tesla Motors Vs. Zhang Baosheng, trademark registration of “Viagra” –“Weige” in China and Never Give Up vs. Juiced Up and Juicelin. Finally, the article describes abilities to defend against trademark trolling acts in Polish legal system especially such as: an institution to raise an objection to registration of a trademark in bad faith, admissibility of recognition as an unfair act, based on the The Suppression of Unfair Competition Act, — a trademark registration for speculative purposes and, therefore, prohibition of using such trademarks registered by trademark trolls.

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