| In Principle

We devote today’s edition entirely to the cosmetics and perfumes industry, and to the intellectual property protection phenomena and processes specific to that industry.

The cosmetics industry remains one of those industries where the role of innovation cannot be overestimated. Patent law makes it possible to monopolize innovative solutions and ensure their unimpeded exploitation.

The original, unique, scent is one of the most important features of luxury perfumes and its composition is usually a closely guarded secret. Paradoxically, however, granting legal protection to a scent is extremely difficult. Indeed, this issue has not been resolved in the decisions of the Polish Patent Office or Polish common courts.

On the Polish market of cosmetics and perfumes we will find both global producers and Polish brands. The latter are getting better and better. The cosmetics market in Poland doesn’t stop to grow. That growth has been particularly dynamic in recent years. Competition is also intensifying. It can lead to an increase in the number of court litigation cases related to intellectual property rights. Below we indicate what in our experience has been the most common subject of disputes among industry players.

Can an authorized retailer be prohibited from selling online or on a third-party online platform?

In order to bring the perpetrator to criminal liability for trade in counterfeits, it is first necessary to determine whether the traded goods are counterfeited, i.e. whether they bear a counterfeit trademark. Can we speak about a counterfeit trademark only if it is identical to a registered trademark? Well, no. A counterfeit trademark may also be a mark slightly different from the registered one, i.e. a mark that is confusingly similar.

The cosmetics market is growing and with it the number of different trademarks reported for this type of products. Therefore, conflicts between trademark registrations are inevitable. Their assessment is essentially the result of an assessment of the similarity of the compared goods and the similarity of the compared trademarks.

The Court of Justice has ruled that under the EU principle of freedom of establishment, transfer of the registered office of a Polish company abroad within the European Economic Area cannot be conditioned on conducting liquidation of the company in Poland.

In common-law jurisdictions, the trust is a popular form for achieving various aims: managing assets, inheritance, building corporate structures, and tax planning. But countries from the Continental legal tradition, like Poland, typically do not have any institution directly corresponding to a trust. Polish doesn’t even have a word for it. This has raised doubts over the years and sometimes even suspicion on the part of courts and lawyers when they need to determine the consequences exerted by a trust in actual or potential disputes in jurisdictions unfamiliar with this form. Are their suspicions well-founded?

What are the possible consequences for failure to comply with these duties, and can the management board assert as a defence that the authority approving the financial reports has failed to reach a decision?

Under a proposed amendment to the Personal Income Tax Act, from 1 January 2018 the compensation of management board members will be taxed at regular rates (18%/32%), whether paid in cash or bonuses in the form of derivatives of financial instruments or other property rights.

The General Data Protection Regulation entering into force on 25 May 2018 is not the only privacy revolution in store for the EU. The proposed ePrivacy Regulation is also generating greater and greater controversy and may change the shape of the internet as we know it.