A trademark cannot be registered if it would affect the renown of an earlier well-known trademark, according to the Polish Patent Office.
The trademark 'Dakar' was registered by a Polish company of the same name for services such as car cosmetics, car repair and tuning. This was annulled by the PPO because it might affect the trademark Paris–Dakar, well-known in Poland because of the Paris – Dakar rally that first began in 1978.
Under Polish law, trademark protection will not be granted for
marks that are the same as or similar to a well-known trade mark if
(without due cause) it would bring unfair advantage to the
applicant or be detrimental to the distinctive character or the
repute of the earlier trade mark.
Law: Case no: Sp. 10/08; art. 132 par. 2 pkt 3 Industrial Property
Act
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The original publication date for this article was 11/08/2009.
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