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S P R I N G 2 0 1 5
51
the Washington Treaty (1970), the
Madrid Agreement (1891) and the
Singapore Convention (2006). The
regulations protecting industrial property
underwent far more considerable
administrative regulations than in
reference to copyright and related
rights, and the Patent Office became the
central public administration authority
appointed for protection of industrial
property.
The primary responsibilities of the
Patent Office, apart from registering
patents and marks, include resolving
disputes arising in the context of
registration. Interestingly enough, in the
proceedings before the Patent Office,
representing its participants by lawyers
and counsellors has been excluded and
the only authorized plenipotentiaries
are patents attorneys. An amendment
to the Act enabling all professional
plenipotentiaries representing their
clients before the Patent Office was
submitted in the Parliament only in
2014. The Patent Office decisions with
regard to industrial property are not
controlled by civil courts (contrary
to disputes concerning copyright and
related rights), but by administrative
courts, which constitutes another
characteristic feature of the system of
protection of these rights.
The novelty that made the
development of intellectual property
copyright protection in Poland more
dynamic was implementing in 2010 the
system of financing science, in which the
principal role belonged to financing the
so-called commercialization of scientific
achievements of Polish higher education
institutions. The authority of public
administration that possesses statutory
competencies regarding "national"
financing of scientific achievements
of Polish higher education institutions
which could be implemented within
the scope of the activities of Polish
entrepreneurs operating on the territory
of the Republic of Poland is the Minister
of Science, on behalf of whom a special
government agency called the National
Centre for Research and Development
(NCBiR) operates. Apart from the budget
resources, NCBiR (since September
1, 2011) has obtained the rights of
Intermediary Institution with regard
to three European Union operational
programmes (Human Resources
Development, Innovative Economy and
Infrastructure and Development), within
which it operates with the amount of
ca. EUR 4bn in the nearest settlement
period, for commercialization of science.
In spite of almost a hundred years
of tradition related to intellectual
property in the Polish legal system,
the opportunity for adequate financing
of creative achievements of Polish
scientists has existed only for a few
years, within the scope of adopting the
results of their activities for commercial
needs. There is no doubt that the inflow
of such a considerable amount of funds
has increased the demand for legal
service related to the said process.