Poland

Firm overview

We are a comprehensive law firm specialising in advising the creative, media, new technology, life science, and science and business innovation sectors.

The combination of the many years of diverse experience of managing partners Maciej Slusarek, Maciej Kubiak and Tomasz Pieczyk – with the fresh perspective of junior partners Hanna Marcinkiewicz, Katarzyna Lejman, Katarzyna Ciepiela, Paweł Myrda, Piotr Nikołajuk and Maciej Dudek – and their teams, is a guarantee of comprehensive legal services for our firm’s clients.

We support representatives of the creative industries at every stage of their projects. We have completed several hundred projects: audiovisual, related to new technologies, personal data, industrial property, and commercialisation of research. We also have experience in serving clients from the pharmaceutical, pharmacy, and investment fund industries, as well as in restructuring and M&A transactions. The DNA of our law firm also includes cases related to the protection of the reputation of individuals and companies, and representation in disputes concerning intellectual property, unfair competition, personal rights and in commercial matters.

One of the pillars of the firm is the IP/TMT team, repeatedly awarded and recommended in Chambers, IP Stars, Legal 500, and Media Law International, among others. We are a legal partner who understands business and effectively supports clients in finding solutions to the challenges they face in a dynamically changing world.

Firm overview

Taylor Wessing has one of the strongest and largest IP teams in Europe and internationally. With more than 200 professionals across Europe alone, the size and scale of our practice means we rarely deal with issues that we have not come across before. What makes us unusual is that we are highly-rated across all IP specialisms. This includes patents; brands and trade marks; copyright; designs; domain names and e-commerce; media law and reputation management, advertising and sponsorship, franchising and broadcasting.

We advise on matters throughout the IP lifecycle from development of IP protection strategies; filing and portfolio management through to maximising value by licensing; and when matters become contentious, protecting your assets through litigation in the courts.

All of our teams are technically excellent and many members have previously worked in-house, giving us a deep understanding of our clients’ needs and issues.

Firm overview

We specialize in protecting intellectual property rights, which in a modern economy are essential for almost any business. Our team protects trademarks, patents, designs, copyrights, trade secrets and personal rights, we also help to protect against unfair competition practices.
SK+ Siekierzyński Kochlewski is proactively engaged in shaping clients' products and brands before they reach the market. We help prevent legal risks early in the design, naming and concept stages, and suggest the best possible means to develop and protect intellectual property. Hence, our advice is not limited to dispute resolution in litigation or ADR in the event of an infringement.

We focus on work for sectors like automotive, luxury goods, pharma, medical, art and marketing. The SK+ team has experience not only before the Polish courts but also before the Court of Justice of the European Union representing clients in complex and precedent-setting litigation.
Apart from representing clients in courts in civil litigation SK+ cooperates closely with Polish customs and police when it comes to fighting counterfeits. Many years of experience in representing clients in criminal intellectual property cases allow SK+ to manage proceedings appropriately by choosing the best solution for the case. The experience and ability to combine civil and criminal proceedings distinguishes SK+ from other Polish law firms dealing with intellectual property protection.
SK+ also provides comprehensive advice in the field of trademark prosecution and represents clients in all stages of the proceedings including: filing for registration, opposition proceedings, revocation and invalidity proceedings – before the Polish Patent Office and before the European Union Intellectual Property Office.

We protect international brands in Poland and Polish brands worldwide. We have experience in advising in complex patent infringement cases. We work with Polish and foreign patent and trademark attorneys and law firms, advertising agencies and consumer survey agencies. We also work with experts and specialists from various fields.

SK+ lawyers, including the partners, are very well versed in international relations. A good understanding with clients and lawyers from other jurisdictions is not only the result of language proficiency, but also stems from experience of living and working in a multicultural environment. These competencies have already resulted in important roles in international legal organisations for SK+ lawyers who are active in associations such as i.a. INTA, PTMG, Marques, German Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property (GRUR), AIPPI.

Due to the partners’ experience and background we are the first choice law firm for many multinational companies. We do not only speak fluent German and English, but we understand the mindset of our German and English/US clients. We also take on ‘difficult’ cases, one of the recent examples is the “Europe Impact Case of the Year” according to Managing IP. We represented our client Audi AG before the CJEU (case C-334/22).

In short, SK+ combines strategic foresight, hands-on litigation and deep academic insight in a highly specialized, boutique format.

Firm overview

Zivko Mijatovic & Partners (ZMP) is a full-service IP law firm, established in 1939 in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, as a general practice law firm. It has grown progressively and today consists of 15 offices in 14 European countries. The overall protection of all IP rights, including prosecution, enforcement and litigation, is provided through the network of ZMP offices covering the Balkan Peninsula and Central and Eastern Europe, with a liaison office in Alicante, Spain, providing legal services in relation to European trademarks and designs and IP legal services in Spain. Over the last 30 years, ZMP’s primary activity has been the protection, via prosecution and litigation, of all IP rights.

The firm has gained reputation for having stellar and efficient services in the region. ZMP is known for being a creative, open and straightforward firm, with a meticulous approach tailored to the client’s needs. ZMP’s constant presence in Central and Eastern Europe means that clients receive immediate and simultaneous service across the region, simply by contacting one of the offices. That is why the service provided by ZMP is unique in the region.

ZMP offers a full range of IP services, providing legal assistance and advice on the protection of IP rights and management and enforcement of the same across Central and Eastern Europe. Services include filing and prosecution of IP rights; searches and watching services; IP portfolio management; dispute resolution; advice and representation in infringement and enforcement matters. ZMP and its attorneys are authorized to represent clients before judicial authorities, IP offices, customs offices and different administrative authorities of the countries in which the firm’s offices are located.

ZMP is particularly active in matters of counterfeiting and piracy. Given that the Western Balkans, due to its geographical location, is a gateway to the EU market and a fertile ground for the production and distribution of counterfeit goods, Rights' holders are advised to consider the measures available across the region and contemplate implementing a strategy that recognizes the root of the problem and provides a long-term solution. Countries of the Western Balkans should be considered as a single region. ZMP is uniquely positioned to provide this service through its network of tightly linked local offices. The firm has therefore introduced a “Customs Package” whereby it handles customs applications, seizures and destruction of all counterfeit products flowing through the countries of former Yugoslavia and Albania (eight jurisdictions in total) through only one point of contact, thus saving costs, avoiding heavy administrative burdens and consolidating customs matters with one agent.

As part of the firm´s business growth strategy, ZMP is more active on social media, dynamic, approachable and always on alert on the virtual space to detect any kind of unfair competition in the market through typo squatting, metatags, spamming and cybersquatting because we focus on our clients and consumer protection. ZMP strives towards corporate responsibility, through sponsorship activities and the number of professionals employed in our offices has increased by a minimum of 10% annually, with constant investment in education.