Liquor makers trade on their good names
By : Justyna Wrobel
Znaki Wspolne, the joint-trademark company created by Polmoses, the liquor producers, will allow the firms to legally register four trademarks and secure the patents on dozens of others, said Janusz Michalski of Polmos Poznan last week.
The new company, formed at the end of July, will initially look to register two logos and two bottle designs commonly used by the 18 Polmoses. It will also help the vodka producers to register several trademarks that they split among themselves a year ago, but have not yet been registered by the Patent Office (Urzad Patentowy).
"Znaki Wspolne will benefit all of the trademarks," said Henryk Tomasik, director of Polmos Warszawa and the new president of Znaki Wspolne. "It will protect these trademarks in Poland and abroad."
After the Polmoses agreed to split the trademarks among themselves in a series of tenders last year, the trademark applications went to the patent office, where they remain. According to the Polmoses, the swift registration of Znaki Wspolne will help get the trademarks patented.
"It was not permitted, for instance, to register either the Wyborowa or Luksusowa vodkas," said Janusz Michalski, president of Polmos Poznan.
The Polmoses were therefore forced to establish a company that would allow them to use the trademarks of the Polmos and the Husarz logos and two bottle designs.
"The company was not our idea, because it's costing us money," Michalski said. "We (Polmos Poznan) could afford it, but there are poorer Polmoses."
Each of the Polmoses shared the costs to create Znaki Wspolne and will help pay for its operating and management expenses.
Before the vodka makers agreed to split the trademarks last year, all of them were registered under Polmos Warszawa, Michalski said. "When the trademarks were divided a year ago, Polmos Warszawa applied to the patent office to re-register those trademarks but its application is still sitting there," he said.
While Michalski said he was very disappointed by the patent office's slow progress in completing the trademarks' registration, the office said it wasn't the only one to blame for the delay.
"It's not true that we're operating very slowly," said Marta Czyz, who works in the patents and protection rights department of the Patent Office. "Certain steps have been made and the office is doing its best to take care of the situation," she said.
Czyz added that she was not allowed to disclose any details about when the trademarks' registration might be completed. She said that the office's schedule depends on the Treasury and Economy Ministries and that the "Polmoses should clear their own things first".
Since Znaki Wspolne was established, the registration of the split trademarks should proceed more quickly, Michalski said.
