TP could face tough legal battle over Telepunkt brand

Until recently it seemed that TP was the legal owner of the Telepunkt trademark, however it has turned out that a Warsaw-based company Verna, together with Katowice-based Opal registered this brand name earlier than TP - in mid-2002 - while TP did it a few months later. Although the companies have never officially said that they would bring a lawsuit against TP, it is unofficially said they might be willing to. TP is also in a dispute with another company, Plus GSM, whose outlets are quite similarly named mPunkt. Plus GSM accuses TP of the illegal use of the slogan "Everything in one point" (Wszystko w jednym punkcie) as this might mislead customers into confusing the two outlet chains. A Plus GSM dealer says they were using similar slogans earlier, also in TV commercials. "Our lawyers are investigating the case. We will present our official stance in a few days," said Barbara Górska, TP's spokesperson. (Puls Biznesu, pp. 1, 11) D.W.