Depreciation of trade marks as assets in Poland

Some readers of the IP Finance weblog may also read Class 46, the European trade mark weblog which is in the process of being adopted by MARQUES (the association of European trade mark owners). Since however the level of overlap between the two blogs is low, I'm taking the opportunity to give a link here to "Poland: depcreciation for registered trade marks only", a note by Tomasz Rychlicki (Patpol).

This note describes the attempt by a Polish trading company to increase its capital value by issuing shares based on the value of its assets. These assets included a trade mark which, once entered on the company's books, was then the subject of an exercise in depreciation. Following litigation up to the District Administrative Court level it was held that only trade marks that have been registered can be depreciated: in this case, it appears, the trade mark was only the subject of an application, but it is the act of registration itself that establishes its status.