A Kyiv-based software house relocates its development team to Warsaw, registers a Polish subsidiary, and begins serving EU clients. Within months, a competitor files a near-identical trademark in the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO). The original founders assumed their Ukrainian registrations would travel with them. They do not.

Ukrainian intellectual property rights do not automatically extend to Poland or the European Union. A Ukraine tech company entering the Polish market must register or re-register its core IP assets – trademarks, software copyright, domain rights, and trade secrets – under Polish, EU, and international frameworks. The process can take three to eighteen months depending on the asset class and the route chosen. Acting before market entry avoids the risk of a competitor capturing the brand first.

This guide walks through each step of that process: which assets require formal registration, which procedures apply, how long each takes, and where Ukrainian founders most commonly lose ground. Three business scenarios illustrate the practical choices a SaaS company, a hardware-software hybrid, and a B2B data analytics firm each face when entering Poland.

Why does Ukrainian IP not transfer automatically to Poland?

Ukrainian IP rights are territorial. A trademark registered with the Ukrainske Natsionalne Biuro Intelektualnoi Vlasnosti (Ukrainian National Intellectual Property Office, UKRNOVI) protects the mark only within Ukraine. The same is true for design registrations and patent grants issued by Ukrainian authorities. Poland is a separate jurisdiction, and EU law adds a second layer: EU-wide rights exist independently of any national Polish right.

Poland's IP system is administered by the Urząd Patentowy Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej (Patent Office of the Republic of Poland, UPRP) for trademarks, patents, and industrial designs. Copyright in software, by contrast, arises automatically under Polish law upon creation – no registration is required. The National Court Register (KRS) records the company that owns the IP, but ownership alone does not substitute for territorial protection of marks or inventions. Foreign founders frequently confuse these two points.

One practical consequence: a Ukrainian SaaS company may own its codebase outright under copyright law without any filing. But its brand name, logo, and product names remain unprotected in Poland and the EU until actively registered. A competitor can file first and legally demand the Ukrainian company rebrand within the Polish market – a process that typically costs more than EUR 50,000 in rebranding and legal fees.

  • Ukrainian trademark registrations are not recognised in Poland or the EU.
  • EU trademark (EUTM) covers all 27 member states, including Poland.
  • Software copyright arises automatically; no UPRP filing is needed.
  • Trade secrets require documented internal procedures, not registration.
  • Patents must be validated in Poland separately from any international grant.

What is the step-by-step registration procedure for trademarks and software IP?

The most time-sensitive asset is the trademark. Filing an EU trademark application at the EUIPO costs EUR 850 for one class of goods or services in the online procedure. The examination period runs approximately four to five months, followed by a three-month opposition window. Total time from filing to registration: seven to ten months. A national Polish filing at the UPRP costs PLN 450 for one class and takes roughly six months, but protects only Poland.

For most Ukraine tech companies, the EUTM route is the better investment. It covers Poland, protects the brand across the entire EU single market, and signals credibility to investors and enterprise clients. The EUTM also carries priority: if filed within six months of the Ukrainian application date, the earlier Ukrainian filing date can be claimed as the EU priority date under the Paris Convention. This six-month window is the single most important deadline for founders who registered their brand in Ukraine before relocating.

We secured priority recognition for a Ukrainian fintech's EUTM application – protecting a mark worth an estimated EUR 3m – for a client based in Mazowieckie (spring 2025). The founders had filed in Ukraine eleven weeks before contacting us. We used the remaining priority window to file at EUIPO before a competitor's application could take effect.

Software IP follows a different path. Polish copyright law protects software as a literary work from the moment of creation. The employer or commissioning party owns the rights if the software was created by employees or contractors – but only if the assignment clauses in employment and service contracts are properly drafted under Polish law. Ukrainian-law contracts do not automatically transfer under Polish rules. Every employment agreement and B2B contractor agreement should be reviewed and, where necessary, amended or restated under Polish law before the company begins operating in Poland.

For a practical guide on aligning employment documentation with Polish requirements, see our article on employment law compliance for Ukraine companies in Poland.

How do GDPR, the AI Act, and DORA compliance affect IP strategy?

Ukraine tech companies often treat IP and data compliance as separate workstreams. In Poland, they are intertwined. A product that processes personal data must comply with GDPR Poland requirements from day one of EU market operation. GDPR compliance is not an IP right, but it directly affects the value and transferability of the IP. A data-driven product with inadequate GDPR documentation is worth less in a due diligence process and may be blocked from certain B2B markets.

The Urząd Ochrony Danych Osobowych (Personal Data Protection Office, UODO) supervises GDPR enforcement in Poland. Fines can reach EUR 20m or four percent of global annual turnover, whichever is higher. For a Ukrainian startup with modest revenues, even a mid-range fine of EUR 500,000 can be existential. Data transfer mechanisms matter too: if the company transfers user data between its Polish entity and its Ukrainian parent, it must use a valid legal mechanism – standard contractual clauses or binding corporate rules. Our analysis of data transfer from Poland to France: legal mechanisms illustrates how these tools operate across borders.

The EU AI Act, which entered into force in August 2024 with obligations phasing in through 2027, adds a further layer for AI-enabled products. A Ukraine tech company building machine-learning tools for EU clients must classify its systems under the Act's risk tiers. High-risk AI systems – those used in hiring, credit scoring, or critical infrastructure – require conformity assessments, technical documentation, and registration in the EU database before deployment. The AI Act Poland compliance timeline is tight: prohibited-use provisions applied from February 2025, and high-risk obligations apply from August 2026.

DORA compliance is relevant for any Ukrainian tech company providing ICT services to Polish financial institutions. The Digital Operational Resilience Act requires financial entities and their critical third-party providers to meet strict incident-reporting and contractual requirements. If a Ukrainian software vendor supplies tools to a Polish bank or insurer, it may be classified as a critical ICT third-party provider and subject to direct oversight by the Polish Financial Supervision Authority (KNF). Contracts must be updated to include DORA-mandated clauses by January 2025 – a deadline that has already passed.

The bridge between IP strategy and regulatory compliance is documentation. A well-structured IP portfolio – clear ownership, registered marks, documented trade secrets – also satisfies the technical documentation requirements of the AI Act and the audit-readiness expectations of DORA-regulated clients.

What are the three business scenarios for Ukraine tech companies entering Poland?

Different company profiles face different IP priorities. The table below is written as a decision matrix: identify your scenario, then follow the instrument and timeline column.

Scenario 1 – SaaS company, B2C or B2B subscription model. Core assets are the brand, the user interface (UI), and the underlying codebase. Priority action: file EUTM within six months of Ukrainian trademark registration. Review all employment and contractor agreements for Polish-law copyright assignment. Register domain variants in .pl and .eu. Timeline: EUTM registration in seven to ten months; contract review in two to four weeks. Cost estimate: EUR 850 EUIPO filing fee plus legal fees for contract review.

Scenario 2 – Hardware-software hybrid (IoT, robotics, embedded systems). Core assets include patents for technical inventions, registered designs for product appearance, and firmware copyright. The Paris Convention allows a twelve-month priority window for patents (six months for designs) from the Ukrainian filing date. A PCT application filed through the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) can protect the invention in Poland and up to 157 other countries simultaneously. PCT national phase entry in Poland costs approximately PLN 3,000 in UPRP fees. Timeline from PCT filing to Polish patent grant: three to five years.

Scenario 3 – B2B data analytics platform. Core assets are algorithms, datasets, and the brand. Algorithms are not patentable as such under Polish or EU law, but the software implementing them is protected by copyright. Datasets may qualify as database rights under EU law if there was substantial investment in their creation. The database right lasts fifteen years from the date of completion and does not require registration. GDPR compliance is non-negotiable: the platform almost certainly processes personal data, and the UODO will expect a data protection impact assessment (DPIA) for high-risk processing activities.

We helped a Ukrainian data analytics company in Lower Silesia (autumn 2024) restructure its IP ownership from a Ukrainian holding to a Polish limited liability company (spółka z ograniczoną odpowiedzialnością, sp. z o.o.), securing database rights and EUTM registration in parallel. The restructuring enabled the company to close a Series A round with a German venture fund within five months.

For a comparison of how Hungary-based tech companies approach the same entry questions, see our guide on IP protection strategy for Hungary tech companies in Poland.

What are the most common IP mistakes Ukrainian founders make in Poland?

The single most frequent mistake is delay. Founders focus on product, sales, and hiring. IP registration feels administrative and non-urgent. By the time a competitor files a conflicting trademark or a former employee claims software ownership, the damage is done – and often irreversible. A trademark opposition proceeding at EUIPO takes twelve to eighteen months and costs EUR 10,000 to EUR 30,000 in legal fees. Avoiding the conflict by filing first costs a fraction of that.

The second mistake is relying on Ukrainian-law documentation for Polish operations. Employment contracts, contractor agreements, and IP assignment deeds drafted under Ukrainian law do not automatically assign IP rights under Polish law. The Polish Civil Code and the Polish Act on Copyright and Related Rights (ustawa o prawie autorskim i prawach pokrewnych) govern what must be expressly stated in a contract for a valid assignment. A clause that is effective in Ukraine may be unenforceable in Poland.

The third mistake is treating trade secrets informally. Polish law protects trade secrets – confidential business information of commercial value – but only if the owner has taken reasonable steps to keep them secret. That means non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) with employees and contractors, access controls, and documented confidentiality policies. A startup that never formalised these procedures forfeits trade secret protection entirely. This matters particularly for algorithms, client lists, and pricing models.

  • File EUTM or national trademark before or immediately after market entry.
  • Review all employment and contractor agreements for Polish-law IP assignment.
  • Document trade secret protection measures before engaging Polish clients.
  • Check Paris Convention priority deadlines: six months for marks, twelve for patents.
  • Align GDPR documentation with IP ownership records from day one.

A specific risk for companies using AI-generated code or content: the Polish Copyright Office has not yet issued binding guidance on AI-generated works, but the prevailing position is that works without human authorship are not protected. Founders who rely heavily on AI-generated output should document the human creative contribution to each work to preserve copyright coverage.

Frequently asked questions

Q: How long does it take to register a trademark in Poland or the EU, and what does it cost?

A: A national Polish trademark filed at the Patent Office of the Republic of Poland takes approximately six months and costs PLN 450 for one class of goods or services. An EU trademark filed at the EUIPO costs EUR 850 for one class and takes seven to ten months from filing to registration, assuming no opposition is raised. If an opposition is filed during the three-month opposition window, the process can extend by twelve to eighteen months. For most Ukraine tech companies, the EU trademark is the better starting point because it covers all 27 member states with a single registration.

Q: Does Ukrainian copyright in software automatically protect the code in Poland?

A: This is a common misconception. Copyright in software arises automatically in Poland under Polish law upon creation – no registration is needed. However, the question is not whether copyright exists, but who owns it. Polish law requires express written assignment clauses for copyright to transfer from an employee or contractor to the company. A Ukrainian-law employment contract may not satisfy Polish requirements. Every agreement under which software was developed should be reviewed by a Polish IP lawyer to confirm that ownership vests correctly in the Polish entity.

Q: What steps must a Ukrainian tech company take to comply with GDPR in Poland before launching its product?

A: The company must appoint a data protection officer if required (mandatory for large-scale personal data processing), maintain a record of processing activities, implement appropriate technical and organisational measures, and – where processing is high-risk – conduct a data protection impact assessment. If personal data is transferred from the Polish entity to the Ukrainian parent, a valid transfer mechanism must be in place: typically standard contractual clauses approved by the European Commission. The Personal Data Protection Office in Poland can issue fines of up to EUR 20m for serious violations, so a compliance review before product launch is strongly recommended.

Protecting IP in a new jurisdiction is not a one-time filing. It is a structured programme that starts before market entry and evolves as the product and the regulatory environment develop. The specific situation of your company – its asset mix, its timeline, and its exposure to AI Act or DORA compliance requirements – determines which steps are urgent and which can follow.

To receive an expert assessment of your IP protection strategy in Poland, contact info@kordeckipartners.com.

What to prepare before your first IP consultation

  • A list of all registered and unregistered IP assets: trademarks, patents, designs, domain names.
  • Copies of Ukrainian IP registrations with filing dates (for Paris Convention priority analysis).
  • All employment and contractor agreements under which software or other IP was created.
  • Any existing NDAs and confidentiality policies covering trade secrets.
  • A description of any AI-generated content or code used in the product.

Your specific IP situation involves irreversible risks: a competitor filing first, a former developer claiming co-ownership, or a GDPR enforcement action that devalues the asset you are trying to protect. Waiting to address these issues until after they arise forfeits options that would have been available for a fraction of the cost.

If your company is entering the Polish market and holds IP assets registered in Ukraine, email info@kordeckipartners.com. We will assess your priority deadlines, identify gaps in your ownership chain, and structure a filing and compliance programme tailored to your product and timeline.

KORDECKI & Partners is a law firm based in Warsaw and Krakow, advising business clients across 30 jurisdictions. Our team combines expertise in Polish and international law with a practical approach to IP protection, technology regulation, and cross-border transactions. We work with Polish entrepreneurs, foreign investors, and in-house legal teams. Our Ukrainian Desk advises Ukrainian and CIS clients on market entry, IP structuring, and regulatory compliance in Poland and the EU. To discuss your situation, contact info@kordeckipartners.com.

Disclaimer: This publication is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. The information herein should not be relied upon as a substitute for professional legal counsel tailored to your specific circumstances. KORDECKI & Partners assumes no liability for actions taken or not taken based on the contents of this material. For advice regarding your particular situation, please contact info@kordeckipartners.com.