POLAND Law and Practice Contributed by: Szymon Gogulski, Marek Oleksyn and Maciej Gil, Sołtysiński Kawecki & Szlęzak
• the defendant can bring the res iudicata argument and request that the court reject the lawsuit without examining the case on its merit; or • by recognising the essence of a claim to be justi - fied, the court may issue a preliminary judgment as to the principle only and, with respect to the disputed amount of a claim, proceed further with the trial. Costs connected with trade secrets litigation in Poland consist of the costs of court proceedings and attorney fees. The final litigation costs (including attorney fees and proceedings costs) depend on the complexity of the case, number of hearings scheduled by the court in each instance, the number of pleadings prepared and filed by the parties and the possible engagement of a court-appointed expert (eg, where technical know- how is involved), etc. 5.11 Cost of Litigation Types of Costs Involved A trade secret owner is obliged to incur a court fee while initiating a lawsuit. The amount of the court fee depends on the type of claims claimed: • each non-financial claim (eg, cessation claim) is subject to a fixed court fee in the amount of approximately EUR70; and • a financial claim is subject to a 5% court fee calcu - lated based on the amount claimed (where such an amount is higher than approximately EUR4,700), but not more than approximately EUR23,500. If a litigating party requests a court action which involves costs (eg, appointing experts, hearing wit - nesses who are entitled to the reimbursement of travel expenses and wage equivalents, translating documents), that party is usually required to make an advance payment on the appropriate costs. The costs are finally accounted for in a judgment on the merits in each instance and allocated according to the propor - tion in which they fall on each party. Litigation Financing There are still no specific statutory rules in Poland concerning litigation or arbitration financing (third-
party funding). Although a dispute-financing mecha - nism is beginning to emerge in Poland, there is still no information about such cases in disputes before common courts regarding trade secrets.
6. Trial 6.1 Bench or Jury Trial
Under the CPC, trade secret trials are decided by a judge. The litigating parties cannot choose to have their case decided by a jury. 6.2 Trial Process General Trade secrets litigation starts with filing a lawsuit (see 5.5 Initial Pleading Standards ). Once the court checks the formal aspects of the lawsuit, its copy is served on the defendant who is granted a deadline (not shorter than two weeks) to file their reply. Depending on the judge’s decision, the court may subsequently either: • schedule a “preparatory sitting” that aims to resolve the dispute without the need for further meetings or draw up a detailed plan for a hearing with the participation of the parties; • order the parties to exchange subsequent proce - dural briefs, specifying the order in which the briefs should be submitted, the dates of filing and the circumstances to be clarified; or • schedule a hearing. Hearing After calling the case, the claimant and then the defendant present their demands and conclusions verbally and present their statements and supporting evidence. The court’s role during the court hearing is, by asking the parties questions, to ensure that the parties provide or supplement their statements or evi - dence and provide the explanations necessary to duly establish the factual basis of their rights or claims. In the same way, the court seeks to clarify the essential circumstances of the case. The hearing also includes the examination and consideration of evidence. After closing the hearing, the court issues its judgment in a given instance. There are usually two to five court hearing dates set by the court in the first instance
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