POLAND Law and Practice Contributed by: Szymon Gogulski, Marek Oleksyn and Maciej Gil, Sołtysiński Kawecki & Szlęzak
8. Appeal 8.1 Appellate Procedure
examine the case at a closed sitting (in camera) if it is not necessary to conduct a hearing, unless one of the parties applies for a hearing. Both the lawsuit and the appeal can be withdrawn by the relevant party at the appeal phase of the pro - ceedings. A withdrawal of the lawsuit may require the claimant to sign a waiver of claims. 9. Criminal Offences 9.1 Prosecution Process, Penalties and Defences Crimes related to trade secrets appropriation are pros - ecuted at the request of the injured party. After the request is filed, proceedings are conducted ex officio by the public prosecutor. The request to prosecute may only be withdrawn with the public prosecutor’s consent. Regarding the description of trade secrets crimes and possible penalties, please see 1.14 Criminal Liability . A suspect in criminal proceedings may invoke the same exceptions to protect trade secrets as in civil litigation (see 2.1 The Definition of Misappropriation ) or claim that given information does not constitute a trade secret (see 1.4 Elements of Trade Secret Pro- tection ). See also 5.9 Defending Against Allegations of Misappropriation . There is no alternative dispute resolution forum envis - aged for settling disputes over a trade secret infringe - ment. However, the litigating parties may settle the case within mediation proceedings regulated by the CPC or during the hearing in the main case. During the court proceedings parties may also settle out of court or within mediation proceedings envisaged by the CPC. If a trade secret dispute is based on a breach of con - tract (eg, a non-disclosure agreement), the parties may have potential disputes arising from such an agreement resolved through ADR, including arbitration. 10. ADR 10.1 Dispute Resolution Mechanisms
Trade secrets litigation is of a two-instance nature. Both the claimant and defendant can file an appeal against the first-instance judgment – insofar as it is unfavourable to the party concerned. An appeal to a court of appeals (either the Court of Appeals in War - saw or in Poznań) needs to be filed through the court that issued the judgment in the first instance (a rel - evant regional IP court) within two weeks from the date of the delivery of the judgment with the written reasoning to the party that wishes to appeal. The first- instance court prepares the written reasoning of its judgment upon the party’s request to be served with such – filed within one week from the date of delivery of the judgment. It is also possible to appeal against a number of deci - sions issued by the court throughout the first-instance proceedings that are not a judgment on the merits. In those cases, a separate procedural measure is applied – ie, a complaint against the court’s decision. If there are court decisions which cannot be challenged by means of a formal complaint, the party can still ques - tion the decision in their appeal against a first-instance judgment if such court’s decisions had an impact on the merit assessment of the case. There is an extraordinary measure against a final and binding judgment of a court of appeals: a cassation complaint to the Supreme Court. However, the prereq - uisites allowing such a cassation complaint to be filed are narrow and are interpreted strictly. 8.2 Factual or Legal Review Under the CPC, the courts of appeal in Poland review both factual and legal issues and re-examine the case anew. The courts of appeal are not bound by the alle - gations of a violation by the first-instance court of substantive law as set out in the appeal. However, the courts of appeal are bound by the allegations of a violation of procedural laws. Within the limits of the appeal, a court of appeals takes into account ex offi - cio the possible nullity of the proceedings. The appeal is decided both on paper (a written appeal and the reply to that appeal) and the parties’ arguments pre - sented during a court hearing. A court of appeals may
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