| In Principle

Bitcoin opened up a spectrum of possibilities and a legal Pandora’s Box. But block chain—the technology on which Bitcoin is based—generates even greater potential and further legal challenges.

An interview with Krzysztof Wiktor, a partner at Wardyński & Partners who co-heads the Reprivatisation Practice, about the little reprivatisation act, a controversial ruling by the Constitutional Tribunal, and current trends in the case law.

Owners of Warsaw property still face barriers in taking over possession of buildings from the city, even though the rules governing delivery of possession were established in an order issued by the Mayor of Warsaw in 2008.

Decision to sell units in a building covered by the Warsaw Decree: A source of injury in pursuing claims for damages

After reprivatisation proceedings lasting many years, the legal successors of the former owners of real estate manage to regain the property that was once lost. But often the current value is grossly low, which justifies pursuing compensatory damages.

Failure to consider a decree application can be grounds for public entities to make up the loss for depriving the owners of rights to land in Warsaw.

Monetary compensation for former owners of Warsaw Decree properties could help in many instances to remove the barrier to acquisition by residential cooperatives of adjacent plots of land to improve the conditions for development of their own real estate.

Reprivatisation cases require identification of all the former owners of the property as well as their legal successors. Thorny problems can arise when inheritance documents from France are involved.

Identifying all the parties to reprivatisation proceedings can be difficult when the heirs of the former owners are spread around the world. Proving legal succession requires submission to the court of civil register documents, which may be registered in Poland for the purpose of Polish legal proceedings.

Although in theory it is possible to register a trademark in the form of a single colour, in Polish practice such marks are vanishingly rare. Essentially, such protection is possible only if the applicant proves “secondary distinguishing power”—showing that the target customers for the goods clearly associate the colour with a specific company.

The engineer’s task is to take necessary measures to ensure that the contract is performed correctly and on time. But not all actions by the engineer will directly affect the investor’s own rights and obligations.

The new recommendation on processing of data for purposes of employment is designed to meet challenges posed by greater digitisation.