Patpol Legal Expands the Team by Two Intellectual Property Experts

Patpol Legal has been expanded by two experienced advocates, Alicja Rytel and Jakub Słupski. The new lawyers specialize in copyright and industrial property, as well as personal data protection.

The new lawyers at Patpol Legal have thorough professional experience gained in law firms specializing in intellectual property matters.

“Patpol Legal is constantly and dynamically developing, and that is why we are expanding our team. Alicja Rytel and Jakub Słupski are two other experienced experts who joined us. Welcome on board!” – said Dariusz Piróg, managing partner at Patpol Legal.

Alicja Rytel will advise the clients of Patpol Legal on matters related to copyright, which is her key area of practice. She will also lead the projects regarding disputes over​​infringement of intellectual property rights – primarily in the field of patents and trademarks, as well as unfair competition and criminal proceedings regarding intellectual property.

She has gained her professional experience working in law firms dealing with matters related to intellectual property. She has also worked as an internal lawyer in one of the largest Polish publishing houses, where she was the leader of legal department and dealt with all legal issues of the company, including in particular the copyright issues.

Alicja took part in the disputes regarding trademarks belonging to the members of Polish famous rock bands “Kombi” and “De Mono”.  She also handled the proceedings regarding copyright infringement of the director of the comedy “Rejs” (Eng. “Cruise”). She also advised on the publication of the book “Masa on the Polish Mafia” by Jarosław “Masa” Sokołowski and Artur Górski, and also provided her advice to other famous authors, such as Janusz L. Wiśniewski, or Henryk “Papcio Chmiel” Chmielewski. Her previous practice also included consultancy services to a large nationwide bookstore network.

Alicja Rytel graduated from the Faculty of Law and Administration and the Faculty of Polish Studies at the Jagiellonian University (UJ). She is also an Erasmus scholarship holder at the Ludwig-Maximilias Universitat in Munich. In addition to working at Patpol, she is also a lecturer in the subject “Law on the publishing market” at the Polish School of Reportage.

As regards the second new member of Patpol Legal, Jakub Słupski is a specialist with a broad experience in the field of copyright law, protection of personal rights as well as media and advertising law. He provides comprehensive legal services for film and television program makers and producers, as well as people publicly known in the field of image commercialization. He has represented creators and public persons in a number of disputes in the field of copyright and personal rights protection. He advised, among others, Ryszard Kapuściński’s family in the dispute regarding the book “Kapuściński Non-Fiction”, the family of Władysław Szpilman in the dispute regarding the book “Accused: Wiera Gran”, or Weronica Rosati in the dispute with Andrzej Żuławski. He also advised Wojciech Fangor in a dispute over the copyrights to the design of Warsaw second line underground station.

He has been working with both individual creators and entrepreneurs. He represented, among others Joanna Szczepkowska in a dispute with TVN media company regarding the protection of personal rights before the Supreme Court (proceedings ended with a precedent judgment), or the largest Polish private television broadcaster in disputes regarding the protection of personal rights, copyright law and combating unfair competition. He also represented one of the largest Polish financial institutions in disputes regarding the protection of personal rights, recognized manufacturers of interior design items in disputes with counterparties trading their products, as well as owners of well-known brands of luxury goods, consumer goods and entertainment in the field of copyright and trademark infringements.

He graduated from the Faculty of Law and Administration at the Jagiellonian University (UJ). He is a graduate of the School of American Law program implemented in cooperation with the Jagiellonian University and the Catholic University of America in DC – as well as the WIPO summer school of intellectual property law in Dubrovnik. He obtained the title of LL.M. and Master Droit privé (LL.M. and master’s studies) at Université de Cergy-Pontoise in France. He is a scholarship holder of the BGF program – a French government scholarship awarded by the French embassy in Poland. Lecturer at Université de Cergy-Pontoise in France and the Vistula College Group.

Author and co-author of publications on copyright, personal rights, competition and consumer protection, theory of law.