Department of Commercial Law, Insurance and Industrial Property

The Department was established in 1988 under the name: Department of Economic and Trade Law and its head from the beginning until September 30, 2024 was prof. dr hab. Wojciech J. Katner. It consisted of two departments: Department of Commercial Law (headed by prof. dr hab. Wojciech J. Katner, from March 1, 2021 prof. UŁ dr hab. Aleksander Kappes,) and Department of Industrial Property Law (headed by prof. dr hab. Urszula Promińska). For several years, there was also a separate Department of Company Law, abolished due to the increased minimum number of employees for the departments. From October 1, 2024, the name of the Department changed to the current "Department of Commercial Law, Insurance and Industrial Property". The name change was related to the abolition of departments within the departments at the UŁ and the need to express in the name of the Department the fundamental directions of research conducted there. As of 1 October 2024, the Head of the Department has also changed, becoming Prof. UŁ Dr. Habilitated Aleksander Kappes.

Currently, the Department employs 12 people, including 2 full professors, 3 habilitated doctors (prof. UŁ) and 6 assistant professors. All of them are also practicing lawyers: there are 3 judges (one retired), 4 attorneys, 4 legal advisers and one patent attorney. There are also 12 full-time and part-time doctoral students.

The Department's classes include lectures, exercises, conversation classes, seminars and classes at postgraduate studies at UŁ and other universities. For about twenty years, independent doctoral seminars have been held, also open to people representing legal practice, especially judges, legal advisers, advocates and notaries.

Employees conduct classes in economic and commercial law at the Faculty of Law and Administration, Faculty of Economics and Sociology, Faculty of Management and in many fields of study of natural science faculties of the University of Lodz in the field of: law, administration, intellectual and industrial property, legal issues of electronic economy (e-commerce), financial instruments, including securities. In addition, employees of the Department conduct lectures for attorneys, legal advisers, notaries and trainees of these professions.

As part of research on commercial law and business insurance law, employees of the Department deal primarily with the law of commercial, personal and capital companies, constitutional issues and the functioning of these companies in trade, capital market law and financial instruments, other types of entities, e.g. family foundations, the law of named and unnamed business contracts, especially business insurance, sales and leasing agreements, private law issues of e-commerce.

As part of research on industrial property law, the Department also deals with the issues of industrial property, including in particular: goods protected by the Industrial Property Law (trademarks, industrial designs), acquisition and termination of industrial property rights, their infringements and the issues of entities entitled to industrial property rights. The research interests also include the legal status of industrial property goods that are not the subject of absolute subjective rights and their protection.

Scientific works resulting from research conducted by the Department's employees are published in the most prestigious Polish periodicals (e.g. Przegląd Prawa Handlowego) and monographs, such as System Prawa Prywatnego and System Prawa Handlowego. The Department's employees are also the authors of two academic textbooks: Prawo Gospodarki i Handlnego, intended for law students, and Prawo cywilne i Handlnego, intended for students of administration, economics and management. The scientific editor of both is prof. dr hab. Wojciech J. Katner. Both textbooks have had many editions and for their development the authors received the 1st degree Rector's Award from the University of Lodz.

The Department organizes scientific conferences and seminars for legal communities, and for fourteen years in May it has been preparing and conducting the National Forum of Company Law, which is a scientific conference with the participation of several hundred scientists from all university centers, judges, notaries, attorneys, legal advisers and law students. For years, year-round Postgraduate Studies in Company Law have been conducted, with the participation of lecturers also from other universities and practitioners. In addition, employees of the Department are invited as members of teams preparing drafts of new legal solutions and participate in the legislative process as experts and authors of opinions. They are also active arbitrators in permanent arbitration courts, especially in the Court of Arbitration at the Polish Chamber of Commerce.