This article presents an analysis of the legal regulations concerning the description of the subject-matter of the contract by reference to trade marks, patents, standards, specifications and the problems that may arise while applying those regulations in practice. The author states that the subject matter of the contract can not be described by the indication of the trade mark, patent or origin, source or particular process that characterizes the products or services provided by the particular contractor, if this leads to the privilege or elimination of certain contractors or products, justified by the specific nature of the object of the contract and the contracting authority can not describe the object of the contract with sufficiently precise terms, the indication is accompanied by the words "or equivalent." The structuring of the description of the subject of the contract by means of standards, approvals and technical specifications must take into account circumstances related to the award of the relevant contract on the Polish and Community market. The emphasis is on the fact that if the contracting party has the ability to describe the subject of the contract without the need to use own names, then it should do so. If the contracting party chooses to do so by referring to trademarks, patents, standards and specifications, it should be done knowingly( with accurate precision)  and with knowledge of the rules and limits of liability in this regard.

Key words: Public procurement law, description of the object of contract, public procurement, public contract awarding procedure, contracting entity, economic operator, judicature, detailed description (specification) of the subject-matter of the contract, equivalence of the description of the object of contract, directive, polish standards, european standards