On February 18 2016, the Turkish Patent Institute (TPI) announced that the Official Trademark Bulletin will now be published twice a month. The bulletin was previously published on the 12th of each month but will now be published on the 12th and 27th of each month or the next working day if either of those days falls at the weekend. This change is expected to require a much stricter follow-up of the bulletin and the legal opposition deadlines in order to avoid the possible…
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On February 24 2016 the Turkish Patent Institute (TPI) published its long-awaited draft IP Law proposing amendments to patent rights in Turkey. The government has decided to regulate all IP rights in a single act: Book 4 of the act covers patent rights, while Book 5 covers common clauses for all IP rights (ie, trademarks, geographical indications, designs and patents).
Improvements
The draft appears to be promising, particularly in comparison to the previous proposals to…
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1. Substantive aspects of both criminal and civil law
1.1 Legal theories and principal sources of lawIn Turkey there is no specific law or other legislation in effect with regard to trade secrets and their protection – the interest of the owner provides an imperfect exclusive right over trade secrets. They are not protected under specific laws, but protected under the general provisions of Turkish civil law.
The most general provision that constitutes a basis for the…
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The Tenth Development Plan, which covers 2014 to 2018, emphasises the government’s aim of enhancing international accreditation and standard-setting capacity to provide the effective and sustainable use of research infrastructures and to foster greater cooperation between the public and private sectors.
In order to achieve this aim, the Turkish government had declared a policy of transforming research centres within universities and public institutions into sustainable…
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The Tenth Development Plan of Turkey, which spans the period between 2014 and 2018, emphasises the necessity to enhance the country’s accreditation and standard-setting capacity at international levels. This is to provide effective and sustainable use of research infrastructures through diversification, as well as a desire to foster greater cooperation between the public and private sectors.
According to this development plan, measures should be taken to establish platforms…
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The European Patent Convention (EPC) is part of Turkish domestic law and is enforced in Turkey under Article 90 of the Constitution. As an international agreement, it cannot be declared unconstitutional. The EPC can be applied directly in Turkey and is legally binding. Under it, Turkey recognises the competence and decisions of institutions established under the EPC. Member states cannot declare their preference for decisions of European Patent Office (EPO) bodies (eg, the…
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The Assembly of Civil Chambers of the Court of Appeals recently ruled that trademarks containing identical descriptive phrases give rise to a likelihood of confusion, thereby reversing the first-instance court’s decision that there is no likelihood of confusion between such trademarks. The assembly’s approach grants exclusive rights over descriptive and generic phrases found in trademarks which could legitimise unfair competition between rights holders and render notions such…
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As a bridge between Europe, Asia and the Middle East, Turkey continues to attract the attention of both foreign investors and IP infringers. Turkey has been adapting its IP legislation in line with international treaties since the mid-1990s. Its current IP regime largely complies with EU legislation and provides sufficient legal basis to protect the rights of IP owners. Specialised IP courts serve in three major cities (Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir), and the police and customs…
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In a recent decision, the Third Civil IP Court of Ankara has made a detailed examination of the distinctiveness and descriptiveness of a trademark, and cancelled the refusal of the Turkish Patent Institute (TPI) based on a strong reasoning. Arguably, the decision – in which the court also interpreted the impact of foreign registrations for the same trademark – sets an important precedent for similar cases.
The applicant’s trademark application for AIRCRUISE BIONICS, which is…
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Within the context of an invalidation action, the Ankara Third IP Court has held that the figurative trademark NEO CARE (depicted below), which covers goods in Class 5 of the Nice Classification, was confusingly similar to the trademark NEXCARE, which also covers goods in Class 5.
The court considers that the device element of the NEO CARE mark was not distinctive and that the main element of the mark was its word element.
Although this is not explicitly mentioned in the…
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The 11th Civil Chamber of the Court of Appeals recently issued a remarkable decision regarding European patents validated in Turkey – specifically, on the status of the validation of a European patent in Turkey where an opposition or appeal is pending before the European Patent Office (EPO).
The Turkish Patent Institute (TPI) operates a pre-grant opposition system and permits no amendments to a patent after the grant decision. The TPI system conflicts with the EPO system…
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General Assembly of the Civil Chambers of the Court of Appeals, Turkey, Merit No 2013/11 – 52; Decision No 2013/1416, 02 October 2013
In a landmark decision, the Assembly of Civil Chambers has determined that a likelihood of confusion will arise between trade marks by accepting the word ‘diamond’ in trade marks subject to comparison as a fundamental element, although it was descriptive of the goods in respect of which the trade marks were registered and used. This note…
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