It is observed that the supervisory power of the Re-examination and Evaluation Board (“Higher Board”), which is in charge of examining and finalizing appeals against the decisions taken by the Turkish Patent and Trademark Office (the “Office”) regarding the registration of IP rights, is in the form of a review of expediency. This issue is regulated in paragraph 4 of Article 6 of the Regulation on the Turkish Patent and Trademark Office Board of the Re-examination and…
»
Patents
Requirements to Obtain a Patent
1. Provide a brief definition of a patent, the key legal requirements to obtain it and the law that applies.
Conditions for a Patent
A patent is an industrial property right that gives the patent owner the right to prevent third parties from certain activities such as producing, using, selling, or importing the product or process that is the subject of the invention for a 20-year period.
The applicant must prove the following to obtain…
»
IP Assignment
Assignment Basis and Formalities
1. On what basis can the main IPRs be assigned? What formalities apply?
Patents
Basis for patent assignment. Under the Intellectual Property Law No. 6769 (IP Law), a patent can be assigned in whole. A patent cannot be assigned in part.
Formalities for patent assignment. Under the IP Law, a patent assignment must be in writing and signed by both parties and notarised before a notary public.
Registration of a patent assignment with…
»
Güldeniz Doğan Alkan and Dilan Sıla Kayalıca of Gün + Partners consider the Turkish Court of Cassation’s two recent decisions, underlining the significance of “vested rights” in the Turkish trademark law.
The concept of “vested rights” is notable in the Turkish trademark law, as it serves as a strong defense against potential refusal of a later mark because of the likelihood of confusion it may create against an earlier one.
In its two recent decisions related to the court…
»
The Turkish Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) has a broad approach and well-established praxis regarding the protection of copyright holders’ rights on fictional works when characters, titles, and associated signs are used in third-party trademark applications. In its recent decision issued in April, the PTO accepted Paramount Pictures’ opposition filed against the trademark application “Don Carpetto”, as shown below, and rejected the registration of the contested application…
»
In its decision dated 13 February 2024 (No 2022/4962 E (Merits), No 2024/1005 K (Decision)), the 11th Civil Chamber of the Court of Cassation has upheld a Regional Court of Appeal decision confirming a ruling of the Court of First Instance that rejected the plaintiff’s vested rights claims.
Background
On 11 January 2018 an application was filed for registration of the trademark MONTENT in Classes 35, 38 and 41 by the applicant, who also owned a prior registration for MONTENT…
»
As educated consumers should be taken into account, particularly when comparing the trademarks covering medicines, it is a well-established principle that the likelihood of confusion between the trademarks covering the goods in class 05 is harder to occur. The Turkish Court of Cassation (“the Coc”) has reiterated this concept repeatedly, so the courts strictly adhere to it and consider a great degree of similarity before accepting that healthcare professionals might confuse…
»
I. Introduction
Law
The Industrial Property Code no. 6769 (““IP Code””) entered into force on January 10, 2017.
Conventions
International Convention (Stockholm) (see Appendix 1); Hague Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Industrial Designs (see Appendix 2); Locarno Agreement for the International Classification of Industrial Designs (see Appendix 3); Patent Cooperation Treaty (see Appendix 4(a)); Strasbourg Agreement Concerning the…
»
Similar as in other countries, trademark squatting is also a common problem which foreign brands face in Türkiye. Trademark squatting creates challenges for market entry and registration of trademarks for foreign companies, as well as leading to dilution of the original trademark. Although there are steps to be taken to better prevent squatters, the current intellectual property (IP) legislation still has effective tools to protect the rights of foreign trademark owners and…
»
While the relevant article regulating the transfer of authority to examine the requests for revocation of trademarks to the Turkish Patent and Trademark Office (“the Office”) was not yet entered into force and there were still a level of uncertainty concerning the procedure, the first development in this regard took place on October 23, 2023 when the Office published and opened the “Draft Regulation for Amendment of the Regulation on the Implementation of the Industrial…
»
We love iconic movies, animated TV series, comics, cartoons, and platform games, and enjoy making them a part of our daily life, perhaps by drinking a cup of coffee with a mug bearing a Hogwarts logo or wearing pyjamas featuring Mickey Mouse. They are not just fictional works but also symbols with a cultural effect and commercial value. This often leads to unauthorised use of the titles and characters of these copyrighted works and any other associated signs, both at a…
»
*The Artificial Intelligence (“AI”) Act was approved by the members of the European Parliament on March 13, 2024. Although the AI Act does not include a direct regulation in regard to copyrights, it is seen that the obligations imposed on AI providers in Article 53 are intended to prevent copyright infringements.
Generative AI models such as ChatGPT, BERT, LaMDA, DALL-E2, which enable the creation of original content by processing data such as text, image and sound, are now…
»
