Long Awaited IP Code of Turkey
In the 1990s,Turkey swiftly prepared and published decree-laws related to IP rights in order to fulfill its obligation of adopting national legislation related to IP rights with EU regulations so to become a member of the Customs Union. Decree-Laws which have the power of law were preferred since the procedure for passing them is less cumbersome and faster.They should have been converted into laws following the membership of Turkey to the Customs Union; however they… »
“The IP Code” in Turkey
Update: “The IP Code” in Turkey Turkey abolished the current IP related decree-laws, and the Industrial Property Code No. 6769 (“the IP Code”) entered into force on January 10, 2017. Ugur Aktekin and Güldeniz Dogan Alkan, Gün + Partners, Istanbul, review the Turkish law update. In the middle of 1990s, Turkey had to adapt its national regulations related to IP rights with EU legislations in order to become a member of the Customs Union; Turkey rapidly enacted IP related… »
Turkish Court of Appeal Revisits The Assessment of Likelihood of Confusion in case of Weak Trademarks … Changing Its Approach
Legal context The Industrial Property Law No 6769 (this regulates all IP rights in a single code) came into force on 10 January 2017, and the legislation on trade marks in force at the time of the BUDA BENIM decision was Decree Law No 556 on the Protection of Trade Marks (the Decree Law), as amended in 2004, and its implementing provisions. Article 8 of the Decree Law governed relative grounds for refusal of trade mark registration. According to Article 8/1(b) of the Decree… »
New Industrial Property Code Now in Force
The IP Code has now replaced the respective Decree-Laws pertaining to the protection of trademarks, patents, geographical indications, and industrial designs, unifying them into a single code. The Decree-Laws on the protection of trademarks, patents, and industrial designs will continue to apply to international and national trademark, design, and patent applications filed before January 10, 2017. The application of the old system ends once the application is registered.… »
Untimely Annulment of Article 14 of Decree-Law No 556 Creates Legal Gap
In decision No 2016/148 E 2016/189 K dated December 14 2016, the Turkish Constitutional Court annulled Article 14 of Decree-Law No 556, following the referral by the Istanbul Second IP Court (in File No 2015/116 E) of an application for the annulment of said article on the ground of unconstitutionality. The decision of the Constitutional Court entered into force on January 6 2017, upon its publication in the Official Gazette. Article 14 of Decree-Law No 556 governed the… »
Turkey: Changes to Anti-Counterfeiting Legislation
The Industrial Property Code (IP Code) entered into force upon publication in the Official Gazette on January 10 2017. The IP Code has now replaced the respective decree-laws (D-L) pertaining to the protection of trade marks, patents, geographical indications and industrial designs, unifying them into a single code. Article 30 of the IP Code extends the scope of offence, compared to the trade mark D-L. Under Article 61/A of the D-L, the “manufacturing, offering for sale and… »
Industrial Property Law Comes into Force in TURKEY
The long awaited Industrial Property Law (“The Law”), numbered 6769, finally came into force in Turkey on 10 January 2017. The new law regulates all IP rights in a single code. It consists of 193 articles and 6 provisional articles divided into five chapters. The first four Books of the law regulate trademarks, geographical indications, designs and patent rights respectively. The name of the Turkish Patent Institute has changed to the Turkish Patent and Trademark Authority… »
New IP Code Enters into Force: 2017 Will be The Year of IP Rights
Following the merger of various IP-related decree-laws into a single code, the brand new Industrial Property Code (No 6769) entered into force as of January 10 2017. At the beginning of 1990s, Turkey was in the process of becoming part of the EU Customs Union and one of its obligations was to adapt its domestic IP law to comply with EU regulations. In order to achieve this, Turkey rapidly enacted IP-related decree-laws in 1995. Decree-laws were preferred since they require… »
Industrial Property Law Comes Into Force
The long-awaited Industrial Property Law (6769) finally came into force in Turkey on January 10 2017. The new law regulates all IP rights in a single code. It consists of 193 articles and six provisional articles, divided into five chapters. The first four books of the law regulate trademarks, geographical indications, designs and patent rights, respectively, while the fifth book sets out common provisions valid for all IP rights. Article 188 of the law changes the name of… »
Turkey Introduces Customs Training Seminars
Due to its location in the worldwide trade route, Turkey has a vital role in the fight against counterfeiting. The European Union and the Turkish government are therefore working together to increase training for Turkish customs officials and are looking to involve IP rights (IPR) holders wherever possible. The latest customs training project organised by the Turkish Ministry of Customs and Trade (MoCT) in cooperation with the European Union involves a number of activities in… »
Turkey: Compulsory Licensing in The Draft Ip Law
The draft Industrial Property Law in Turkey was passed by the main and sub commissions of the Science, Industry and Technology Ministry with minor amendments on May 5 2016. As shared in the issue of May 25 2016, one of the most debated issues was the international exhaustion principle, accepted for any kind of IP rights. Another much debated issue of the draft law is about compulsory licensing provisions in the patent part of the draft law. The Patent Decree Law in force also… »
Descriptive, or Not Descriptive—That Is the Question: A Review Under Turkish Law of Likelihood of Confusion When Trademarks Share Descriptive Terms
I. INTRODUCTION In a landmark decision, Diamond Kuyumculuk Ticaret Limited Şirketi v. Med-Art Sağlık Hizmetleri ve Kuyumculuk Sanayi ve Limited Şirketi (the “BLUEDIAMOND decision”),¹ the General Assembly of the Civil Chambers of the Court of Appeals of Republic of Turkey found a likelihood of confusion between two trademarks, each covering, inter alia, jewelry and clock goods and design services, based only on the common use of the word “diamond,” which is inarguably… »