Intellectual property rights are also protected under general provisions of law, even if those rights are not specifically registered. However, as is the case in most jurisdictions worldwide, Turkey prefers the use of registration systems in order to protect intellectual property rights more effectively. Thus, registered rights are entitled to stronger protection. While in some cases, registration establishes intellectual property rights, in the majority of cases, registration facilitates the development and promulgation of intellectual property rights.
The national registration systems enable the right owners to be informed of any unfair or infringing applications, and allow owners to protect their rights by filing oppositions or similar actions. Intellectual property right registrations usually reflect genuine right ownership, and genuine right ownership not in conformity with registration rarely occurs.
Applications and registrations of third parties in Turkey and in other jurisdictions may affect rights which have not yet been applied for; if action is not taken in a timely manner unfair registrations can occur. Once a right has been registered, that right can be cancelled only with the consent of the right owner or by means of a court decision, the latter of which would necessitate a great deal of effort and expense. Given the importance of ensuring accurate trademark registrations, a worldwide watch services has been developed to flag any suspect intellectual property applications at the time of publication and during the application process. A watch service developed in Turkey after 1995, as trade and intellectual property rights became more and more globalized. This service is essential to protect an intellectual property rights portfolio from unfair and unauthorized trademark registrations.
The purpose of a watch service is to identify unfair and infringing applications. With the help of the watch service agent, the right holder evaluates those applications likely to infringe on his or her rights and takes the necessary legal action. Our watch service conducts valuable inquiries on behalf of our clients and provides suggestions on the necessary follow-up procedures.
We monitor trademark applications in Turkey directly, and the international and foreign applications via our colleagues at international watch agencies. As needed, we may work with foreign associates to evaluate potential infringement outside of Turkey. Our firm works in conjunction with Thomson CompuMark, the leading provider of international watch services.