How Do Insurance Contracts Respond to COVID-19 Outbreak?
1. General Overlook Measures and restrictions being gradually introduced by the government against the COVID-19 outbreak, which was announced as a pandemic by the World Health Organization and diagnosed for the first time in Turkey on 11 March 2020, aim to protect public health while sustaining employment, production and supply chains. Restrictions, which were first imposed on flights to China in February, were introduced for flights to another 71 countries in March.[1] These… »
Trademarks with High Distinctiveness in Bad Faith Assessment
... 11th Civil Chamber of the Turkish Court of Appeals (“CoA”) has set forth in its decision dated 18.11.2019 (2019/359 E. and 2019/7279 K.) that the later dated trademark application was filed in bad faith by taking into account the high level of recognition as well as the original and distinctive nature of the prior dated trademark which has no meaning. ... CoA has emphasized in its decision dated 18.11.2019 (2019/359 E. and 2019/7279 K.) that the high distinctive character… »
Key Developments and Predictions for Trademark Law in Turkey - 2020
Trademark law has continued to evolve at a slow pace within the course of the last year, while January, 2020, marks the completion of the third year of Industry Property Code No. 6769 (“the IP Code”). The Turkish Patent and Trademark Office (“TÜRKPATENT” or “the Office”) issued guidelines in an aim to bring clarity on absolute grounds examination, and a new guideline is to be announced within the first half of 2020. The decisions of TÜRKPATENT in opposition and appeal phases… »
Loss of Right Due to Acquiescence in Infringement
The loss of right due to the acquiescence principle had not been regulated in Turkish Law prior to the implementation of the IP Code. However, the Court of Appeals has started to apply this principle based on the circumstances of each case within the scope of the good faith principle and prohibition on abuse of rights, which is regulated under Article 2 of the Turkish Civil Code (“TCC”), and these have become established case-law precedents. In the decisions of the Court of… »
Protection Scope of Weak Trademarks
According to Article 4 of the IP Code a sign should be distinctive in order to benefit from trademark protection. Distinctiveness is an essential factor in determining the scope of protection of a trademark, and the protection scope of trademarks differs according to the distinctiveness level of the component(s) that form the trademark. The trademarks composed of non-distinctive components, or components where the distinctiveness is weak, are called “weak trademarks.”… »
Accuracy Assessment on Decisions of the Office
The assessment of accuracy of the Office’s decisions has always been a controversial issue under Turkish trademark law. A recent decision issued by the 2nd IP Court of Ankara that opposed the Court of Appeal’s (“CoA”) decision, constitutes a remarkable precedent, illuminating the issue. The owner of earlier trademarks, which are also recorded as a well-known trademark by TÜRKPATENT, filed a lawsuit in opposition against a later-dated, and confusingly similar application. The… »
Registered Use Defense in Infringement Actions
As per the settled Court of Appeals (“the CoA”) precedents established during the Trademark Decree-Law era – which ended upon enactment of the new Intellectual Property Code No. 6769 (“IP Code”) on January 10, 2017, it was accepted that use, which was based on a registered trademark, cannot create infringement, regardless of whether this use creates confusion and infringement with a senior trademark registration. As a result of these precedents, use based on a registered… »
Avoiding Genericide of a Trademark
Article 42/1(d) of the former Decree Law set forth that an invalidation action could be filed against a trademark if it becomes a common name of the goods or services it was registered for as a result of the trademark proprietor’s behaviours. The same rule was preserved in the IP Code under Article 26/1(b) as grounds for revocation, instead of invalidation, and with different wording. As per Article 26/1(b), the Office may revoke the trademark upon request, if the trademark… »
The Impact of Non-Use Defence in Criminal Cases
As per the IP Code, trademark protection provided by this law is obtained through registration. However, although registration is necessary to protect the rights of trademark owners and to claim their rights against third parties, this may be insufficient. Indeed, a trademark must be genuinely used in Turkey with respect to goods and services for which it is registered. However, if the trademark is not genuinely used within five years from registration, or if its use is… »
Recent Practice on Color Marks in Turkey
One of the major changes brought by the IP Code that came into force on 10 January 2017 is on non-traditional marks and, especially, on color marks. Although it was also possible to register color marks prior to the change of legislation, in practice, the use of an internationally recognized color code within the application form was not possible, hence color codes were mentioned by a separate petition, and the applications were considered as “device trademarks” within the… »
The New Trademark Examination Guideline
TÜRKATENT published The New Trademark Examination Guideline (“the Guideline”) on September 30, 2019. The Guideline defines the criteria regarding the examination of trademark applications on absolute grounds for refusal within the scope of the IP Code that came into force in 2017. The Guideline updates the previous guideline that had been in force since 2011, clarify the principles of absolute grounds for refusal that are explained in the IP Code, and provides consistency in… »
Turkish Court Deals With Indirect Infringement Case
Indirect infringement is not explicitly dealt with in the Turkish IP Law. However, the legislator confers, via Article 86 of the Industrial Property Code (IPC), a right to the patent holder to prevent third parties from supplying essential elements of the invention to unauthorised people, which will eventually lead to the working of the patented invention. In order for this provision to be implemented, third parties must be aware that these elements or instruments are… »