Turkey: Turkish Electricity Market: Steps Towards Liberalization
INTRODUCTION Since 2001, Turkey has been in the process of liberalizing its electricity market. The ultimate purpose of this process is to create a fully liberalized system where the state acts only as a supervisory and regulatory authority instead of an investor in the market. Having a state monopoly in the electricity market for a long period of time, Turkey has made and still has to make considerable effort to achieve this ultimate purpose. In this respect, the state has… »
Turkey: Protection of “Well Known” Trademarks Which are not Registered in Turkey Within the Context Of Article 7/1(1) of the Decree Law No. 556
The widely accepted principle in respect to the legal status of Trademark Rights is the “territoriality principle” as is also the case for other intellectual Property Rights. The territoriality principle is also in effect under Turkish Trademark Law and it is regulated under the Decree Law Pertaining to the Protection of Trademarks numbered 556 (“Decree Law No. 556″). Accordingly, with Article 6 of the Decree Law No. 556 which states that “Protection for a trademark under… »
Amendments to Trademark Decree Law Enter Into Force
Law 5833, which amends Decree Law 556 on the Protection of Trademarks, entered into force on January 28 2009 upon its publication in the Official Gazette. The new law amends Articles 9 and 61 of the Decree Law. The new law aims to fill the gaps created by the January 5 2008 decision of the Constitutional Court, which annulled certain provisions of the Decree Law and came into force on January 5 2009. Trademark owners have claimed that the delay in enacting the amendments have… »
Major Changes to IP Rights Protection at Borders Introduced
Law 5911, which amended the Customs Law 4458, entered into force on October 7 2009. On the same day, the Customs Regulation was published in the Official Gazette. These pieces of legislation introduce major changes to the protection of IP rights at the borders. Law 5911 allows rights holders to file a single (online) application for the protection of their IP rights by all Turkish customs administrations. Previously, rights holders had to file an application with each customs… »
Türk Ticaret Kanunu Tasarısı’nın Genel Kurul Kararlarının Hükümsüzlüğü Yönünden Getirdiği Yenilikler
The Dilemma Of Co-Existence Of Trademarks Under Turkish Law
Trademarks are defined as signs distinguishing the goods and services of one undertaking from the goods and services of the same kind or another undertaking. In this sense, “distinguishing certain goods and services of an undertaking from other goods and services of the same undertaking or other similar goods and services provided by other undertakings” is considered as the main function of trademark. On the other hand, in the usual flow of the business life, since the signs… »