Turkish Court of Cassation’s Comparison of Goods in Different Subclasses
During 2022, the 11th Civil Chamber of the Turkish Court of Cassation (the CoC) issued several decisions regarding trade marks covering goods in class 5. The CoC formed its evaluation on the likelihood of confusion by comparing the subclasses of class 5. The details of the decisions are provided below: Aster v Paster A cancellation action was filed against the Office’s decision rejecting the opposition filed against the trade mark PASTER in class 5 relying upon the… »
Turkey's Position on Non-Fungible Tokens
Introduction On 20 September 2017, the term “NFT” (non-fungible token) was officially coined by Dapper Labs Chief Technology Officer Dete Shirley in the form of the ERC-721 standard. NFTs boomed in 2021 and have remained relevant since. Despite the drops observed in their market volume in 2023, NFTs are still in the spotlight as numerous global brands are continuing to launch NFT collections and many trademark applications with coverage including NFTs are being filed all… »
Green Or Simply Greenwashing?
Advertisers frequently integrate environmental claims into their advertisements and promotions to portray their products and services as eco-friendly or green, and to shape consumers’ perception of their positive environmental impact. This is particularly influenced by the growing environmental consciousness among consumers and advertisers. However, to prevent advertisements that may be false and misleading to consumers, exploit their environmental sensitivity, and… »
Dilution of Well-known Mark and Applicant’s Bad Faith: PTO Issues Exemplary Decision
The Trademarks Department granted broader protection to the well-known SINGER mark, refusing an application including the term ‘Singer’ in Class 1 The decision examined the conditions for dilution of a well-known mark under Article 6/5 of the IP Code The well-known status of the SINGER mark, as well as the word and graphic elements in the application, played a role in deciding on the applicant’s bad faith The Trademarks Department has decided that the application for… »
Court of Cassation Examines Impact of Bankruptcy on Collection of Employee Receivables
In practice, bankruptcy of a defendant employer during court proceedings related to employee receivables may be confusing for both the parties of a dispute and the courts handling the proceedings. The Court of Cassation recently examined a case where the defendant employer became bankrupt during court proceedings initiated for employment receivables in the decision dated 8 February 2022. (1) Definition of urgent matters According to article 194 of the Enforcement and… »
Council of State's Unification of Decisions on Appeals Filed by Intervening Parties
Until recently, the Council of State of Turkey had an unsettled practice regarding the appealability of decisions by intervening parties where the principal party does not appeal a decision. Indeed, certain chambers of the Council of State allowed intervening parties to appeal decisions regardless of the principal party's choice, whereas the other chambers restricted the intervening parties' right to appeal with the principal party's appeal. Lately, a unification of decisions… »