The European Patent Convention (EPC) is part of Turkish domestic law and is enforced in Turkey under Article 90 of the Constitution. As an international agreement, it cannot be declared unconstitutional. The EPC can be applied directly in Turkey and is legally binding. Under it, Turkey recognises the competence and decisions of institutions established under the EPC. Member states cannot declare their preference for decisions of European Patent Office (EPO) bodies (eg, the…
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The applicant filed a trademark application for the sign depicted below, seeking registration in Class 3 of the Nice Classification:
The opponent is the owner of prior trademark registrations with WIPO for the exact same sign and has been using that sign for the same goods for years. It opposed the application pursuant to:
Article 8/3 of the Decree Law No 556 on the Protection of Trademarks (genuine rights of the opponent);
Article 8/4 (well-known status of the cited…
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Turkey is a country almost barren of oil and natural gas resources. Its production is minimal when compared to its hydrocarbon rich neighbours such as Azerbaijan, Russia, Iraq and Iran. Although recent exploration activities suggest a potential in terms of oil and natural gas, Turkey is not expected to be an important oil or natural gas producer in the short or even mid-term.
Although Turkey does not have the natural resources of its neighbours, it still has a specific…
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The Assembly of Civil Chambers of the Court of Appeals recently ruled that trademarks containing identical descriptive phrases give rise to a likelihood of confusion, thereby reversing the first-instance court’s decision that there is no likelihood of confusion between such trademarks. The assembly’s approach grants exclusive rights over descriptive and generic phrases found in trademarks which could legitimise unfair competition between rights holders and render notions such…
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The Supreme Court recently issued its first decision on the patentability of second medical use claims in Turkey, marking a milestone for patent holders.
In 2014 the Istanbul IP Court held that the second medical use claims granted by the European Patent Office (EPO) under the European Patent Convention (EPC) 1973 (ie, before the EPC 2000 entered into force) were null and void, as the legal grounds to support such claims were introduced to the EPC only in new Article 54(4) of…
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