In a landmark decision (Case 2006/367- 2007/257, November 9 2007), the Istanbul Civil IP Court of First Instance ruled on the issue of time limits in trademark cancellation actions.
On May 23 2000 the defendant, a local company, registered the trademark ICE BOYS for goods in Class 25. In September 2005 Gilmar SpA filed an action for cancellation of the trademark on the grounds that it was confusingly similar to its earlier registered trademarks ICE and ICEBERG.
The defendant…
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The European Commission has published its Progress Report on Turkey’s preparations for accession to the European Union. The Progress Report covers the period from October 2006 to October 2007 and focuses on economic, political and social issues. Section 4 of the report deals with Turkey’s ability to assume the obligations of membership, as expressed in the EU Treaties, secondary legislation and EU policies. Chapter 7 of this section deals with IP law, and particularly…
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In light of a recent decision of the Court of Appeals, the Turkish Patent Institute (TPI) has changed its practice with regard to the categorization and recordal of well-known marks.
Turkey is a party to the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property and the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, both of which grant special protection to well-known marks. Turkey has also incorporated provisions on the protection of well-known marks…
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The Turkish Court of Appeals has recently upheld a decision of Istanbul’s second IP court involving the well-known trademark ROBERTO CAVALLI. In its decision of January 24 2006 (Cases 2004/650 E and 2006/7 K), the Istanbul Second IP Civil Court determined that the trademark ROBERTO CAVALLI, as well as being the name of a famous fashion designer, is a well-known trademark, and thus ordered the nullification of the trademark CAVALLI and other marks incorporating the word…
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In what may turn out to be a landmark decision, the Re-examination and Evaluation Board of the Turkish Patent Institute (TPI) has overturned a first instance decision and has allowed the registration of a three-dimensional device mark in the shape of an open book (Case 2006/05170, May 23 2007). Previously, the TPI has been very reluctant to allow the registration of three-dimensional marks.
Société des Produits Nestlé SA (Nestlé) applied for the registration of the mark for…
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The Court of Appeals has been rejecting defendants' claims that their goods were merely in transit or that national laws do not apply to products seized in the free trade zone. Instead, the court now treats transit counterfeiters like any other counterfeiters.
The court first ruled against transit counterfeiters in 2004. In the most recent decision on this issue (Case 2005/5247 E, 2006/5336 K, May 8 2006), the court has supported its hardline approach by holding that since…
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