Entry into force of new Regulation on the Implementation of the Industrial Property Code
Industrial Property Code The Industrial Property Code 6769, which abolishes previous IP-related decree-laws and unites all IP rights, including trademarks, patents, industrial designs, utility models, geographical indications and traditional product names, was published in the Official Gazette and entered into force on January 10 2017 (see “New IP Code enters into force: 2017 will be the year of IP rights”). According to provisional Article 2 of the Industrial Property Code… »
Trade Mark Prosecution and Opposition Under The New IP Code
The New Turkish Industrial Property Code entered into force on January 10 2017. The IP Code replaces the Decree-laws pertaining to the protection of trade marks, patents, geographical indications and designs by unifying them into a single code. Among other reforms, the trade mark chapter includes changes relating to prosecution and opposition procedures for trade marks. These are now in greater compliance with the relevant European Union directives. First, the graphical… »
Court Decides on Issuance of Certificate of Inheritance for Foreign-owned Real Estate
Introduction If a foreign national who owns real estate in Turkey dies, his or her successors must have recourse to the Turkish courts and obtain a certificate of inheritance in order to complete the transfer of the real estate under their names before the land registry or be able to legally dispose of the property in any manner. Pursuant to Article 598 of the Civil Code 4721, the right and duty to issue certificates of inheritance was granted solely to the civil peace… »
Long Awaited IP Code of Turkey
In the 1990s,Turkey swiftly prepared and published decree-laws related to IP rights in order to fulfill its obligation of adopting national legislation related to IP rights with EU regulations so to become a member of the Customs Union. Decree-Laws which have the power of law were preferred since the procedure for passing them is less cumbersome and faster.They should have been converted into laws following the membership of Turkey to the Customs Union; however they… »
Turkish Court of Cassation refuses to extend scope of protection of Lacoste’s well-known trade marks
Lacoste v. O ̈zlider Plastik Ve Metal Sanayi Ticaret Anonim Sirketi and Turkish Patent and Trademark Office, General Assembly of the Turkish Court of Cassation, E. 2015/11- 3127 K. 2016/114, 29 January 2016 The Turkish Court of Cassation, reversing its previous decisions on the matter, has rejected the action brought by Lacoste against registration of a ‘Crocodile’ trade mark for goods in classes 11, 20 and 21 of the Nice Agreement. The court has provided detailed criteria… »
“The IP Code” in Turkey
Update: “The IP Code” in Turkey Turkey abolished the current IP related decree-laws, and the Industrial Property Code No. 6769 (“the IP Code”) entered into force on January 10, 2017. Ugur Aktekin and Güldeniz Dogan Alkan, Gün + Partners, Istanbul, review the Turkish law update. In the middle of 1990s, Turkey had to adapt its national regulations related to IP rights with EU legislations in order to become a member of the Customs Union; Turkey rapidly enacted IP related… »
Is Withdrawal of Appeal Different from Waiver of Action?
The withdrawal of an action allows the withdrawing party to re-file the same action. However, if a party waives an action, it also waives all of its rights to file the same action. The action in the case at hand was filed for a declaration of non-infringement of a patent. The Istanbul 3rd Civil Court of Intellectual and Industrial Property (the 3rd IP Court) granted a decision in favour of the plaintiff, and held that the plaintiff’s formulation did not infringe the… »
A Legal Review on the Modernisation of Customs Union between Turkey and the EU Different Driving Forces, One Goal
A Legal Review on the Modernisation of Customs Union between Turkey and the EU Different Driving Forces, One Goal Overview: The customs union (“the CU”), adopted by the Decision 1/95 of The EC-Turkey Association Council of 22 December 1995 is the main legal source covering the bilateral trade between Turkey and the EU. It is one of the first examples of a trade agreement made by the EU with a non-member state. As expressed by both EU and Turkey representatives, CU is not an… »
Litigation & Dispute Resolution 2017, Turkey Chapter
I. LITIGATION 1 Preliminaries 1.1 What type of legal system has your jurisdiction got? Are there any rules that govern civil procedure in your jurisdiction? Turkey’s legal system is based on civil law. Civil procedure is governed by the Code of Civil Procedure (“the CCP”) dated October 1, 2011 and numbered 6100. Principal Law governing international arbitration is the International Arbitration Code (“IAC”) numbered 4686. Code of International Private Law and Civil Procedure… »
Turkish Court of Appeal Revisits The Assessment of Likelihood of Confusion in case of Weak Trademarks … Changing Its Approach
Legal context The Industrial Property Law No 6769 (this regulates all IP rights in a single code) came into force on 10 January 2017, and the legislation on trade marks in force at the time of the BUDA BENIM decision was Decree Law No 556 on the Protection of Trade Marks (the Decree Law), as amended in 2004, and its implementing provisions. Article 8 of the Decree Law governed relative grounds for refusal of trade mark registration. According to Article 8/1(b) of the Decree… »
Ankara District Court: Cancellation of Several Board Decisions May be Requested in Single Action
In a recent action before the Ankara Second IP Court (Merits No 2015/414 E, 2016/283 K), the applicant had requested the cancellation of four decisions rendered by the Turkish Patent and Trademark Office’s Re- Examination and Evaluation Board rejecting the registration of four trademark applications for the figurative marks PRIVAT KAFFEE, depicted below: The applications had been opposed by a third party based on their confusing similarity with the word mark PRIVAT and the… »
Article 138/3 of EPC Applies During Pending Proceedings
As Turkey is a member of EPC, any provision of the EPC has the power of national law and can be directly applicable for European patents validated in Turkey. However as is well known, the EPC does not have many provisions binding the national courts. One of them is Article 138/3 which gives the European patent owner the right to limit the patent in the event of an invalidation action and orders the national court to take the limited version of the patent as the basis of… »