Cosar & Akkaya Law Firm has a well-known practice in the area of Turkish Intellectual Property Law (Turkish IP Law) and is providing advice to a wide range of clients from different sectors in securing their intellectual property rights in Turkey and abroad. We provide expert advice in the field of Turkish IP law particularly regarding the enforcement of our client’s intellectual property rights at the national and international levels through several litigation processes, negotiations, and mediations.
At Cosar & Akkaya, we involve in many complex IP disputes and represent our clients before the Turkish Courts to secure their IP rights in Turkey.
Our Services related to Turkish Intellectual Property Law
Our Turkish Intellectual Property Law Department is knowledgeable to protect and enforce intellectual property rights; patents, trademarks, design patents, copyrights, and advice IP law issues including; IP counseling, patent transactions, licensing, assignment, franchising, patent due diligence, patent infringement analysis, IP litigation including infringement, dilution cases, and counterfeiting in Turkey. Our services include but not limited to;
- Advising in relation to Turkish Intellectual Property Law
- Trademark and patent registration in Turkey and Europe through its network
- Trademark registration in WIPO or CMT through its network
- Advising in respect to proper use and protection of IP rights/copyrights, patents, trademarks, trade secrets, etc.;
- Acquisition and restructuring of IP rights in the context of M&A transactions;
- IP related litigation (patent infringement procedures in courts; enforcement of IP rights);
- Preparation of various IP related agreements (IP license agreement, distribution agreement, confidentiality agreement, transfer agreement, software development agreement, etc.)
Overview of Turkish Intellectual Property Law
In general, the subject of intellectual property rights is the ideas or works of art which have a commercial value. Intellectual property rights arising from ideas and artistic works have financial and sometimes even more spiritual aspects related to the personal rights of the owner. The subject of Intellectual rights in Turkey includes patents, brands, industrial designs, and utility models, geographical signs, trade names, and marks of origin and origin, as well as ideas and works of art. The rights on other than intellectual and artistic works are called industrial rights.
Legislation on Turkish Intellectual Property Law
The main pieces of legislations in Turkish Intellectual Property Law is Industrial Property Law No. 6769 and Law on Intellectual and Artistic Works No. 5846 alongside several international agreements as per below. Patents, utility models, trademarks, industrial designs and geographical indications are mainly protected by the Industrial Property Law. Copyrights are protected under the Law on Intellectual and Artistic Works.
It is possible to claim that Intellectual Property rights in Turkey are generally aligned with European implementations.
Turkey is a party to including but not limited to the below treaties and conventions;
- Paris Convention;
- Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT);
- European Patent Convention;
- Berne Convention;
- Madrid Protocol;
- Hague Agreement;
- Rome Convention
Registered or Unregistered Rights
According to Turkish Intellectual Property Law, it is possible to divide intellectual property rights into two categories in general. Intellectual property rights can be unregistered or registered under Turkish Law. Unregistered rights arise automatically without applying for any procedures upon the creation. On the other hand, for the registered rights, the holder of the right should apply before the relevant authority to benefit from the protection that Turkish Law provides. Registered intellectual property rights can be protected by special laws, however, protection is also possible by general provisions such as unfair competition.
MAIN INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS IN TURKEY
- Trademarks
Trademark can be described as a sign that distinguishes products or services from those of your competitors. Trademarks may include but not limited to; names, designs, logos, letters, and numerals. The application for the trademark registration should be made to the Turkish Patent and Trademark Office. Applicants must choose a class for the trademark according to the classification of goods and services and multi-class applications are also possible. The registration of a trademark according to Turkish Intellectual Property Law is valid for 10 years from the date of application and a trademark can be renewed indefinitely for additional ten-year periods
- Patents and Utility Models
Patent and Utility models can be described as a new product that offers a new technical solution to a problem. Applications for patents or utility models allows the owner to prevent others from using the invention without their permission for a certain period of time.
Patents can be taken if the novelty of their design, that it involves an inventive step and that it is capable of industrial application. Patent applications can be made for certain categories in Turkey. The main categories are scientific theories, mathematical methods, and artistic works.
To obtain a patent from the Turkish Patent and Trademark Office, an application should be made with the appropriate fees and documents. Once the patent granted, it lasts for 20 years.
Utility model is another alternative way to protect a new invention. However, a utility model does not need to involve an inventive step which we stated as a must for patents. Therefore, it is possible to say that applications for utility model registration easier and faster to obtain than patents. Another difference between patent and utility model is that a utility model registration will protect an invention for 10 years, whereas a patent lasts for 20 years.
- Copyrights
Copyrights are unregistered intellectual property rights. Therefore, this is a type of automatic protection for any intellectual or artistic work bearing the characteristic of its author/creator. The main categories are science and literature, music, fine art, or cinema.
- Industrial Design
The appearance of the whole or a part of a product for example product’s lines, colour, texture, shape and decoration can be registered as a design.
- Geographic indications
It is also possible to apply for protection in Turkey for the signs indicating the geographic origin of a product. This means that products with a reputation for quality or characteristic linked to a region or country can obtain protection.
International Trademark Registration
As explained above, application for trademark registration should be made to Turkish Patent and Trademark Office, however, as known, this registration only provides protection in Turkey.
If the owner wants to protect the trademark throughout other countries and not only in Turkey, a registration should be made in the countries where protection is needed. Please note that it is possible to make separate applications to the offices of each countrt where registration is needed and obtain the protection there. However, there are some worldwide registration systems including Community Trademark System and (CMT) and Madrid System (WIPO) which enables the owner to obtain protection in several countries with a single application.
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