Ankara Trademark Lawyer: Registration, Opposition and Infringement

What is intellectual-property law?

Intellectual property covers industrial property (trademarks, patents and designs) and copyright. In Turkey, the proceedings of the Turkish Patent and Trademark Office (TÜRKPATENT) and the Law on Intellectual and Artistic Works are among the basic foundations.

For ventures operating in Çankaya, Ankara, an early registration and watching the register can reduce the cost of a dispute that arises later.

Which industrial or copyright dispute sits here?

• A trademark application, opposition to publication and invalidity
• Trademark infringement and allegations of counterfeit goods
• Protection of a patent, a utility model and a design
• Disputes about copyright, ownership of the work and licences
• The overlap of a domain name, a trade name and unfair competition

The applicant, the person suspected of infringement, and the licensee

• Businesses that want to register their trademark
• Right holders who meet counterfeit goods or a similar trademark
• Producers of software, design or content
• Parties negotiating a licence or a franchise contract
• Companies planning international trademark protection

Is trademark registration mandatory?

Use can give rise to a right in some situations. Registration, however, strengthens the protection, makes proof easier and gives priority on the register. A search for similar trademarks should be made before the application.

1. 1.A trademark search and an assessment of distinctiveness
2. 2.The choice of class (Nice Classification) and the application
3. 3.Publication and the opposition period
4. 4.The registration certificate and watching the renewal
5. 5.Watching the market, and a legal application, if there is infringement

What can be done about trademark infringement?

A formal notice, a preliminary injunction, an order to stop the infringement, pecuniary and non-pecuniary damages and, where needed, a criminal complaint can be considered. Preservation of evidence, and samples of the goods, matter.

Registration does not stop a counterfeit of its own accord. Prior use, an unregistered design and the limit of a licence are separate allegations. Each is read from its own document.

• Gathering proof of sales in the market and online
• Preparing the registration certificate and samples of use
• Demanding, by a formal notice, that the infringement stop
• Building the strategy for an injunction and for the action on the merits

Why are copyright and a trademark not the same proceeding?

A trademark distinguishes commercial origin. Copyright protects the work. Mixing the two rights weakens both the TÜRKPATENT route and the route under the Law on Intellectual and Artistic Works. A domain-name dispute is a third layer.

Copyright can arise when the work is created. Registration is, as a rule, not required. For proof, the record and the scope of the licence should be written clearly.

The publication period, the class and preservation of evidence

• An incomplete choice of class
• A late opposition to a similar trademark
• Not watching the risk of revocation for non-use
• Not preserving the evidence of infringement in time
• Leaving the scope of the licence unclear

Are registration and a counterfeit in the market the same proceeding?

An application to the register, and a counterfeit in the market, are separate doors. The class list, the text of the publication and the proof of use separate those doors. Registration does not end every infringement of its own accord.

The logo, the choice of class and the search for similarity are enough at a first look. Copyright arises with the work. Unfair competition is not an automatic annex to a trademark action.

Which step does the retainer carry in an industrial-property file?

The work is the application, the opposition to publication, the formal notice and the request for a preliminary injunction. The engagement agreement does not promise a decision to register. Revocation for non-use is not a copy of the registration certificate. A measured frame leaves uncertain confusion visible.

The scope of a licence stays unclear if exclusivity and the fee are not written. A domain-name dispute can overlap with the trademark. A patent and a utility model are separated according to the examination regime.

What is not promised for a trademark and for copyright?

This page separates the register from ownership of the work. There is no promise of registration and no guarantee of damages for infringement.

The class, the use and the facts of confusion are looked at on the particular case. If the publication period is missed, the opposition may not be discussed.