The first regulation of trade Marks in Turkish law, the Alamet-i Farika Regulations, was made during the Ottoman Empire in 1871. Although it was followed by many other regulations and several amendments before and after the republic, the biggest step forward was taken after the foundation of the Turkish Patent Institute (TPI) with the enactment of the present law in 1995.

The latest improvement is the amendments to the Implementing Regulations of the national Trade Mark Law in accordance with the Trade Mark Law Treaty, which entered into force on January 1 2005. The TPI has published a new draft of the Trade Mark Law on its website and it is expected to come into effect in near future.

Compared to the current trade mark legislation and practice in Turkey, the new law introduces a number of important changes.

According to the newly added criteria to the absolute grounds, a sign that contains a geographical indication and/or designation of origin registered earlier or with an earlier date of application will not be registered as a trade mark.

Under the revised law, trade mark use on the internet can be claimed as proof of use to avoid cancellation on non-use grounds.

The revised law states that if, within a period of five years following the publication of the registration of the trade mark in the Official Gazette, a trade mark has not been put to use without a justifiable reason or if the use has been suspended during an uninterrupted period of five years, the trade mark will be repealed. But in the current Trade Mark Act, the five-year time period starts from the date of the registration of the trade mark.

Another amendment allows an application for registration of a trade mark to be divided into two or more separate applications before the registration. Thanks to this amendment the applications will proceed without delay for the class(es) to which no objection is raised by an examiner or where no opposition is received at the publication stage.

Natural or legal persons who are nationals of any state party not only to the Paris Convention but also to the World Trade Organization will enjoy a right of priority of six months from the date of filing a valid application for registration of a trade mark.

If deficiencies are established, the Institute will request the applicant to remedy these deficiencies within the period specified in the Implementing Regulation. But the Institute will not refuse an application unlike under the current Act. The applications will proceed with the change in the filing dates instead.

There are many arguments regarding the efficiency of the amendments to the Trade Mark Act since they were introduced in 2005. However, it is expected to be implemented early this year.

by Yasemin Hatipoglu, Destek Patent (Managing Intellectual Property)