By: Att. Yesim Tokgoz
Trademarks are symbols that indicate capability to distinguish goods and services of one undertaking from the goods and services of other undertakings. Trademarks also allocate goods or services to an enterprise, and remove the risk of confusion with other goods. Some trademarks increase their economical value with their popularity created for various reasons, such as their marketing politics, product range etc. Turkish legislation and international regulations cover various precautions against unfair advantages sought by third persons who wish to benefit from the reputation of the trademarks. In this article, the notion of well-known trademarks, their protection methods and monopoly rights of globally well-known trademarks without registration under Decree-Law on the Protection of Trademarks numbered 556 (“Decree-Law”) will be emphasized.
The Notion of Well-known Trademarks
Popularity appears differently within the scope of each case. Therefore, the notion of well-known trademarks is not specifically defined under Turkish trademarks legislation as it is not identified through the international organizations. This mission is granted to jurisdiction and doctrine. The World Intellectual Property Organization (“WIPO”) prepared an advisory jurisdiction numbered A/34/13 to clarify this notion, and determined various qualifications with respect to the methods to identify a well-known trademark. These qualifications are adopted by the Turkish Court of Cassation, as well. Within this scope, the Court of Cassation, in its judgments, defined a well-known trademark as “the symbol that appears automatically in the minds of people who are from same environment, and which closely depends on a person or an enterprise, that is irrelevant in relation to geographical areas, culture or age, and which includes quality, assurance, and promotion value among everybody without making distinction.”[2]. In accordance with all of these identifications, to determine the reputation of a trademark, the geographical area, the duration, and the capacity of usage,the degree of knowledge or recognition of the trademark in the relevant public sector, the target area of the trademark’s promotions, the duration and capacity of promotions, the third-party recognition or awards of the formal authorities proving the popularity of the trademark that expires through time, and the economic value of the trademarks are essential. As stated, above, each case must be examined separately.
