- THE IMPLEMENTING REGULATIONS UNDER THE DECREE-LAW NO 556 PERTAINING TO THE PROTECTION OF TRADEMARKS
THE IMPLEMENTING REGULATIONS
UNDER THE DECREE-LAW NO 556 PERTAINING
TO THE PROTECTION OF TRADEMARKS
been amended on October 2, 2002.)
PART ONE
General Provisions
Object
Article 1 - The object of these Regulations is to specify the procedures and the rules to be followed concerning the time and place of filing and the preparation of the application documents for registering a trademark, and other matters related with trademarks as provisioned in The Decree-Law No 556 Pertaining to the Protection of Trademarks.
Scope
Article 2 - These Regulations encompass the principles, the rules and the conditions for the protection of trademarks by registering such marks for appropriate goods and services.
Legal Foundation
Article 3 - These Regulations have been prepared based on The Decree-Law No 556 Pertaining to the Protection of Trademarks, the Paris Convention, the TRIPS Agreement, the Nice Agreement and the Vienna Agreement.
Definitions
Article 4 - For the purposes of these Regulations;
a) ''Institute'' means the Turkish Patent Institute,
b) ''The Decree-Law'' means The Decree-Law No 556 Pertaining to Protection of Trademarks dated 24.6.1995, as revised with the Law no 4128 dated 3/11/1995.
c) ''Trademark'' means trademarks or service marks including guarantee marks and collective marks.
d) ''Official Trademark Gazette'' means the Gazette in which the registered trademarks are published.
f) '' Class'' means the international classification of goods and services for the purposes of the registration of marks.
g) ''Figure'' means two dimensional signs or three dimensional signs that can be used as the packaging of the goods but that do not reveal the good which has the attributes of the mark and comply with the other provisions of the Decree-Law.
h) ''Circular'' means the Circular on the Schedule of Fees to be administered by the Turkish Patent Institute in accordance with Articles 6/f and 25 of the Decree-Law no 544.
i) “Paris Agreement” means the amendments of the Agreement for the constitution of a union for the Protection of Industrial Property of March 20, 1883.
j) “TRIPS Agreement” means the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights which is the annex of the Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization as ratified by Law no 4067 dated 26.01.1995.
k) “Nice Agreement” means the Nice Agreement and its Revisions Concerning the International Classification of Goods and Services for the Purposes of the Registration of Marks as ratified by the Council Of Ministers decision no 95/7094 dated 12.7.1995 and published in the Official Gazette No 22373 on 13.08.1995.
l) “Vienna Agreement” means the Vienna Agreement Establishing an International Classification of the Figurative Elements of Marks as ratified by the Council of Ministers decision no 95/7094 dated 12.7.1995 and published in the Official Gazette No 22373 dated 13.08.1995.
Place and Time of Application
Article 5 - The natural or legal persons desiring to register a trademark shall file an application at the Institute or at an office authorized by the Institute.
The filing date and the time of the application is the date, hour and minute as accorded by the Institute or by the office authorized by the Institute.
An application filed by post shall have effect as of the date of receipt by the Institute or at the office as authorized within the terms of the second paragraph above.
A separate application must be filed for registering each trademark.
The same trademark shall be registered only once for the same goods or services.
PART TWO
The Characteristics of Marks and Persons Entitled to Protection
SECTION ONE
Characteristics of Marks
Characteristics of Collective Marks
Article 6 - Collective mark serves the purpose of distinguishing the goods and services of the undertakings belonging to a group from the goods and services of the other undertakings.
Characteristics of Guarantee Marks
Article 7 - A guarantee mark, under the control of the proprietor of the mark, serves the purpose of guaranteeing the common characteristics of the undertakings, production methods, geographical origin and the quality of those undertakings.
Characteristics of Trademarks
Article 8 - A trademark is a sign that serves the purpose of distinguishing the goods produced and/or traded by an undertaking from the goods of other undertakings.
Characteristics of Service Marks
Article 9 - A service mark is a sign that serves the purpose of distinguishing the services of one undertaking from the services of other undertakings.
SECTION TWO
Protection
Persons Entitled to Protection
Article 10 - The protection as conferred by the Article 3 of The Decree-Law No 556 Pertaining to the Protection of Trademarks shall be available to:
a) natural and legal persons who are domiciled or who have industrial or commercial establishments within the territory of the Turkish Republic, or to the persons who have application rights resulting from the terms of the Paris or Bern Conventions or the Agreement Establishing World Trade Organization.
b) natural or legal persons other than those referred in paragraph (a) above, who are nationals of states which accord legal or de facto protection to the nationals of the Turkish Republic shall enjoy according to the reciprocity principle trademark protection in Turkey. The principle of reciprocity shall be accepted to exist where countries have registered the marks of Turkish nationals or have declared by writing that registrations shall be available.
PART THREE
SECTION ONE
The Application Petition and the Annexes
The Applicants, Filing Conditions and Filing Form and the Application Petition
Article 11 – The following persons may file an application for registration:
a) Real or legal persons (Legal persons shall be represented by a person or persons appointed by their authorized bodies)
b) Trademark Agents.
With respect to trademark registration applications or requests related with procedural matters after registration made by persons unauthorized to act before the Institute, the applicant shall be allowed two months to appoint a trademark agent. The request of the applicant who has not appointed an agent within the prescribed period shall be rejected. The applications of those whose domicile is in Turkey shall be prosecuted in the name of the applicant.
Trademark application petition, conforming to the sample form attached to these Regulations (Annex-1), shall be prepared on paper using a typewriter or a computer printer and all parts shall be filled out without deficiency.
The trademark application petition shall contain the applicant’s name and surname, title, address, telephone number, fax number, if an agent is appointed the name, surname or title, registration number, address, telephone number and fax number of the agent, the type of the mark, meaning and pronunciation, list of goods and/or services, their class numbers and sub-classes, priority information, signature and the name and surname of the signer.
The list of the goods and services to be used with respect of the trademark to be registered shall be indicated in the petition without using generalized designations and in conformity with the international classification. Where general terms have been used, the Institute shall request clarification of the general terminology. The examination shall start only after such clarification has been received.
Documents to be Annexed to the Petition:
Article 12 - The following documents must be annexed to the application petition:
a) 20 copies of the representation of the trademark in minimum 5X5cm and maximum 7X7 cm size suitable for publication and printable reproduction.
b) the original receipt for the payment of the application, search, examination and evaluation fee,
c) the original receipt for the payment of the class or classes fees,
d) properly drafted power of attorney if an agent is appointed.
e) a notarized signature circular where the applicant is a legal entity,