TÜRKIYE Law and Practice Contributed by: Korcan Dericioğlu, Gonca Adalı Başmakcı, Ekin Karakuş Öcal and Önder Erol Ünsal, Ankara Patent
6. Assignments and Licensing 6.1 Assignment Requirements and Restrictions In Türkiye, for trade mark assignments, a writ - ten and notarised agreement is required. Partial assignments are allowed for specific goods or services. Although registration of the assignment with TURKPATENT is not mandatory, it is essen - tial for enforceability against third parties. Trade mark rights can be inherited upon the death of the owner. Copyright assignments also necessitate a writ - ten and notarised agreement, under similar conditions. Assignments should specify each transferred economic rights. Copyrights are protected for 70 years after the author’s death and are inheritable by heirs until the expiration. Moral rights (including rights of attribution and integrity) are inalienable and cannot be assigned or waived, remaining with the author even after death. 6.2 Licensing Requirements or Restrictions Trade Mark Licensing in Türkiye In Türkiye, trade mark licences can be either exclusive or non-exclusive. Typically, they are considered non-exclusive unless the agreement explicitly states otherwise. Trade mark licences can be partial, covering only specific goods or services. Although a written agreement is beneficial for evidence purposes, Turkish law does not man - date notarisation and composition in writing for the validity of trade mark licence agreements.
5.6 Amendment in Revocation/ Cancellation Proceedings
Limited amendments might be considered in exceptional cases where there is a justifiable reason for introducing new evidence or claims that were not available or known at the start of the proceedings. 5.7 Combining Revocation/Cancellation and Infringement Actions involving cancellation and infringement of trade marks are typically heard separately. They are handled as distinct legal proceedings and decisions in these cases are usually not consolidated into a single proceeding. However, according to the IP Law, the trade mark right owner must not put forward their right as a defence in an infringement proceeding that has been instituted by right owners who have an earlier priority or application date than the trade mark owner’s own right. Within the scope of this provision, cancellation and infringement actions can be initiated against the same trade mark at the same time as separate legal actions. 5.8 Measures to Address Fraud Trade mark registrations obtained through fraudulent or bad faith filings can be cancelled through legal actions. If it is proven that the trade mark was registered in bad faith or through fraudulent means, it can be subject to cancella - tion without any temporal limitation. Addition - ally, the applicant might face legal penalties or compensations for fraudulent activities through legal actions.
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