TÜRKIYE Law and Practice Contributed by: Korcan Dericioğlu, Gonca Adalı Başmakcı, Ekin Karakuş Öcal and Önder Erol Ünsal, Ankara Patent
7. Initiating Trade Mark and Copyright Lawsuits 7.1 Timeframes for Filing Infringement Lawsuits Trade Marks The general statute of limitations for trade mark claims is two years from the date the rights- holder becomes aware of the infringement and the infringer, but no later than ten years from the date of the infringing act (based on the Turkish Law of Obligations). The statute of limitations does not expire if infringement continues. Copyrights The general statute of limitations for copyright claims is ten years from the date of the infringing act (per the Copyright Law). 7.2 Legal Claims for Infringement Lawsuits and Their Standards Trade Marks The following acts are considered to be trade mark infringement: • use of the trade mark without the consent of the trade mark proprietor; • counterfeiting the trade mark by using the trade mark or a confusingly similar trade mark without the consent of the trade mark propri - etor; • selling, distributing, putting on the market in a different form, importing or exporting the products carrying the infringed trade mark, possessing this product for commercial pur - pose or offering to make a contract related to this product while being aware (or where rea - sonably expected to be aware) that the trade mark is counterfeited by use of the trade mark or a confusingly similar trade mark; and
Trade marks can be licensed to third parties, regardless of whether the trade marks are reg - istered or pending following application. Copyright Licensing in Türkiye For copyrights, all contracts (including licences) must be in writing. Moral rights cannot be licensed and each eco - nomic right subject to licence should be speci - fied. The parties involved have the freedom to set the terms of the contract, provided they do not con - flict with mandatory legal provisions. The legal framework allows for flexible licensing arrangements. However, it does not explicitly mention perpetual licences or archival rights. Copyright protection in Türkiye starts with the creation and publication of the work and does not require registration with any authority. There - fore, licensing of copyrights can occur any time after the protection starts. 6.3 Registration or Recording of an Assignment or Licence Recording the trade mark assignment/licence before TÜRKPATENT is not mandatory. Howev - er, it is essential for enforceability against third parties. Copyright protection in Türkiye starts with the creation and publication of the work and does not require registration. So, there is not any regu - lation regarding the recordal of an assignment/ licence to the registry.
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