1. What is the current legal landscape for your practice area in your jurisdiction?

Turkey remains an active jurisdiction for trademark enforcement and prosecution. The Turkish Patent and Trademark Office continues to align its practice with established EU trademark principles, while non-use defence mechanisms have become increasingly important in opposition proceedings.

The rapid growth of e-commerce has shifted a significant portion of counterfeiting and infringement activities to digital platforms. In our view, combating online counterfeiting and digital IP infringements will be one of the key enforcement challenges in the years ahead.

2. What three essential pieces of advice would you give to clients involved in your practice area matters?

We recommend clients working with specialist law firms with a strong legal focus, rather than local agencies primarily focused on marketing.

3. What are the greatest threats and opportunities in your practice area law in the next 12 months?

The increasing volume of AI-generated brands and content may create new enforcement and clearance challenges. At the same time, digital monitoring tools and data-driven enforcement strategies offer significant opportunities for more efficient trademark protection.

The continued growth of e-commerce will also keep trademark enforcement a priority for IP owners.

4. How do you ensure high client satisfaction levels are maintained by your practice?

Our high success rate drives client satisfaction.

5. What technological advancements are reshaping your practice area law and how can clients benefit from them?

From an operational perspective, AI seems likely to make work easier, although there is a significant risk of errors.

We believe individuals will become more institutionalized.

For this reason, we expect the most significant developments in the medium term to revolve around copyright and ownership of creative works.

As digital platforms continue to expand, individuals will produce more creative works and, over time, become increasingly active in protecting and enforcing their copyrights, much like major film studios do today.

Advances in modern tracking systems will also make copyright infringements easier to detect.

6. Can you describe a particularly interesting or complex matter you have advised on recently, and explain the challenges involved, your approach, and the outcome achieved for the client?

One of the most interesting copyright matters we handled recently concerned a musical adaptation of one of Victor Hugo’s best-known works.

Based on our client’s initial assessment and our own review, the choreography, costumes and libretto appeared to be almost entirely copied.

Proving the infringement, however, was far from straightforward. The musical ran for 3,5 hours and, documenting the production in its entirety (while identifying and isolating the allegedly copied elements) required a substantial amount of time and effort.

We therefore began by obtaining a full recording of the performance. One of our colleagues attended the musical in person and supervised the recording process.

When we later reviewed the footage, however, it appeared that the recording had not been captured in a manner suitable for evidential purposes, as the camera had not been properly stabilized.

As a result, we recorded the same musical again later that week. Our colleague once again attended the performance and supervised the recording process.

Even that was not enough. Because the production was being staged at different venues and on different dates, we needed additional recordings to demonstrate that the performances were materially identical. We therefore persuaded the same colleague (who was rapidly becoming our firm’s leading expert on this particular musical) to attend a third performance.

We subsequently filed our copyright infringement action.

During the second hearing, the Court ordered that the musical be reviewed again, this time under the supervision of a court-appointed expert.

Having already seen the production three times, our colleague (Attorney Mr. Buğra Süküt, who is in fact also a devoted football supporter), required considerably more persuasion before agreeing to attend the musical for a fourth time, particularly given its 3,5 hour running time.

In short, we ended up recording the allegedly infringing production live on 4 separate occasions.

The real work began afterwards. Preparing transcripts, reviewing the recordings frame by frame, identifying similarities, and carrying out comparative analyses of the librettos took days.

The visual aspects of the production were only part of the issue; the content itself also raised substantial copyright concerns.

Following a meticulous review and the submission of nearly 300 pages of evidence, the Court ultimately concluded that the musical constituted copyright infringement.

By the time the litigation proceedings concluded the client was pleased with the outcome.

Our football-loving colleague, who had spent days and hours immersed in the musical and reviewing the recordings, was (I am quite certain!) even happier than the rest of us.