The Relationship Between Virtual And Physical Goods And Services

The development of NFTs, artificial intelligence, and the metaverse has seen many individuals and legal entities start to include virtual goods and services within the scope of their trademarks. Discussions have been widely held about whether virtual goods and services are similar to physical goods and services and under which class these goods and services should be included in the Nice Classification, and the following developments have taken place in this regard.

In a decision issued on March 31, 2023, which was subsequently finalized, following an opposition based on a pre-existing trademark owned by a client company based in the United States, the Trademarks Department of the Turkish Patent and Trademark Office ("the Office") determined that virtual and online goods/services were similar to physical goods/services, and rejected the trademark application pursuant to Article 6/1 of the Industrial Property Code No. 6769 ("IP Code").