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ARTICLE · 10 APRIL 2012

Avoiding The Traps: Domain Names In Turkey

Moroglu Arseven
Moroglu Arseven
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Though traditional trademark disputes continue to cause problems, the increasing importance of the internet has brought domain name disputes to new prominence.

TurkeyIntellectual Property
Işık Özdoğan, LL.M.
Işık Özdoğan, LL.M.
Ezgi Baklacı Gülkokar, LL.M.
Ezgi Baklacı Gülkokar, LL.M.
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Though traditional trademark disputes continue to cause problems, the increasing importance of the internet has brought domain name disputes to new prominence. Assigning generic top level domain names (gTLDs) such as .com, .edu and .gen on a 'first come, first served' basis has caused domain name disputes between many registrants. The assignment of country code top level domain names (ccTLDs) such as .com.tr, edu.tr, info.tr and web.tr on a document-required basis in Turkey still does not prevent disputes. So, domain name oppositions and cancellation actions have become a hot topic in the trademark world.

Although ccTLDs have been assigned by Nic.tr under the aegis of Middle East Technical University (METU) since 1991, there is still no legal arrangement for registration, assignment, cancellation, or dispute resolution proceedings for domain names in Turkey. Moreover, the draft domain name regulation has yet to be accepted. For this reason, though the Ministry of

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