Court Of Cassation Issues Long-Awaited Decision On Non-Use Revocation Actions

• A four-day legal gap was created following the annulment of Article 14 of Decree-Law No 556, which regulated the use requirement
• The Court of Cassation has recently considered this legal gap for the first time
• It is now clear that one may file a non-use revocation action without having to wait for the expiry of the five-year period following the publication of the IP Code

Background

In 2016 the Turkish Constitutional Court annulled Article 14 of Decree-Law No 556, which regulated the use requirement for trademarks. Four days after the publication of the decision, on 10 January 2017, the Industrial Property Code No 6769 (the IP Code) entered into force. Although Article 9 of the IP Code governed the use requirement for trademarks, a four-day legal gap was created regarding non-use revocation actions because the legislator did not stipulate a retrospective effective date for the IP Code or, specifically, for Article 9.