- The Turkish courts have ruled in favour of the owner of
a mark consisting of a very common expression
- The courts found that, even though 'İyi
Yaşam' is a common expression, the plaintiff's
intensive use strengthened the distinctiveness of the
mark
- Arguably, such outcome is not in line with previous
Court of Cassation decisions
In a recent decision, the Court of Cassation has favoured the
registrant of a weaklydistinctive sign in the similarity
examination by ignoring the principle of the overallimpression
created by the marks.
Background
The plaintiff was the owner of the mark İYİ YAŞAM
(meaning 'good/well life' in English),registered in Classes
3, 5, 9, 10, 14, 16, 21, 24, 25, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 35, 36, 37,
38, 41,43 and 44 since 2006. The plaintiff opposed the
defendant's application for the markdepicted below
('İyi Yaşam Festivali' meaning
'Good/Well Life Fest') in Classes 35 and 41before the
Turkish Patent and Trademark Office (PTO):