EBAY Recorded As A Well-Known Trademark In Turkey

• The Re-examination and Evaluation Board of TURKPATENT has acknowledged that EBAY should be recorded as a well-known trademark in Turkey
• The board took into account the status of the mark around the world and in Turkey, with a focus on the realities of the Turkish marketplace
• It is important to appeal unfavourable first-instance decisions to take advantage of the REEB examiners' experience and broad understanding of trademarks

Background

Well-known status provides extensive protection to trademarks in almost all jurisdictions. In Turkey, well- known trademarks are protected more extensively than ordinary trademarks under various provisions of the Industrial Property Code No 6769: well-known status is taken into consideration in the evaluation of the likelihood of confusion and/or association; it is also a separate ground for refusal and invalidation of a later mark, in conjunction with other conditions.