Note On Constitutional Court's Cancellation Decisions

Turkey – Constitutional Court Cancels Provision Concerning The Invalidation Of Trademarks Due To Non-Use Thereby Fragilizing Further The Legislative Basis For The Protection Of Patents, Uitility Models, Design Patents, Geographical Indications And Trademarks:

According to a recent decision¹ of the Turkish Constitutional Court, the provision of Article 42/c of the Turkish Decree Law no: 556 on trademarks has been cancelled upon a request filed by the 4th Intellectual Property Court of Istanbul (IP Court).

The cancelled provision of Article 42/c regulated the issue of invalidity due to non-use and read as follows;

A registered trademark shall be declared invalid by the court in following cases: [... ...] c) where in breach of Article 14, (However, serious use between the date of instituting of the proceedings and the expiry of five years shall not constitute a ground for invalidity. If use has been made upon realization that proceedings are to be instituted, in