Patent And Trademark Office Rejects Applications Based On Interdependence Principle

• The 'interdependence principle' was clearly established by the CJEU in Canon
• In two recent cases, the Patent and Trademark Offi ce explicitly mentioned and set out the conditions for the application ofthe interdependence principle
• In one of the cases, the offi ce also found that an application including the dominant element 'camelbak' could not havebeen fi led in good faith

The interdependence principle

For an application to be rejected under Article 6/1 of the Turkish Intellectual Property Code (IP Code), the following conditionsmust be met:

• the trademarks must be similar;
• the goods and/or services must be similar; and
• there must be a likelihood of confusion among the public, including a likelihood of association.