Similarity And The Likelihood Of Confusion

Turkey is one of the countries that examine the similarity of trademarks under absolute grounds for refusal. Within this context, similarity is a ground for refusal both within the scope of Article 7 of Trademark Decree Law no 556, in which the absolute grounds for refusal are listed, and Article 8, which lists the relative grounds for refusal.

Undoubtedly, the level of similarity that should be taken into account during the examination on absolute grounds (Article 7) and relative grounds (Article 8) is not the same. According to Decree Law no 556, for the similarity test on absolute grounds under Article 7, the Turkish Patent Institute (TPI) should consider the "sameness" and "confusing similarity" of the trademarks. Examinations based on relative grounds under Article 8, on the other hand, consider "confusing similarity" and "likelihood of confusion". In other words, as a rule, "likelihood of confusion" is not considered during the similarity test on absolute