The Supreme Court Clarifies The Non-Use Debate

The Industrial Property Code No. 6769 ("IP Code") which entered into force as of January 10, 2017 regulated within Article 9 that a registered trademark will be vulnerable to cancellation if not used within five years term as from the date of registration.

The wording of Article 9 of the IP Code was similar to the previous Article 14 of the repealed legislation Decree-Law no. 556 on the Protection of Trademarks.

However, the Turkish Constitutional Court's ruled the annulment of  the former Article 14 of the Decree Law no. 556 on grounds that the provision was unconstitutional since it had to be regulated through a Parliament Act but not a Decree Law. The decision was published on the Official Gazette on January 6, 2017; only four days before the IP Code entered into force.