Usage Requirements For Well-Known Trademarks

The Council of Appellate Circuits of the Turkish Court of Appeals (the council) recently rendered a key decision (2010/11-695 E., 2011/47 K) with regard to well-known trademarks' usage requirements in different classes. As it is widely known, well-known trademarks' usage requirements and protection in different classes is a contentious issue in many jurisdictions. The council has finally decided that a well-known trademark cannot be protected in different classes and will be partially cancelled if the trademark is not in use in these classes. Actually, this decision might create a paradox with the expanded well-known trademark protection in different classes.

In the subject case, a foreign company started a non-use action against a well-known Turkish furniture company that actively uses its trademark only in class 20, but owns registrations for whole classes. The claimant claimed the partial revocation of the subject trademark for all classes other than class 20. The