‘‘ Geographical indications are the names or signs that indicate a product which has become identical with a locality, area, region, or nation it originally resides in, in terms of a distinctive feature, title and other qualities. Geographical indication protection means that the sign or name will be governed and used by one person under the law. This is provided by the registration process or by the application for the registration process. "
Geographical indication protection in Turkey, i.e. the protection of a geographical sign, shall be provided by the law, through fulfillment of the relevant provisions of the sign or name and with registration or the application for registration. However, geographical indications do not have a protection term. Also, with a court decision, registration may become void.
Procedures for Geographical Indication Protection in Turkey
Geographical indications should be included within specific classes.
1. The name or sign to be protected must be within the specified classes. These classes are;
- Metals
- Natural products
- Agricultural products
- Industrial products.
- Handicrafts and handmade products
2. Required documents for application
For the protection of names or signs included within one of these classes, applications must be made within the procedures set out in the law. Some documents are required for the application. These documents are provided below.
- A petition for an application containing identification information of the applicant
- Name of the product
- Definition of the product (Features that differentiate the product)
- A document, information or map that clearly identifies the geographical area of the locality or territory (where the product is produced) to which the origin or the indication of source of the sign is to be used.
- Evidence of whether the product is suitable for the definitions of the origin name or the indication of source
- The form of control
- The use of geographical sign (marking, labeling...)
- Application fee.
3. Application Phase
You must apply to our Sistem Patent company in order to provide protection for geographical indications in Turkey. We will act on your behalf in all the necessary procedures before the Institute.
4. The Registration Process
We apply for registration at the Institute through Sistem Patent company. At the same time, legal protection of the geographical indications starts with the application. The Institute examines the application pro forma and requests that the application be analyzed by one or more specialized public bodies, universities or private institutions in order to prove relevant technical information (if needed) in case of appeal. On behalf of these transactions, the fee for the examination by the institutions and organizations and the fee for the services we will perform in front of the Institute shall be deposited into the account of Sistem Patent company at the applicant's behalf.
After the completion of the formal examination, the registration application will be submitted to the Official Gazette, the two most prestigious daily newspapers distributed throughout the country and a local newspaper under the supervision of the Institute. Within 6 months after the application is announced in the Official Gazette, the persons concerned have the right to appeal to the Institute for the invalidation of the registration process. If no objections were made during this period, the name or sign shall be finalized at the date of publication in the Official Gazette. In case of objection, after the objection has been examined, the indication shall be published in its last form where all the changes to its shape and scope is done and when its scope has been clearly defined, so that the indication becomes final by the publication date of the indication and registration is made in the geographical sign registry..
For geographical indications, similar to the application for trademark registration, registration must be carried out in all the countries for which the geographical indications are required to be nationally protected. An important part of the registration fee consists of the newspaper advertisements.
There is no specific validity period for the registration of the geographical sign. Since there is no protection period, there is no such characteristic as renewing the protection period as it is in trademark protection. Registration may take place without time limit, but protection may be removed in some cases. The protection of geographical indications is rendered null and void by a decision before the court. Court decision can be based on a limited number of reasons such as:
- Indications that are not included in the definitions of geographical indication, origin name and indication of source,
- Geographical indications that have been registered with non-applicants,
- Geographical indications that are not in accordance with the terms of the application.
If a mark is registered, it can be defended by everyone to be in a null and void state. In addition to this, it may be decided that the geographical indication becomes null and void if the auditing process is satisfactory. In this case, the right to protection cannot be used.