Trademark oppositions: bad news without bad faith

01-08-2010

Isik Ozdogan and Ezgi Baklaci

A common problem of opposition proceedings arises when the rights to a given phrase are acquired by the applicant based on an earlier registration.

Once a trademark has been registered, the registrant acquires the rights to the relevant phrase for subject goods and services.

As a rule, the Turkish Patent Institute (TPI) protects the acquired rights of a registrant arising from its earlier registration.

Therefore, when the owner of the acquired rights files a trademark application for the phrase (with little or no change) and the application is opposed, the TPI will refuse the opposition because of the applicant’s acquired rights, even if the opposer’s trademark is similar to that in the application. In such cases, it is not possible to get positive results in an opposition proceeding unless the prior registration is cancelled.


Trademark oppositions, TPI

WIPR