Article 7 - Scope of rights conferred by a trademark and its exceptions
(1) Trademark protection provided by this Code shall be acquired by registration.
(2) Rights arising from trademark registration shall be granted exclusively to the trademark proprietor. The trademark proprietor shall be entitled to claim for prevention, in case of execution without consent, of the acts set out below:
a) Use of any sign identical with the trademark at goods or services that are in the scope of the registration.
b) Use of any sign identical with or similar to a registered trademark and covering identical or similar goods or services with the registered trademark, and is therefore liable to create a likelihood of confusion on the part of the public; including the likelihood of association between the sign and the trademark.
c) Use of any sign identical with, or similar to the registered trademark, irrespective of being for identical, similar or different goods or services, where the use of that sign without due cause takes unfair advantage of, or is detrimental to, the distinctive character or the repute of the trade mark due to the reputation it has in Turkey.
(3) The cases set out below may be prohibited, if the sign is used in trade area, in accordance with paragraph two:
a) Affixing the sign to the goods or to the packaging thereof;
b) Putting the goods on the market, offering them as deliverable, or stocking them for these purposes under the sign, or offering or supplying services thereunder;
c) Importing or exporting the goods under the sign;
ç) Using the sign on business papers and advertisements of the undertaking.
d) Using identical or similar sign on internet media as domain name, router code, and keyword or in similar manner with a commercial impression; provided that the person using the sign has no right or legal affiliation for the use of that sign.
e) Using the sign as a trade or company name;
f) Using the sign in comparative advertising in a manner that is against the law.
(4) The rights conferred by the trademark to its proprietor shall take effect against third parties as of the publication date of trademark registration. However, the trademark applicant shall be entitled to institute legal proceeding for compensation in respect of acts that occurred after the date of publication of the trade mark application in the Bulletin, where those acts would, after publication of the registration of the trade mark, be prohibited by virtue of that publication. The court may not decide upon the validity of claims raised before the registration is been published.
(5) The trademark proprietor may not prevent the honest use of his trademark by a third party, in the course of trade in the forms set out below:
a) Natural persons indicating their own name or address;
b) Making explanations concerning the kind, q uality, quantity, intended purpose, value, geographical origin, the time of production of goods or of rendering of the service, or other characteristics of the goods or services;
c) Situations where it is necessary to indicate the intended purpose of a product or service, in particular as accessories or spare parts or equivalent products.