Intellectual Property and Technology
The value of a trade mark, a piece of software or a method of production is directly proportional to how securely it is protected in law. We therefore treat intellectual-property and technology law as two distinct tasks: establishing the right correctly, and being able to use the right once it is established. A registered trade mark that cannot be used, and software whose assignment has not been secured by contract, produce the same result in practice. The team has worked this field both as the right holder and as the party facing a claim against the right. Knowing how far an infringement claim can be taken in court, and where it will end in an interim injunction, lets the client build the strategy correctly from the start.
Intellectual and industrial property
- Trade marks. Building the trade-mark strategy, preliminary searches and similarity assessments, filing applications before the Turkish Patent and Trademark Office, opposition and examination of opposition, actions against decisions of the Re-examination and Evaluation Board, invalidity and revocation actions, and the management and renewal of trade-mark portfolios.
- Patents and utility models. Following application processes, invalidity and infringement actions, rules on employee inventions and disputes over compensation, and licence agreements.
- Designs. Protection of registered and unregistered designs, invalidity and infringement proceedings, and, in particular in the automotive spare-parts sector, assessing the line between the design right and the exception for use for repair.
- Copyright. Authorship and related rights, assignment and licence agreements, the scope of protection for software and databases, remedies against infringement in the digital environment, and relations with collecting societies.
- Trade secrets and unfair competition. Establishing a confidentiality regime, securing information security by contract in relations with employees and suppliers, remedies against breaches of non-compete and confidentiality, and pursuit of claims of imitation and confusion.
- Domain names and digital assets. Domain-name disputes, title to social-media accounts, and the removal of trade-mark and content infringements on online platforms.
- Civil and criminal remedies against infringement. Applications for customs seizure, search and seizure requests, interim injunctions, actions for a declaration and the prevention of infringement, claims for pecuniary and non-pecuniary damages, and the conduct of criminal investigations.
- Transaction-focused intellectual property. Legal review of the intellectual-property portfolio in mergers and acquisitions, transactions for the assignment of rights, determining title in joint-development projects, and licence and franchise structures.
Handled by
Founding Partner
Ömer Faruk Karagüzel
Founding Partner
Muhammed Kerim Karadağ
Senior Attorney
Sıla Coşkunoğlu
