TURKEY
“RIGHTS HOLDERS CAN PUBLISH MATERIALS SUCH AS MANUALS AND BROCHURES CONTAINING DETAILED BRAND INFORMATION, AND SHARE THESE WITH THE CUSTOMS ADMINISTRATION PERSONNEL.”
the IP right in question, demanding the prevention and prohibition of the infringement, confiscation and destruction of the goods, as well as moral and material compensation, and demand an interim injunction decision for seizure of the goods. If an interim injunction decision is obtained and presented to customs in due time, the goods shall be kept by customs until the end of the case.
Although it does not provide a remedy at the desired level, satisfactory compensation decisions have been taken by Turkish Courts in recent years. In several decisions given by the Supreme Court, it is clearly stated that material and moral compensation can also be claimed by right holders in case of a transit shipment.
If these administrative and legal methods are not applied by the rights holder in due time, then the customs releases the temporarily detained goods.
application period of 10 days for non-perishable products can be extended, if demanded, further 10 days as based on valid grounds.
for
Te destruction procedure is realised under the supervision of the customs administration and the responsible party for that action is the rights holder. Terefore all the expenses will be collected from the rights holder. In the simplified destruction process, having destruction costs borne by the rights holder is certainly not optimal. However, with other seizure options, especially in cases where a court decision is required for the destruction to take place, when the high storage expenses that the rights holder is obliged to pay during this process are considered, it is clear that simplified destruction is more advantageous for the rights holder.
Moreover, since it is necessary for the owner of the goods or declarer to consent to destruction for the simplified procedure to take place, in practice this generally results in a ‘settlement’ between the rights holder and the goods owner/declarer. In this case, it is recommended that a settlement is reached in which the owner/declarer of goods undertakes the costs and expenses for simplified destruction.
2. Claiming an interim injunction
If the conditions for simplified destruction are not realised or the rights holder does not want this option, then the rights holder should take an interim injunction decision for seizure of the suspended goods within 10 days of customs notification, and present it to the customs administration.
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At this stage, the rights holder can file a criminal complaint before
the Public Prosecution
Office to start a criminal investigation or a civil case before the competent Civil Court or both of them.
Criminal proceeding
Since the detained goods are infringing a protected IP right such as a trademark, patent, industrial design, geographical indication, or intellectual and artistic work, putting such goods in circulation and bringing them into the customs zone constitutes a crime. According to Turkish law, goods subject to a transit customs regime are also evaluated within this scope. Consequently,
the rights holder can
implement this penal protection complaining to the Public Prosecution Office as being affected by the crime.
Upon receiving the complaint, the Public
Prosecution Office sends the file immediately to the relevant Criminal Court of Peace for a seizure decision. Except for in a few exceptional cases, this process operates in a speedy manner and the court decisions for seizure are delivered to the customs administration on the same day. In this case, the goods are kept and stored by customs until a final judgment. In this process, the rights holder is recommended to follow up the case as an intervener. If the case is concluded by decision of acquittal or dismissal due to a procedural or principal reason, this can result in the release of the goods.
Civil proceeding
Te rights holder can also file a civil case before the competent Civil Court due to the infringement of
Trademarks Brands and the Internet Volume 2, Issue 2
Suggestions to increase efficiency
Regular contact and mutual information exchange with the local customs offices and training and educating the customs administration personnel, especially customs inspection officers, play a key role in the functioning of the system. Rights holders or their representatives should regularly acquaint the local customs with the nature and scope of their protected IP rights.
Tese education activities are usually conducted by providing regular training programmes for customs personnel or by the creation of databases which contain up to date information about protected rights and their holders, and are open to the use of customs personnel.
Within this scope, it is required to indicate that Interface Public Members (IPM), a global anti-counterfeiting tool developed by the World Customs Organization, gradually increases its functionality. A total of 58 countries, including Turkish Customs, have already joined this system, which aims
to provide mutual
exchange of information between customs and rights holders on a global level. Te system is currently being used by more than 2,000 customs administration personnel. Within this scope, for a more active operation of the system and for an increase in the benefits obtained, it is required to increase the number of right holders joining in the system, and customs personnel using the system actively.
Again, rights holders can publish materials such as manuals and brochures containing detailed brand information, and share these with the customs administration personnel within the scope of
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