Traditional Specialities Guaranteed in Turkiye

Traditional specialities guaranteed are protected under Turkish Industrial Property (IP) Law No. 6769 in Turkiye. They are not within the scope of protected designation of origin or protected geographical indication and they have been proved to be used for at least thirty years to traditionally describe a product on the relevant market.

Traditional specialities guaranteed should provide at least one condition from those following: traditional production or processing method or originating from a traditional composition and/or being produced from a traditional material or raw material.

Our related services:

• - Filing your national traditional specialities guaranteed applications and registrations before TurkPatent
• - Preparing and filing oppositions / opinions
• - Filing amendment requests in applications and registrations
• - Preparing reports for use in legal procedures
• - Filing 3rd party opinions about any invalidity
• - Publication tracking and reporting
• - Support for preparing control reports and / or filing control reports
• - Other operations related to traditional specialities guaranteed

EMBLEM

• Inform consumers.
• It is not mandatory to use emblems for the traditional specialities guaranteed.
• With use of the emblem, the protection provided by the law is benefitted.

WHO CAN APPLY?

1. Manufacturer groups
2. State institutions and organizations related to the product or the geographical area where the product originates from
3. Professional organizations with state institution status
4. Associations, foundations and cooperatives authorized to work for public benefits or to protect the economic interests of its members in relation to the product
5. If there is only one manufacturer for the product, the manufacturer with the condition that it is proved

THE RIGHTS PROVIDED BY REGISTRATION

• The right begins to take effect when the registration is published in the bulletin.
• It may be prevented by the Court upon complaint that the emblem is used for commercial purposes on the products which do not have the properties of the product specified in the registration, in the way that they may take advantage of its reputation, or it may be found related to the products within the scope of the registration.
• It may be prevented by the Court upon complaint that any wrong or misleading expression or indication is placed regarding the registered natural or main quality and properties and the origin of the product at the inner or outer package of the product on which the registration is present, in its introduction and commercial or in any written document regarding the product.

APPLICATION/REGISTRATION PROCEDURE

1. Applications of traditional specialities guaranteed are evaluated by the Turkish Patent and Trademark Office.
2. The office examines applications formally and substantially. If there is any formal deficiency, it should be corrected within 3 months from the notification date. If not corrected, the application will be rejected. If there is any substantial deficiency, additional time can be requested maximum of 2 times. If all deficiencies are corrected within these periods, 3rd step below is processed.
3. If needed, TurkPatent may demand opinions from one or several institutions or organizations expert in the field.
4. The applications meeting the conditions specified in the Turkish Industrial Property (IP) Law No. 6769 shall be published in the Bulletin for 3 months.
5. If there is no opposition or if there is any opposition rejected or the application is amended as a result of any opposition, the registration fee has to be paid within 2 months from the notification date of the registration decision.
6. The registration is recorded into the register and the registration information is published in the Bulletin.
7. After the publication of the registration, there cannot be any oppositions, only invalidity may be demanded from the court.

THE SCOPE OF CONTROL

• The products having a registered traditional specialities guaranteed may be controlled during production, placement on the market or distribution phases.
• When the product is on the market, it is controlled whether its use complies with the properties specified in the registration.
• It is controlled whether use of the emblem is appropriate
• The control authority continuously controls the production processes.
• Collaborations can be made with the expert and objective institutions or organizations regarding the subject.
• The control of the market is made by the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock independently from the control authority.
• The control reports regarding the use of the geographical indication have to be presented to the Office every year.
• If any deficiency is found in the control activities filed before the Office, it shall be notified to the registrant, and it is asked to be completed within six months.

AMENDMENT REQUESTS IN THE APPLICATION AND REGISTRATION

• If any change is made in the properties of the registered geographical indication due to climate change, technological improvements and new methods for production etc., amendment requests may be filed by beneficiaries before the Office.
• In case the person requesting amendment is not the registrant, the Office notifies the registrant before publishing the amendment in the Bulletin and asks them to present their opinion within one month as of the notification date, if any.
• After the amendment is published in the Bulletin, the registrant may duly file an opposition. The Office asks the registrant to make necessary provisions for applying the amendment by those concerned in case the amendment becomes absolute.

INVALIDITY AND CESSATION OF RIGHTS

• Traditional specialities guaranteed are not registered for a specific period. Therefore; there is not any renewal which is needed to be paid.
• Rights may be ceased if invalidity of the registration is decided by the court.
• If control activities are not performed sufficiently or as determined, a decision of invalidity of these registrations may be rendered.