Protection Of Trademarks and Designs At Customs in Turkey
Trademark protection at customs with design protection is very effective when applied and maintained properly. It is possible to create a customs registration regarding trademarks or designs registered in Turkey. We request the brand or design to be taken into account during customs inspections by making an online application to the General Directorate of Customs, which is affiliated to the Ministry of Commerce.
How Often Are Customs Inspections Conducted?
Turkey is one of the countries with the highest inspection rate in the world. While the world average is 5%, the rate of random inspection is around 15% in some years in Turkey. This relatively high rate gives an important advantage in terms of preventing the entry of counterfeit products into the country at the border. Therefore, detecting the counterfeit product at this stage is much more economical than detecting and trying to prevent it after the product has been distributed in the country.
Inspection Mechanism
Except for the case of a notice from a right holder for a certain case, the customs officer randomly decides to check a customs pass.
It separates the cargo for customs inspection and determines the search criteria according to the Customs sort codes.
Meanwhile, he/she also takes into account the brands or design features he/she sees on the goods.
If it comes across a product whose brand or design features may be similar to another brand or design which was recorded previously, it separates the cargo from the shipment.
He/She sends an information letter to the registered representative of the design or brand that the separated cargo is seen to be similar to a certain registered brand or design and additionally informs that he/she has come across a suspicious product and put the goods on hold for a period of 3(three) days.
Within three days, the custom inspector waits for the right holder or his representative to inspect the product by applying to the customs.
How The Inspection Process Works
If no one applies within the specified time, the goods are released at the end of the third day and returned to the owner.
If the representative makes an application within the specified time, inspects the product, but does not make a request, the goods are released and returned to the owner.
With the instruction of the original brand or design owner the representative makes an application, after the examination decides that the goods are counterfeit or fake or there is likelihood of confusion, and applies to the court for the prevention of infringement. In this case, the goods can be confiscated with the decision of the court or delivered to the owner, provided that they are not subject to trade until the end of the court. In some cases, a letter of guarantee may be requested from the brand owner for this process. The application of the letter of guarantee is determined at the discretion of the judge.
Benefits of Customs Records
When it comes to the trademark protection at customs, it is an important goal to achieve the most success with the least intervention in brand or design infringements. For example, when a product imported by a seller is presented to the retail network, a greater number of legal interventions are required for fewer infringing products. The intervention to be made while the product is still at the customs stage ensures the greatest advantage with the most ideal possible cost.
Being able to interfere with counterfeit or goods might have liklihood of confusion without entering the country will also reduce the motivation of other malicious imitators. The possibility of not getting the counterfeit product into the country creates a strong deterrent effect.
Sharing a part of the customs inspections and counterfeiting work with the public(the custom inspector at this case) also reduces the overall cost of brand protection. In this way, it is possible to get rid of some of the imitation research costs paid to researchers in the market, and less costs are paid for such monitoring.
Contact us for more detailed information on registering brands and designs at customs.
Protection of Trademarks and Designs at Customs: Statistics and Importance