Turkish Intellectual Property Law 

Akkas & Associates Turkish Law Firm has assembled an experienced group of attorneys to help clients obtain, protect and enforce intellectual property rights in Turkey and abroad, as well as maximize intellectual property through various business transactions. Our clients range from Fortune 500 companies to emerging companies to individuals. More specifically, the firm's IP attorneys regularly counsel clients about patents, trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets; practice before government agencies to secure those rights; render patentability and patent, trademark, and copyright infringement opinions; litigate to protect intellectual property; handle arbitration, mediation, and other litigation alternatives; and negotiate licenses, joint ventures, divestitures and similar business transactions to maximize the value of such property.

The skills and backgrounds of Akkas & Associates Turkish Law Firm's intellectual property attorneys are particularly well suited to aid clients in this practice area. Many of the firm's IP attorneys hold degrees in engineering or applied science and are licensed to practice before the Turkish Patent and Trademark Office and European Patent Office. Their technical expertise is balanced with considerable litigation and business experience.

Putting into place the mechanisms to maximize an entity's intellectual property rights is no longer enough in the high-stakes IP environment of today's market. Because of the valuable nature of these rights, an entity must be vigilant throughout the life of the intellectual property, in policing and enforcing the rights against others. Akkas & Associates Turkish Law Firm's IP litigators are experienced in intellectual property disputes, including all aspects of patent, trademark, trade secret, and copyright cases in Turkish Courts, arbitrations and mediations, representing both the intellectual property owner and the accused infringer.

An invaluable tool for many intellectual property owners, particularly those with large IP portfolios, is an audit of its intellectual property assets. We conduct IP audits to help our clients develop the most cost effective strategy for commercializing their intellectual property, guide research and development efforts to focus on core competencies and technology, maximize return on investment, and minimize unwanted, unproductive legal disputes.

The following is a summary of our IP practice areas. Please follow the links at the top of the page to learn more about a particular practice area, including technology fields, lines of commerce, clients, cases and attorneys with experience in an area:

Litigation

Winning an IP case is the product of experience and the execution of a skillful, balanced strategy. Akkas & Associates Turkish Law Firm's team of IP attorneys and lawyers have litigated all types of intellectual property matters in Turkish courts across the country, Akkas & Associates has successfully represented numerous corporations, including Fortune 500 companies, in infringement lawsuits involving trademarks, trade dress, trade secrets, patents, and copyrights. Our experience includes successful appeals to the Turkish Supreme Court. Our IP lawyers have also enforced and defended our clients' intellectual property rights in arbitrations, alternative dispute forums, and proceedings before the International Trade Commission.

Patents

Attorneys in the IP Section work with inventors and companies to file and to prosecute patent applications to protect their inventions, both domestically and abroad. Working closely with attorneys in Akkas & Associates Turkish Law Firm's venture capital and tax disciplines, the IP attorneys draft and coordinate various transfers of technological assets for commercial development and marketing. This includes negotiations with foreign entities, multiple party transfers of technology, and protection of the assets through patents in various foreign countries.

Trademarks

The most valuable assets of a company are often its trademarks. For both established and developing companies, Akkas & Associates Turkish Law Firm attorneys evaluate potential trademarks and existing trademark and trade name rights, and procure trademark registrations in Turkey. The firm's attorneys routinely transfer and license trademark rights, and also enforce trademark rights through Turkish Customs' registration, negotiation, or litigation.

In addition to trademarks, our IP attorneys litigate trade name and unfair competition matters, as well as product counterfeiting matters.

Turkish Franchising Lawyers

Copyrights

Akkas & Associates Turkish Law Firm attorneys provide a broad range of copyright services, including the acquisition of certificates of copyright registration for such items as books, jewelry, musical compositions, recordings, plays, artistic creations, and computer software. The firm's IP attorneys counsel and assist clients in transferring interests in copyrighted works and represent them in copyright infringement cases, ranging from computer software, to ornamental designs, to architectural works.

Franchising

The firm regularly represents both franchises and franchisees. We counsel franchisors regarding disclosure requirements, creating disclosure documents, obtaining registrations in states which require them and assisting in the negotiations with prospective franchisees. Our IP attorneys also are active in franchise litigation. 

Trade Secrets

Akkas & AssociatesTurkish Law Firm's IP attorneys work closely with their clients to create programs to identify, protect, and promote assets which are not protected by issued patents, trademarks, or copyrights. Valuable information not to be disclosed to the public is often protected as a trade secret. Akkas & Associates Turkish Law Firm IP attorneys counsel clients on how to identify such information and to police its protection through secrecy programs, confidentiality agreements and seminars. We also assist our clients in transferring trade secret technology and protecting it through negotiations and litigation.

Internet, eCommerce and Computer Law

Computer, communications, and multimedia technology raise a host of legal issues for our clients, both those who develop such technology and those who use it. The firm's IP attorneys counsel developers regarding the best methods for protecting their intellectual property, be it patent, copyright or trade secret. They negotiate and draft, on behalf of both vendors and users, software licensing, telecommunications, program development, systems acquisition, and similar agreements. Akkas & Associates Turkish Law Firm's IP attorneys also regularly represent the firm's clients in prosecuting or defending litigation involving claims of software copyright infringement, trade secret misappropriation, and computer product failure.

Intellectual Property Licensing and Transactions in Turkey

Our IP attorneys work side-by-side with our attorneys in other groups: corporate & securities, business transactions, international law, labor and employment, public finance, regulatory & legislative and tax. With in-depth experience in practice areas such as Turkish company formation and governance, financing, mergers and acquisitions, tax, and technology transactions, and having worked with a wide range of entities, including Fortune 500 companies, emerging companies, venture capitalists, and investors, our attorneys add value by enabling us to offer our clients an integrated approach to valuing, protecting, and commercializing intellectual property.

We have substantial experience in assisting our clients in a wide variety of financing and joint venture transactions in which intellectual property assets are particularly significant. With clients ranging from entrepreneurs, to emerging growth companies, to larger multinational corporations, to educational institutions, we also assist our clients in commercially developing their intellectual property rights—whether those rights be trademarks, patents, copyrights, or trade secrets—to maximize return-on-investment by drafting and negotiating a wide range of transaction vehicles, from marketing and distribution to technology transfer to transactions involving the sale of goods and services whose manufacture, distribution, marketing, and sale is protected by intellectual property law.

Together with our Corporate and Securities Group, we regularly advise our clients in forming and financing new companies, joint ventures, and partnerships. We have represented our clients in all stages of financing, from initial seed capital to bridge loans, to mezzanine financing, to initial public offerings and buyouts. In addition, our lawyers are experienced in counseling clients on IP holding companies, secured transactions, regulatory naming approval, sourcing (in and out), due diligence on IP in mergers and acquisitions, and bankruptcy.

We counsel our clients on all aspects of developing the value of their copyrighted materials, and support them by negotiating and drafting the releases, licenses, and related agreements needed to implement their plans, as well as to facilitate their use of third-party IP assets, including graphics; music; and celebrity names, voices, and likenesses.

Intellectual Property Audits in Turkey

To help our clients develop an overarching strategy for their intellectual property, Akkas & Associates Turkish Law Firm attorneys conduct independent audits of intellectual property assets. These audits can include risk evaluations of intellectual property in order to recognize and manage risk.

An intellectual property audit can help educate clients on internal development and management of intellectual property assets, identify core and non-core assets, identify potential third party infringers and licensing opportunities, and ensure compliance with current intellectual property contracts, such as licenses.

Internal development may include identifying future technical challenges and targeting intellectual property to overcome these issues, addressing disclosure issues by inventors including procedures to preserve and protect trade secrets and potential patent rights, and optimizing research goals and patent filing procedures based on current corporate strategic goals.

External relationships can also enhance the value of intellectual property. An intellectual property audit can identify potential in-licensing opportunities and potential strategic partnerships and alliances.

These IP audit results facilitate development and strategic protection and enforcement of valuable intellectual property and to integrate an intellectual property strategy with the a client's business plan and litigation strategy so as to maximize revenue generation.