TEFLON CASE SUMMARY

Jurisdiction: Turkey
Subject Heading: I.F. Famous and Well-known Marks
Case Name and Citation:

E.I DUPONT DE NEMOURS AND COMPANY vs HÜR SULTAN PASLANMAZ MUTFAK EŞYALARI SANAYI VE TICARET A.Ş. Case No. 2011/321; Decision No.2002/107 (4th Istanbul Court of Intellectual and Industrial Rights, April 26,2012)

Plaintiff: E.I DUPONT DE NEMOURS AND COMPANY
Defendant: HÜR SULTAN PASLANMAZ MUTFAK EŞYALARI SANAYI VE TICARET A.Ş.
Marks Associated with Goods/Services:

Plaintiff's well-known trademark TEFLON reg.no.101238 covering classes 1 and 23, TEFLON 2 reg.no. 104207 covering classes 1 and 21, TEFLON reg.no.2007 41893 covering classes 2,17,21,24 and 25 and defendant’s trademark registrations “MY TEF DEVICE” no.2004 28290 and “my tef device” reg.no: 2007 16665

Nature of Case:

Court action instituted for cancellation of defendant’s trademark registrations no. 2004 28290 and no.2007 16665 on the basis of its similarity and risk of confusion with plaintiff’s well-known trademark and defendant’s bad faith, for stopping and preventing the unauthorized use of TEFLON trademark on the defendant’s web page, hursultan.com.tr

Overview of Decision and Ruling:

*The plaintiff claimed that; they are the right owner of the registered trademark TEFLON in Turkey which is a well-known trademark; that defendant’s registration has been filed in bad faith and therefore shall not be protected and requested from the Court to order the cancellation of defendant’s registrations “MY TEF DEVICE” and “my tef device” and stopping the use of this trademark by the defendant.

*The defendant asserted that:

  • although plaintiff’s trademark is registered before the Institute, it has became generic due to longstanding and wide use in the market by several actors,
  • if the trademark owner does not protect its registered trademark, registered trademark would become invalid due to wide use in the market,
  • defendant’s trademark “MY TEF device” and “my tef device” stand for the initials of Mustafa Yılmaz who is defendant’s CEO and the Persian indication “TEF” which can be translated in to English as “heat, temperature”
  • plaintiff has lost its trademark right due to its longstanding silence

*In the light of the evidence submitted by the parties The Court has determined that:

  • Plaintiff’s registered trademark TEFLON which is also registered in multiple countries has a wide use in the world but this fact bringing a well-known character to TEFLON trademark does not cause the loss of registered trademark qualities , does not result in invalidity of the registered trademark,
  • As mentioned in prior Supreme Court decision concerning the trademarks TEFLAND and TEFLINE, use of “TEF” syllable would connote to the consumer the well-known TEFLON trademark, bearing a trademark initiating with the same TEF syllable would lead the consumer to think that subject goods are made of TEFLON,
  • As mentioned in prior OHIM’s decisions of June 18, 2010 submitted to the Court, the use of TEF syllable in the market by other actors would result in the dilution of the trademark’s distinctiveness, would lead the consumer to think that there is a license relation between the parties or cause a perception of series of trademarks among the consumer,
  • Therefore the use of TEF syllable would cause a risk of confusion and unfair competition and would harm the reputation of the trademark.

The Court has ruled to the acceptance of the court action by cancellation of defendant’s trademark registrations no. 2004 28290 and no.2007 16665 and stopping and preventing the unauthorized use of TEFLON trademark by the defendant.

Importance of Case:

Defendant’s trademark similar to plaintiff’s worldwide well-known trademark was rejected even in respect of different classes and despite the fact that plaintiff’s trademark is widely used in the market by several other actors and unauthorized use of TEFLON trademark on the defendant’s web page has been ceased.

Contributing Firm: Deris Attorneys At Law Partnership