NEWSLETTER-2017

300 NEWSLETTER 2017 Trademark Right Infringements on the Internet* Att. Sezi Demircark Introduction The fact that internet usage has become a determining factor of economy due to the expanding growth of e-commerce, disputes concerning industrial property rights in the virtual platform, and trademark right infringements right to the agenda 1 . In this manner, Industrial Property Law No. 6769 (“Industrial Property Law”) which is aimed towards the protection of registered trademarks like as previ- ous Decree on the Protection of Trademarks numbered 556 (“Decree numbered 556”) that regulates the circumstances in which the usage of marks in a virtual platform shall be considered, expressly as trademark right infringements. This Article analyzes the circumstances in which the usage of registered trademarks on the internet is considered as a trademark right infringement within the scope of the Industrial Property Law. The Scope of the Protection of the Mark Article7/3-D of Industrial Property Law explains the circum- stances that represent express infringements of trademark rights through the usage of the mark on the internet. Pursuant thereto, the usage of the same, or similar, mark or the dignotions that constitute the mark on the internet so as to create a commercial effect, without a legitimate connection and in the forms such as area name, routing code, key word, etc. are considered as trademark right infringements. When it is analyzed in detail, legitimate connections may be in ques- tion in the context of the rights related to agency, sales representative, and other special contracts. Without a legitimate connection, the usage * Article of August 2017 1 Çolak, Uğur, Türk Marka Hukuku, 3rd Edition, İstanbul 2016 p. 357.