A Turkish Public prosecutor in Bakirkoy district of Istanbul indicted all of the directors of the board of the Turkish Media Conglomerate Hurriyet for violation of Copyright and Trademark rights of Mayo Clinic, as a result of their unauthorised publication of the famous family health book published by Mayo Clinic. The Prosecutor requested application of imprisonment terms and closure of the business place while Mayo Clinic is proceeding for damages in civil proceedings.

Hurriyet, the daily newspaper with a continuous highest circulation in Turkey as well as major European cities, had published the Turkish version of the Mayo Clinic without authorisation. Mayo clinic has their trademarks registered in Turkey for a long time. They have instructed Messrs. Mehmet Gun & Co to prevent the violations by Hurriyet and to claim damages and seek criminal sanctions applied.

This case is the indicative of the upper hand of the IP Laws in Turkey. However better application of the law is subject to stronger enforcement of the laws by the interested parties.

The content of this article is to provide only a general information on the subject. Legal advice should be sought for any specific circumstances.