THE PROTECTION OF INDUSTRIAL DESIGN THROUGH REGISTRATION: THE CASES OF TURKEY AND THE EU

An industrial product can be defined in broad terms as “any product produced by the industry.” Today’s products no longer distinguish themselves from their rivals in terms of their technologies, material and uses only, but also in terms of their design, which can figure as a reason for purchase for consumers. The motive behind the protection of industrial designs by way of official registration is the purpose to protect the rights of individuals or institutions who has created the design and to promote competition. Therefore once they are officially registered, all the industrial designs in the world are under the protection of certain laws and regulations for a certain amount of time. In Turkey, industrial designs are protected by decree law number 554 concerning the protection of industrial designs that passed on June 27, 1995. In the EU countries, industrial designs are protected by community design regulations that passed on June March 6, 2002.