Abstract:

Purpose- This paper examines the overall IP solutions/options that are applicable in the Turkish food sector under the new Law on Industrial Property of Turkey which governs so-called industrial property rights, that is to say patents, trademarks, designs and geographical indications, and aims to serve the interests of all relevant stakeholders, ranging from individuals to all scaled companies which seek IP protection in for various reasons. Although it’s not considered as one of the conventional IP issues, the relationship between foodstuff, and traditional knowledge (TK) is also discussed in this paper for the purpose of demonstrating the overall IP protection that can be offered under the Turkish law. Methodology- In this paper, the applicability of the new Law on Industrial Property, and the overall IP solution on the food sector are discussed. For this purpose, some important questions are addressed, and the new Law, the old Decree-Laws and some other jurisdictions are compared. The criteria of this comparison are the goals of the industrial property system, and the needs of the food sector. The study analyses these considerations with the help of some important examples demonstrating IP protection on the foodstuff. Findings- The findings show that the food industry can be protected by the copyright regime, the recipes can be patented, and the companies can be protected by the new Law concerning geographical signs, designs and trademarks.  Conclusion- The paper claims that the existing IP system in Turkey, i.e. the conventional IP tools along with the TK protection, have important benefits for the companies operating in the Turkish food sector to use IP protection as business strategies.  

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