The contentious “Turkaegean” trademark, registered in December 2021 by Turkey’s tourism agency and sharply criticized by Athens at the time, has been cancelled by the EU’s Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) for use in the Union.
The trademark had been filed by the Türkiye Tourism Promotion and Development Agency (TGA) in a bid to better promote the coastal areas of western Turkey, i.e. combining “Turk” with “Aegean”. While not stated, the trademark name nevertheless appeared as a thinly veiled effort to counter global views equating “Aegean” with Greece only.
However, the EUIPO decision (C58927), announced on Friday, essentially tosses the promotional campaign into the “dust bin” as far as European markets are concerned.
The relevant Greek development ministry and the Hellenic Industrial Property Organisation (OBI) had petitioned the EUIPO to rescind the trademark as, among others, commercially detrimental to Greek interests. Athens has also charged that the “Turkaegean” moniker reflected an official Turkish policy of geopolitical revisionism.
In a comment after the decision was announced, Development Minister Takis Theodorikakos said the government will always assert the country’s rights by using every legal means available.
The Mitsotakis government had first filed a request to rescind the specific trademark in February 2023.
When first announced in 2021 the Greek government had been at the receiving end of criticism by the political opposition in the country for ostensibly failing to defend national interests.
The Turkish agency can appeal the decision by filing a written response and counter arguments.
