Harvard Defends Its Good Name in Turkey

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 28 January 2019)


              It does have that old-school charm, though.

Halil Çil, the owner of the Antalya-based companies Harvard
Publishers Yayıncılık Eğitim ve Patent Danışmanlığı and Birleşik
Markalar Danışmanlık Özel Eğitim Hizmetleri Gıda Restoran,
opened a language school using the name of America's Harvard
University.  The university's lawyers filed suit against Çil for
using "Harvard" without permission and an Istanbul court has
awarded Harvard 20,000 TL (about $4,000) in virtual damages
and 50,000 in physical damages.


                What would you expect from a Yale man?

In his defense Çil proclaimed in his petition to the court that
"Harvard is a place name. It's the name of an area in Massachusetts.
There are many streets and squares around the world named
Harvard. We are using the name Harvard in the scope of a license
owned by an English company.  There is no question of unauthorized
usage. Whether or not the word Harvard is a monopolized brand in
a legal sense is arguable."

The court saw the case otherwise and piling on to Çil's woes, the
National Education Ministry told the court that foreign names
cannot be given to private educational outlets, other than foreign
and international schools.  Adding insult to injury, the Ministry
said that by using the name Harvard, Çil was trying to hoodwink
customers.  If Çil does not appeal the verdict, the decision will
stand. 


          No, this is not Çil's newest franchise in Boston...