türkçe links to original Turkish article
(Hürriyet Newspaper, 7 March 2024)
He needs the other gods to help him out.
Ümit Nar (51) has been a "sahaf" (second-hand bookseller) for 16 years in
Izmir's Güzelyalı district and on 30 December 2021 he tried to have the name
of his shop "Hermes Sahaf" copyrighted so he applied to the Turkish Patent
Office (TPO). However (!), lawyers in Turkey working for the French luxury
brand Hermes objected, claiming that Nar would be infringing on their brand.
As a result, Nar's application was rejected by TPO. He then made his case
against both the TPO and Hermes to the Ankara Idea and Industry Rights Court.
The second hearing of the case is scheduled for 27 March.
Think of it as a fancy bookbag.
Explaining why he chose the name "Hermes" for his bookshop, Nar stated
that "I've been doing this since 2008. Hermes was the god of communications
and that's what my job is - to act as a kind of culture bridge to people. I've
been using the name since 2008 and I decided to have it copyrighted. But
the Hermes company's lawyers objected. The "B patent" council agreed with
me that there was no infringement. That's when the legal battle began. Our
logos don't resemble one another; they sell luxury goods and I sell second-hand
books; and we're not in the same field."
Continuing, Nar said "I think this whole thing is comical. Hermes doesn't have
a store in Izmir and, in any case, it appeals to the high-income sector of the
population. There's no way I could infringe on their business. There are a
number of firms in the communications, environmental and archeological
sectors that use the name "Hermes" and they've had their names copyrighted.
In other words, both TPO and the courts found these firms to be in the right."
In their objection petition the lawyers for Hermes asserted that Nar would be
both gaining unjustified benefit from their brand's reputation and damaging
their brand's standing.
He's embarrassed for a couple of reasons...
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