An Istanbul court ruled to block access to Twitter’s Periscope live video service in Turkey after accepting a lawsuit lodged by local Periskop (Periscope) Communication and Production Company over claims of trademark violation.
Istanbul Civil Court for Intellectual and Industrial Property Rights delivered a verdict in favor of Periskop Company, which sued Twitter, Apple and Google over infringement on brand registry rights. Periskop has a confirmed brand registered as “Periscope” in Turkish Patent Institute (TPE). The court ruled to enforce on the brand registry violation.
In that regard, the court decided to block access to “Periscopeco” account on Twitter and www.periscope.tv to end the violation of the Turkish company’s rights by the U.S. technology giants.
Lawyers representing Google and Twitter rejected the claims and the legal argumentation.
“Twitter is a platform operating at the global level and has millions of users. It is a firm that shows attention to brand rights of the third parties. A firm operating in the U.S. is not under any obligation to know the existence of a brand in Turkey,” the lawyer of Twitter, which is the parent company of Periscope, said during the court hearing, according to the Birgun daily.
The lawyer also said the plaintiff company’s work is totally different from the one what Twitter does through Periscope.
“Periscope application is a live video application of Twitter. But the plaintiff’s activities are in a totally different field. We don’t see a brand violation in this disagreement,” the lawyer added, demanding the rejection of the case.
After three years of trial process, the court decided to stop all ads and activities with the brand of Periscope from Twitter, Apple and Google in Turkey.
Twitter’s Periscope account has been previously withheld in Turkey for some time over a similar dispute regarding trademark infringement. The technology firm then continued to provide service to the Turkish users.
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