92 “Identity or Similarity of Goods of Services” Under The Industrial Property Code No. 6769 Services for the Purposes of the Registration of Marks,24 to which Türkiye is a party. The Nice classification has been prepared with the aim of preventing issues arising from the lack of classification of goods and services during the registration, examination, publication of trademarks, and other relevant stages, as well as implementing a standardized classification system on an international scale. 25 Nice classification consists of 34 classes for goods and 11 classes for services. Each class is organized to group similar goods or services under the same category.26 TURKPATENT has published the Communiqué on Classification of Goods and Services for Trademark Applications27 in accordance with the Nice Agreement. In the list established by the Communiqué on Classification, certain groups are organized under general headings, and it is accepted that the general heading covers all goods/services falling within its scope and within the relevant Nice class (Communiqué on Classification, Article 3/2). Since it is not possible for all goods/services to be included in the list determined by the said Communiqué, Article 3/3 of the Communiqué on Classification states that: “If goods or services that do not fall within the scope of any general heading and are not mentioned in the list are included in a trademark registration application, then such goods or services will be evaluated within the same scope as the goods or services listed in the same Nice class that have similar nature, function, or purpose.” The sole obligation that the Nice Agreement imposes on the national offices of member countries is to include the Nice class to which the trademark pertains in the documents prepared and in the publications 24 “Nice Agreement Concerning the International Classification of Goods and Services for the Purposes of the Registration of Marks” (https://wipolex.wipo.int/en/ text/287437, Last accessed: 06.06.2021). Throughout the remainder of the study, “Nice Agreement” will be used as a brief reference. The classification system accepted under the agreement will be referred to as the “Nice Classification.” 25 Önder Erol Ünsal, “Markaların Tescili Konusunda Uluslararası Nis ve Viyana Sınıflandırmaları: Amaç, İşleyiş ve Uygulamaya İlişkin Değerlendirmeler (International Nice and Vienna Classifications on Trademark Registration: Assessments Regarding Purpose, Functioning, and Implementation)”, Turkish Patent Institute Expertise Thesis, Ankara 2001, p. 5. 26 Ünsal, p. 19. 27 OJ, D. 30.12.2016, N. 29934. Throughout the remainder of the study, “ Communiqué on Clasification” will be used as a brief reference.
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