A bookseller from Türkiye's Izmir secured a victory over a French luxury house in a copyright battle to be able to call itself Hermes, the shop's lawyer said on Tuesday, hailing an infrequent win against a major brand. An Ankara court ruling partially voided a decision by TurkPatent, Türkiye's intellectual property authority, that prevented any brand other than Hermes Paris from using the name Hermes. "Hermes is a god in Greek mythology who belongs to the cultural heritage of humanity.
He should not be owned by a company. This is an important decision in that sense," the bookseller Ümit Nar, whose shop is in the western city of Izmir, told Agence France-Presse (AFP). The shopkeeper pointed out that the deity is closely linked to the ancient history of Smyrna – the ancient name for modern-day Izmir – on the Aegean coast, where many Greek myths are set.
Hermes fashion house did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The court has not yet made its reasoning public, said the bookseller's lawyer, Hilmi Güllü, who added that the ruling was a "victory." "Multinational firms like Hermes have an aggressive trademark registration policy, beyond their own industries.
This verdict paves the way for saying no to these practices," Gülü said. The case stretches back to December 2021, when the Turkish retailer sought to register a trademark for his 15-year-old bookshop. A representative for the French company initiated legal proceedings against TurkPatent and too.
