By Yunus Turk
ISTANBUL (AA) – Türkiye and the US will cooperate to halt the flow of counterfeit goods and piracy, a US official said Tuesday at an event organized by the Ministry of Commerce in Istanbul.
The event on the protection of intellectual property (IP) rights was held in collaboration with US Homeland Security Investigations and the US Patent and Trademark Office.
US Deputy Consul General in Istanbul Fleur Cowan said the right of intellectual property encourages innovation and creativity, which is a key drive for economic growth for both Türkiye and the US.
Cowan added that counterfeiting and piracy causes legitimate businesses to suffer and economic growth to slow.
She noted that Istanbul is a key city for stopping the transportation of illegal goods and that the cooperation between Türkiye and the US on this issue is essential to the bilateral relationship of the two countries.
Cowan highlighted the threat that counterfeit alcohol and pharmaceuticals causes to health, underlining that the US is committed to working with Türkiye and the private sector to develop strategies towards resolving this problem.
The head of the Import and Origin Department in Türkiye’s Ministry of Trade, Cenk Burak Altay, said the event will provide a good opportunity to improve cooperation among all stakeholders of the protection of intellectual property rights such as patents, trademarks and copyrights.
Altay stressed that in recent years, these rights have become crucial, saying “the protection of IP is an important issue for the economy, public health and safety.”
“We see an increased number of applications for customs protection on IP rights by right holders, and this close cooperation between Turkish customs and right holders has had a great impact on the increase, as when we look at the number of interceptions at customs, we can see that the number increases every year,” he added.
*Writing by Emir Yildirim