VZCZCXRO5346
RR RUEHDA
DE RUEHAK #2008/01 3250657
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 200657Z NOV 08
FM AMEMBASSY ANKARA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 8061
INFO RUEHDA/AMCONSUL ADANA 3411
RUEHIT/AMCONSUL ISTANBUL 5044

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 002008 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KIPR PHUM KCRM TU
SUBJECT: HOLY TRADEMARK INFRINGEMENT! IT'S BATMAN VS. BATMAN 
 
REF: A. ISTANBUL 452 
     ¶B. 06 ADANA 216 
     ¶C. 06 ANKARA 5606 
 
¶1. SUMMARY. In a story that received a great deal of play in 
the blogosphere and in both the U.S. and Turkish press 
(including mention on CNN and in Variety), Huseyin Kalkan, 
mayor of the small Turkish city of Batman, has announced 
plans to sue Warner Brothers and director Christopher Nolan 
for unauthorized use of the city's name in the recent box 
office hit "The Dark Knight."   The merits of the case are 
murky at best, but the fact that a mayor in eastern Turkey is 
contemplating a trademark infringement case demonstrates a 
growing awareness in Turkey that Turkish rights holders also 
have a stake in IPR enforcement.  END SUMMARY. 
 
POW! Batman Planning to Sue Batman 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶2. Huseyin Kalkan, mayor of the small eastern Turkish city of 
Batman, recently informed the press that the city is planning 
to file a lawsuit against the movie studio Warner Brothers 
and director Christopher Nolan for using the city's name 
without permission in the movie "The Dark Knight," claiming 
that the city of Batman has a unique right to the name 
"Batman."  The mayor admitted that the idea for the lawsuit 
came from an English columnist, who had suggested using some 
of the film's revenues (now approaching the billion-dollar 
mark) to help reduce the city's high female suicide rate and 
eliminate the growing problem of street children. (Comment: 
The mayor's statement appears to have been lost in 
translation when the story hit the U.S. press, with multiple 
media outlets reporting that the mayor was actually blaming 
the movie for the female suicide rate as well as a series of 
unsolved murders.  This view is not supported by the mayor's 
comments to the Turkish press. End comment.) 
 
¶3. Kalkan is reportedly still mulling over whether to open 
the lawsuit in the United States or in Turkey, but noted to 
the press that his legal advisors have suggested that the 
U.S. would be the more appropriate venue, as that is where 
the "crime" was committed.  He has stated, however, that he 
is willing to open a case in Turkey if that becomes 
necessary. 
 
BIFF! (Turkish) Batman's Not So Secret Origin Undercuts Claim 
--------------------------------------------- ------------ 
 
¶4. Although Kalkan is confident that the city will be 
victorious no matter where the case is heard, there is ample 
reason to doubt the merits of the suit.  One reason is that 
the superhero may actually predate the name of the town. 
The "Batman" comic book series began in 1939, whereas the 
city did not take the Batman name until 1955, when the 
existing town of Iluh was renamed and incorporated as a 
county.  The mayor is attempting to collect evidence that the 
name was used earlier in reference to the town, but the 
historical record seems to be against him (as is his city's 
own website, which details the history of the town and has 
the year 1955 emblazoned in the city seal).  The nearby 
Batman River (from which the city takes its name) may have 
more cause for complaint, but it is unclear who could 
legitimately represent it and its name is a shortening of 
"Bati Raman" (or "West Raman"), referring to its geographic 
location west of Raman Mountain. 
 
¶5. In addition to these historical problems, Kalkan will face 
the more daunting issue that his case has little grounding in 
trademark law, according to Vehbi Kahveci, head of the 
Istanbul Bar Association's Intellectual and Industrial 
Property Rights Commission (and Warner Brothers' legal 
representative in Turkey).  The name of a local region cannot 
be used as a brand name under existing law, Kahveci observed, 
meaning that the city has no unique right to the name.  In 
addition, according to Kahveci, the "Batman" trademark and 
image were registered worldwide and the timeframe for the 
city to complain about infringement has long since expired. 
He also noted that neither he nor Warner Brothers has 
received any communication from Mayor Kalkan. 
 
OUCH! Batman's Dark Side (The City, That is...) 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
¶6. While the case itself may end up being frivolous, the very 
real problem of a high female suicide rate in Batman is not. 
An article in the New York Times in 2006 highlighted the 
growing frequency of "honor suicides" in the region, where 
family members who would traditionally have simply killed a 
daughter who brought shame to the family are now 
"encouraging" the daughters to kill themselves, thereby 
avoiding punishment under Turkish law (see reftels for more 
on honor killings in Turkey and the recent spread of the 
 
ANKARA 00002008  002 OF 002 
 
 
phenomenon to the western part of the country).  Comment: 
Taking the mayor at his word that any funds won in court 
would be used to help stop this problem, the goal of the 
lawsuit is commendable, even if the means are questionable 
(not unlike the Dark Knight himself).  End comment. 
 
KAPOW! IPR Protection is Receiving Attention ... 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
¶7. It is ironic that the city is considering a trademark suit 
against the makers of the only major Batman movie that does 
not actually contain the word "Batman" in the title.  But if 
nothing else, the case is a positive sign that awareness of 
intellectual property rights enforcement has spread even to 
the remote southeast of Turkey and that Turks are recognizing 
that they too may own valuable intellectual property.  In a 
country where the knee-jerk reaction is often to ban anything 
that offends local sensibilities (YouTube, CNN, et al.), it 
is also refreshing to see a Turkish official taking a 
different approach - although in this case the foreign media 
may cast him in the role of the Joker rather than the Caped 
Crusader. 
 
Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at 
http://www.intelink.sgov.gov/wiki/Portal:Turk ey 
 
SILLIMAN