Exhaustion of patent rights according to Turkish and Eu law

Intellectual property rights have reached an essential position within last years. Since the end of the 19th century, Intellectual Property legislation granted broad rights (exclusive rights) to the owners of patents, trade marks and copyrights. Relying on their exclusive rights, owners (inventor) tried to control the sale, resale and distribution of their products and they prevented others from making, selling or importing the goods. Therefore, these broad rights have been forming barriers to international free trade and free movement of goods. It is need to the balance between free trade and intellectual property right The purpose of the principle of exhaustion is to find a balance between the protection of free trade and the protection of intellectual property. According to this principle, a product which is protected by patent, trademark or copyright, is marketed firstly by the owner of the right or by third persons upon the owner?s consent within the domestic market. Since the right of the owner has been exhausted, goods can be circulated by the other purchasers without being prevented by the owner. In this thesis the exclusive rights arising from patent and the principle of exhaustion shall be explained from Turkish and EU Legislations? comparative point of view.