Italian actress Monica Bellucci in legal war with Turkish firm over her name

Özge Eğrikar HÜRRİYET / ISTANBUL

Famous Italian actress Monica Belluci has discovered her name was registered as a brand in Turkey and filed a lawsuit for annulment of the registry.

Italian actress Monica Bellucci’s attempt to register her name as a brand in Turkey – as she has done in other countries – has revealed that a local businessman acquired the rights to her name in Turkey 11 years ago.

An international company handling patent proceedings of the globally-acclaimed movie star found out that local entrepreneur, Arafat Yazıcı, registered the name “Monica Bellucci” with the Turkish Patent Institute (TPI).

According to brand registry information on the TPI’s website, Yazıcı’s company is one of the hundreds of textile companies in Istanbul’s Laleli neighborhood.

As Yazıcı refused to give up his rights on the brand, the actress immediately took action and filed a lawsuit against the company using her name.

“My client is a world-wide famous star and we request the ‘Monica Belluci’ brand registered in the name of the defendant be nullified, as well as this brand be removed from the registry,” Bellucci’s lawyer said in the lawsuit petition.

Responding to allegations, Yazıcı’s lawyer Mustafa Göksu defended his client, saying he registered the brand in 2003 “because he thought the name sounded nice.”

“He didn’t have any bad intentions while registering the name [and he did not] know who Monica Belluci was,” Göksu said. “My client has been investing in and spending for this brand since then [2003],” he added.  The trial, however, has been postponed as the court has asked for the defendant to provide the necessary documents.