Turkish Court of Cassation’s Comparison of Goods in Different Subclasses
During 2022, the 11th Civil Chamber of the Turkish Court of Cassation (the CoC) issued several decisions regarding trade marks covering goods in class 5. The CoC formed its evaluation on the likelihood of confusion by comparing the subclasses of class 5. The details of the decisions are provided below: Aster v Paster A cancellation action was filed against the Office’s decision rejecting the opposition filed against the trade mark PASTER in class 5 relying upon the… »
Turkey's Position on Non-Fungible Tokens
Introduction On 20 September 2017, the term “NFT” (non-fungible token) was officially coined by Dapper Labs Chief Technology Officer Dete Shirley in the form of the ERC-721 standard. NFTs boomed in 2021 and have remained relevant since. Despite the drops observed in their market volume in 2023, NFTs are still in the spotlight as numerous global brands are continuing to launch NFT collections and many trademark applications with coverage including NFTs are being filed all… »
Green Or Simply Greenwashing?
Advertisers frequently integrate environmental claims into their advertisements and promotions to portray their products and services as eco-friendly or green, and to shape consumers’ perception of their positive environmental impact. This is particularly influenced by the growing environmental consciousness among consumers and advertisers. However, to prevent advertisements that may be false and misleading to consumers, exploit their environmental sensitivity, and… »
Dilution of Well-known Mark and Applicant’s Bad Faith: PTO Issues Exemplary Decision
The Trademarks Department granted broader protection to the well-known SINGER mark, refusing an application including the term ‘Singer’ in Class 1 The decision examined the conditions for dilution of a well-known mark under Article 6/5 of the IP Code The well-known status of the SINGER mark, as well as the word and graphic elements in the application, played a role in deciding on the applicant’s bad faith The Trademarks Department has decided that the application for… »
Court of Cassation Examines Impact of Bankruptcy on Collection of Employee Receivables
In practice, bankruptcy of a defendant employer during court proceedings related to employee receivables may be confusing for both the parties of a dispute and the courts handling the proceedings. The Court of Cassation recently examined a case where the defendant employer became bankrupt during court proceedings initiated for employment receivables in the decision dated 8 February 2022. (1) Definition of urgent matters According to article 194 of the Enforcement and… »
Council of State's Unification of Decisions on Appeals Filed by Intervening Parties
Until recently, the Council of State of Turkey had an unsettled practice regarding the appealability of decisions by intervening parties where the principal party does not appeal a decision. Indeed, certain chambers of the Council of State allowed intervening parties to appeal decisions regardless of the principal party's choice, whereas the other chambers restricted the intervening parties' right to appeal with the principal party's appeal. Lately, a unification of decisions… »
OneTrust Data Guidance Turkey - Data Transfers
Begüm Yavuzdoğan Okumuş has contributed to Data Guidance Turkey - Data Transfers, which is published by OneTrust. OneTrus Data Guidance Turkey - Data Transfers provides an overview of the legal framework governing personal data protection in Turkey, focusing on legislation, case law, definitions, scope of application, and restrictions on data transfer. The document highlights the evolving regulatory landscape in Turkey, emphasizing the importance of compliance with data… »
New Euro Fx Rate For Drug Prices
On 23 July 2023, Presidential Decree numbered 7399 (Turkish language), amending the Decision on Pricing of Medicinal Products for Human Use (Decision), was published in the Official Gazette numbered 32257. Accordingly, the EUR1 value in Turkish Lira, to be used in the pricing of medicinal products for human use (formerly TRY10.7577) was increased by 30.5% and set as TRY14.0387. If the rate of increase in the product-specific price is higher than the rate of increase in the… »
Enforcement of Foreign Judgments 2024 in Turkey
Treaties Is your country party to any bilateral or multilateral treaties for the reciprocal recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments? What is the country’s approach to entering into these treaties, and what, if any, amendments or reservations has your country made to such treaties? Except for multilateral treaties on family law, Turkey is not a signatory to multilateral treaties for the reciprocal recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments. However, Turkey is a… »
The Insurance and Reinsurance Law Review, 11th Edition, Turkey Chapter
Introduction i Nature of the insurance and reinsurance market There are currently 72 active insurance companies incorporated in Turkey, consisting of 47 non-life insurers, 20 life and pension insurers and five reinsurers.2 The premiums collected in 2022 amounted to approximately 235 billion lira, an increase of 123.2 per cent compared with the previous year. Of this aggregate value, approximately 112.5 billion lira was derived from non-life insurers, whereas approximately 7.4… »
Reflections of Digital Transformation on Competition Law
In recent years, the rapid spread of digital transformation, defined as the transformation of business processes, customer relationships and operations of undertakings with digital technologies, driven by the technological advancements, has led to changes in the ways of doing business. During this transformation process, the use of digital technologies, especially information and communication technologies, is increased compared to traditional methods. As Undertakings aim to… »
Decision on the Pricing of Drugs Has Been Amended
On 23 July 2023, the Presidential Decree numbered 6932 on the Amendment of the Decision on Pricing of Medicinal Products for Human Use ("Decision") was published in the Official Gazette numbered 32257. With the provisional articles added to the Decision: It has been arranged that the euro value in Turkish Lira to be used in the pricing of medicinal products for human use was increased by 30.5% to 14.0387 TRY in July 2023. While applying this increase, it is stated that the… »