Declaration of Use and Compulsory License
The new IP Law (the “Law”) numbered 6769 abolished the provisions on “The use requirement of patents,” and “The evidence of use” of the Decree Law Pertaining to the Protection of Patent Rights. The Law now focuses on the requirements of use for patents within the provision of a Compulsory License. Accordingly, a patent owner must make use of the patented invention within three years following publication of its granted decision in the Official Bulletin (‘the Bulletin’), or… »
Does Likelihood of Confusion Exist Based on a Common Weak Element?
The Turkish Court of Cassation (‘CoC’) upheld lower court decisions which ruled in favour of cancelling the Turkish Patent and Trademark Office’s (‘Office’) Re-Examination and Evaluation Board’s (‘Higher Board’) decision for invalidation of the ‘Mazstar’ trademark on the basis of likelihood of confusion with the plaintiff’s trademarks bearing the common element ‘Star’. Dispute Background The defendant filed an application before the Office for ‘MAZSTAR’ in classes 29 and 30.… »
A Look at Brand Enforcement During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Turkey’s first official diagnosis of COVID-19 was announced on March 11 2020. Since then, the country has experienced lockdowns, quarantines, travel bans and limited access to public services at various levels, depending on the progress of the pandemic. There were months where the legal and administrative bodies’ effectiveness was inversely proportional with the curve of pandemic, which affected all governmental agencies. Incidentally, brand enforcement activities were also… »
Constitutional Court’s Recent Decision Regarding Inspection on Employee E-mails
Constitutional Court’s decision of 12 January 2021 concerning the application no. 2018/31036[1] discusses, once again, employer inspection on employees’ corporate e-mail accounts and the terminations relying on the collected correspondences, in scope of the right to protection of personal data and freedom of communication. In the said decision, the Constitutional Court found no violation as to the right to protection of personal data and freedom of communication, since the… »
Compensation Claims Arising out of Distribution Agreements under Turkish Law
Introduction As a sui generis agreement under Turkish law, distribution agreement mainly contains the characteristics of a sales and purchase agreement; however, it also differs from the same since the distributor's role is not limited to simply purchasing the products from the supplier/principal and selling them to customers or end-users. Instead, in a distribution agreement, the distributor is incorporated into the distribution chain of the supplier with having the right… »
List of Compassionate Use Programs Has Been Published
Compassionate Use Programs are designed for patients who have a serious or urgent, life-threatening disease whose treatment has been unsuccessful with available medicinal products licensed by the Turkish Medicines and Medical Devices Agency (“Agency”) in Turkey and who cannot be included in the clinical trials on this subject. The Compassionate Use Program aims to provide the drug, which is not licensed in Turkey, but licensed or not in other countries, by the company that… »
Dealing With Social Media Influencers
Based on statistics of a global research Turkey is among the 15 countries with the longest time of both daily internet usage and social media usage. In 2021 there were 54 million social media users in Turkey; equal to 64 percent of the country's population. Influencer marketing through social media influencers has achieved giant growth in the advertising sector. Brands, including global and local ones, cooperate with social media influencers to advertising their brands… »
Advertising Bans on Social Network Providers in Turkey
The law amending the Law No. 5651 on the Regulation of Internet Broadcasts and Prevention of Crimes Committed through Such Broadcasts ("Internet Law") known as Social Media Law in Turkey and the implementing regulation introduced new provisions and obligations regarding social network providers and their obligations in the second half of 2020. As per the cited amendments "Social Network Provider" was legally defined as real or legal persons that enable users to create, view… »
Product List For Compassionate Use Programme Published
On 31 December 2020, the Medicines and Medical Devices Agency published the 2021 list of the products to be supplied through Compassionate Use Programme (Turkish language). In the published list, products are referred to by the sponsor firm, the firm that supplies the product, required diagnosis, active ingredient of the product and the maximum number of patients to whom the product can be delivered. The updated list can be followed from the website of the Agency. »
Renewal of EC Certificates After Brexit
On 15 January 2021, the Turkish Medicines and Medical Devices Agency published an announcement (Turkish language) on the deactivation of Product Tracking System registrations of notified bodies located in the UK following the end of the UK-EU transition period. The registrations were deactivated on the date of the publication of the announcement, although affected medical device companies will have a 60-day period to update the system with valid EC certificates (issued by the… »
Who Would Enjoy Broccoli for the Meal?
In its recent decision dated 10th of November 2020 and numbered 2020/1626, the Advertisement Board, confirmed once again, its strict and tight scrutiny conducted over advertisements intended for children. The advertisement and promotions for the brand-new “Cry Babies” dolls as well as the cartoon movie named “Cry Babies Magic Tears” which was based on these baby doll characters were found to be violating the principles for the protection of children by the Advertisement… »
Ambush Marketing 2021 in Turkey
Hande Hançar and Baran Güney has contributed to the Turkey chapter of Ambush Marketing: A Global Legal Perspective book which is published by Global Advertising Lawyers Alliance (GALA) in January 2021. Description A global legal compendium of the laws related to ambush marketing in approximately 70 countries around the globe. Written by members of the Global Advertising Lawyers Alliance (GALA) a network of the leading advertising lawyers in the world. Executive… »