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Insights

We share our knowledge and expertise to update our community and clients about legal developments in Turkey.

New Minimum Capital Requirements in Turkey: Impact on Joint Stock and LLCs

With the Presidential Decree numbered 7887 and published in the Official Gazette dated 25 November 2023 and numbered 32380, it has been decided to increase the minimum capital amount for joint stock and limited liability companies by 5 times. According to this regulation, as of 1 January 2024, the new minimum capital amounts will be as follows:     Minimum Capital Amount According to the Previous Legislation Minimum Capital Amount According to the New… »

Can Trade Names Lead to Trademark Infringement in Turkey?

There are questions concerning whether a trade name or business name can constitute trademark infringement and unfair competition, particularly in cases where the trade name is not used as a trademark. This criticism has been disputed under both the Decree Law No. 556 Pertaining to Protection of Trademarks and the Industrial Property Code (“IP Code”)[1]. The Courts has made numerous decisions regarding this topic.   The issue was discussed in the decision dated 08 February… »

Draft Regulation by Turkey's Competition Authority: A Step Forward in Cartel Transparency

Article 4 of Code No. 4054 on the Protection of Competition ("Code") prohibits agreements, concerted practices, and decisions that restrict competition. The Regulation on Active Cooperation for Detecting Cartels ("Existing Regulation") published in the Official Gazette dated 15.02.2009 and numbered 21142 has been in force for more than 14 years to reveal cartels, which are considered the most serious competition violations in competition law, involving agreements and/or… »

Developments Regarding the Renting of Residential Places for Tourism Purposes

The Law No. 7464 on the Renting of Residential Places for Tourism Purposes and Amendments to Certain Laws (the "Law") was published in the Official Gazette on November 2, 2023. The Law regulates in detail the conditions for renting residential places up to 100 days and the obligations of those who rent their premises for short terms for tourism purposes. The relevant provisions of the Law will come into force on January 1, 2024. Considering that short-term rental activities… »

Turkish Constitutional Court Annuls Advertisement Board’s Power to Block Access to Websites

Turkish Constitutional Court (“Court”) annulled the paragraph 12 of Article 77 of the Consumer Protection Law, which granted the Advertisement Board the power to partially or entirely block access to websites containing unlawful advertising content. The relevant rule was considered to be unconstitutional pursuant to the Court’s decision dated 13 September 2023 and numbered 2022/70 E. - 2023/152 K. which was published on the Official Gazette dated 27 October 2023 and numbered… »

An In-depth Analysis of Inventorship of AI and Turkey’s Position

In recent legal debates, the patentability of AI-generated inventions has been contentious. Historically, only humans have been considered inventors, anchored in notions of personhood and intellect. Yet, in a bold move, South Africa and Australia’s Federal Court recognized AI, specifically DABUS, as a potential inventor in 2021, defying conventional views. Proponents argue that this accommodates modern innovation trends, while sceptics raise concerns about ownership rights… »

Practical Guideline on Immediate Actions for Foreign Companies Facing Commercial Litigation in Turkey

Introduction Given the complex, competitive and contested course of commercial life, the odds are most businesses will face, at one stage or another, a commercial dispute raised by a business partner (eg, a customer, distributor or supplier etc,). Some of these disputes can be resolved peacefully and amicably, but others may escalate to the court level. The latter can be particularly difficult to manage for global companies operating in multiple states, as cross border claims… »

Regulatory Update in Turkey: Prolonged Exclusion of Specific Losses in Capital and Equity Assessments

The Communiqué on the Procedures and Principles Regarding Implementation of Article 376 of the Turkish Commercial Code No. 6102 ("Implementation Communiqué") was amended on December 26, 2020, and it was regulated that certain loss items will not be considered in the calculations made in terms of capital loss or negative equity until January 1, 2023. Although the Ministry of Trade indicated in its statements on various occasions that this exception was introduced as a… »

PTO Prepares for Administrative Revocation of Trademarks

Article 26 of the Industrial Property Code, which grants the PTO the authority to revoke trademarks, will come into force on 10 January 2024 The PTO has recently released a draft regulation for comment The draft regulation includes procedural details on how revocation requests will be made before the PTO Background The Industrial Property Code No 6769 (IP Code), which entered into force on 10 January 2017, provides that the Turkish Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) has… »

Is Alternative Dispute Resolution Effective Enough for “.tr” Domain Names?

This article discusses the alternative dispute resolution mechanism for ".tr" domain names in Türkiye. It highlights the efficiency of the alternative dispute resolution mechanism and addresses some concerns over the transparency of proceedings. TRABIS (".tr" Network Information System), established by the Turkish Information and Communication Technologies Authority ("BTK"), became operational on September 14, 2022 and undertook the management of ".tr" domain names. Upon… »

A Practical Overview of Disclosure of Trade Secret as a Criminal Offense

Trade secrets bear critical value for companies to stand out and become distinct from their competitors in the competitive market conditions. Indeed, companies are often exposed to significant risks arising from the disclosure of trade secrets due to misconduct of certain individuals having access to these secrets. Therefore, confidentiality of these secrets, which bear commercial value and provide a competitive advantage, is almost crucial for companies to survive. In this… »

Minority Shareholders' Rights in Joint Stock Companies

In order to prevent the majority shareholders, who hold the superiority of capital and voting in the management of joint stock companies, from executing unfair and unjust acts against the minority shareholders and violating the rights of the minority shareholders, the legislator has granted some special rights to the minority shareholders and allowed them to protect their interests against the decisions taken with the influence of the majority. Thus, the balance of interests… »

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