Circular on the Notifications Made Through the Pharmaceutical Tracking System
The Pharmaceutical Tracking System (İlaç Takip Sistemi, “ITS”) is the system adopted by the Turkish Medicines and Medical Device Agency (the “Agency”) for pharmaceutical industry, enabling to determine the locations of pharmaceuticals in the supply and distribution chain in Turkey. A data matrix is printed on the products’ packaging which allows the tracking of each transaction in the supply chain as of the product’s production or importation. ITS is defined under the… »
Anti-Corruption & Compliance Enforcement and Legislation Developments in 2019
In this article, we review the developments in 2019 about anti-corruption and compliance matters concerning Turkey from both national and international perspectives. Latest Development in EU-Turkey Relationship The European Commission has published “Turkey 2019 Report” as part of 2019 Communication on EU Enlargement Policy.[1] The shortcomings and recommendations to make progress in the fight against corruption are among the topics underlined in the report. The European… »
FICPI-Turkey Holds Intellectual Property Law Seminar in Izmir
FICPI-Turkey arranged the seventh of its traditional roundtable meetings in September, this time focusing on the trade mark similarity concept for the assessment of likelihood of confusion and the approach of the Turkish Patent and Trademark Office, Türk Patent, and the Courts. Ms. Gökçe İzgi, a member of the Board of Directors of FICPI-Turkey, moderated the meeting accompanied by Mr. Türkay Alıca, who is a Retired Judge of Civil Courts for Intellectual and Industrial… »
FICPI-Turkey Roundtable on the Similarity of Trade Marks and Its Application
FICPI-Turkey held a successful IP Law Seminar in October, at Yaşar University in Izmir, comparing European patent oppositions with Turkish oppositions, and looking at trade mark use and proof of use. Around 90 people attended the meeting. On 25th October, during the “IP Law Seminar”, Dr.-Ing. Christian Wende and Serkan Özkan discussed patent opposition procedures. Christian is a member of FICPI-Germany and Reporter for FICPI CET 4 (Working Group for European Patents);… »
Victory for Versace as Design Is Rejected on the Ground That It Constitutes “Unauthorised Use of an IP Right”
The Intellectual Property Code No 6769 introduced the “unauthorised use of an IP right” as a relative ground for refusal of a design application under Article 67/2 The Patent and Trademark Office recently rejected a design on the ground that it constituted an unauthorised use of Versace’s figurative marks The decision serves as a good example of the implementation of Article 67/2 The Turkish Patent and Trademark Office has recently rejected a design application that included an… »
Latest Development on Data Localization Requirements in Turkey
The Information Technologies and Communication Authority in Turkey published two decisions regulating embedded SIM technologies that have generated a buzz in the country, especially the SIM card localization requirement for e-call systems, which prevent permanent roaming, in vehicles. The country’s automotive industry has been the most affected by the decisions as they have effectively prevented new vehicles from being imported into the country. The first decision regulates… »
Registration Obligation for Medical Devices Sold with Pharmaceuticals
On 27 November 2019, the Medicines and Medical Devices Agency (“Agency”) published an announcement on a registration obligation for medical devices sold with pharmaceuticals. The announcement is prepared by the Agency’s Medical Device Registry and Coordination Department which deals with registry and monitoring of the medical devices by Product Tracking System (“UTS”). Medical device notification procedures, product movements and other related works and transactions are… »
Is the De Minimis Difference Principle Enough to Win a Case for Patent Infringement?
There is no explicit rule in Turkish Law governing the de minimis principle. There have also not been any settled precedents in the Turkish High Court to shed any direct light on this small but important legal principal. However, there have been several infringement actions in the IP courts where the Patentee has alleged that a product differing from the Patent’s scope of protection with trifling, de minimis differences, may still infringe the Patent. The Turkish IP Court’s… »
Non-Use Defence in Litigation Proceedings before Turkish Courts: Special Emphasis on Pharmaceutical Trademarks!
Both the Industrial Property Code No. 6769 (“the IPC”) and the Regulation on the Implementation of the IPC (“the Regulation”) were published and entered into force in 2017, uniting all IP rights in one Code which were priorly regulated by different decree-laws. Article 25/7 of the IPC regulates invalidation actions and Article 29/2 regulates infringement actions regarding trademarks. Both articles refer in their last paragraphs to Article 19 foreseeing the procedures for the… »
Constitutionality of 5% Interest Rate Payment Rule Under Press Labour Law
On 19 September 2019 the Constitutional Court found that the requirement for employers to pay interest at a rate of 5% for each day that a journalist's overtime payments remain outstanding conflicts with the Constitution. As such, the court repealed this requirement.(1) Background Under Turkish law, journalists are subject to the Press Labour Law 5953, which sets out their employment rights, including their right to a salary. Pursuant to the law, where salary payments are not… »
Regulation on Intellectual Property Academy Enters Into Force
The Intellectual Property Academy was founded by presidential decree in July 2018 The Regulation on the Intellectual Property Academy was published in the Offi cial Gazette on 14 November 2019 and entered into force on the same day Among other things, the regulation sets out the working procedures and principles of the academy, as well as its educational, consultancy, research and coordination activities In the past years, several concrete and important steps have been… »
The Long Arm of the Privacy Regulation
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) has been one of the most important regulations for the companies in Europe and also some of the companies in other countries. However, Europe is not the only jurisdiction with a privacy regulation. Various other countries like Turkey, Japan, South Korea, and Australia have privacy laws. A company located in Europe has to take into account the provisions of both the GDPR and the privacy regulations of other countries where it does… »