Insurance Sector in Progress
Insurance sector, with its non-penetrated potential, has long been considered as one of the prospective vanguards of the economy. The latest developments signify these high hopes held for the insurance market and its contributions. Turkish government has an objective to be the 10th biggest economy in the world by 2023, aiming to generate US$2 trillion worth of gross national product.[1] In line with this objective, the government has the insurance sector, among others, in its… »
Some New Regulations Brought by the Judicial Reform Package
The first step has been taken towards the judicial reform, which has become a hot topic recently. With the Law No. 7188 on Making Amendments to the Code of Criminal Procedure and Certain Laws (“Law No. 7188”) dated 17 October 2019, which took effect with its promulgation in the Official Gazette No. 30928 of 24 October 2019; critical amendments have been made particularly with regards to the criminal procedure. Among these amendments, the ones which are considered to affect… »
Turkish Patent and Trademark Office Published the New Trademark Examination Guideline
Turkish Patent and Trademark Office (“the Office”) published The New Trademark Examination Guideline (“Guideline”) on September 30, 2019. The guideline defines the criteria regarding the examination of trademark applications on absolute grounds within the scope of Industrial Property Code (“the IP Code”) that came into force in 2017. The Guideline aims to update the previous guideline which was in force since 2011, clarify the principles of absolute grounds for refusal that… »
Foreign Equivalent of Geographical Mame May Be Registered If Average Public Would Not Understand Its Meaning
The Trademark and Patent Offi ce refused to register Škoda Auto AS’ mark SUEDIA for automobiles on absolute grounds The Re-examination and Evaluation Board found that, although the term ‘Suedia’ means ‘Sweden’ in Romanian, such meaning would not be readily perceived by the average Turkish consumer This decision adopts a broader interpretation of distinctiveness for marks that include a geographical name in a language that is not widely known to the relevant public A recent… »
Patent and Trademark Office Issues New Guidelines for Examination of Trademark Applications
On 30 September 2019 the Patent and Trademark O ce announced the issuance of new guidelines for the examination of trademark applications The new guidelines are limited to examination on absolute grounds The guidelines include a number of examples from Turkish and EU decisions Following the entry into force of the Turkish Industrial Property Code, which replaced the relevant decree laws, on 10 January 2017, new guidelines had long been needed and awaited. The Turkish Patent… »
EBAY Recorded As a Well-Known Trademark in Turkey
The Re-examination and Evaluation Board of TURKPATENT has acknowledged that EBAY should be recorded as a well-known trademark in Turkey The board took into account the status of the mark around the world and in Turkey, with a focus on the realities of the Turkish marketplace It is important to appeal unfavourable first-instance decisions to take advantage of the REEB examiners’ experience and broad understanding of trademarks Background Well-known status provides extensive… »
Conversion of a Non-Examined Patent to an Examined Patent During Court Proceedings
A Turkish company active in the automotive sector filed a patent infringement action against a German global automotive company. The Turkish company alleged that a system used in the cars of the German company was infringing its non-examined patent granted by the Turkish Patent and Trademark Office (‘TPTO’). As a counter-attack, the German company and its Turkish authorized dealer filed an invalidation action against the non-examined patent in question before the same Court.… »
Communique on Share-based Crowdfunding and What It Brings to Turkish Crowdfunding Market
Raising capital through crowdfunding for business ventures has been an applied method for financing start-ups and business projects in Turkey since the recent change on the Capital Markets Code numbered 6362 in 2017 which recognized crowdfunding. Having regulated the basic norms and rules surrounding crowdfunding, the detailed and more rigorous norms were released by Capital Markets Board in the form of a Communique on 3 October 2019, titled Communique on Share-based… »
International Design Protection, A Global Handbook, Second Edition, Turkey Chapter
Uğur Aktekin and Mutlu Yıldırım Köse has contributed to the Turkey chapter of International Design Protection book which is published by Globe Law and Business Ltd in March 2017. Description Designs have underpinned much of the technological and industrial innovation of recent years. They have become increasingly valuable within the portfolio of intellectual property rights. Indeed, given the extent to which economic growth is driven by these advancements and the… »
Survival of Parties’ Will for Penalty Clauses in Employment Contracts
Penalty clauses agreed for unjust termination of a fixed term employment contract before its expiry are valid and enforceable even if the contract is deemed as an indefinite term employment contract by law due to lack of conditions required to conclude fixed term contracts. With its decision dated 8 March 2019 and numbered 2017/10 E., 2019/1 K., the Supreme Court General Assembly on the Unification of Judgments (“General Assembly”) concluded that penalty clauses agreed for… »
Having Business in the Same Sector is Sufficient for Proving “Legal Interest”
With its decision dated 31.01.2019, General Assembly of Civil Chambers of the Court of Cassation concluded that having business activity in the same sector of both the plaintiff and the defendant is sufficient to accept presence of legal interest in actions with a revocation request of a trademark based on non – use. In the lawsuit filed before Istanbul (Closed) 4th Intellectual and Industrial Rights Civil Court in 2012, the defendant’s trademark was requested to be revoked… »
New Trade Mark Examination Guideline in Turkey
On 30 September 2019, the Turkish Patent and Trademark Office published The New Trademark Examination Guideline that defines the criteria regarding the examination of trade mark applications on absolute grounds within the scope of the Industrial Property Code that came into force in 2017. The main purpose of the Guideline is to update the previous guideline which was in force since 2011, clarify the principles of absolute grounds for refusal that are explained in the IP Code… »