New 2019 Euro FX Rate for Drug Prices for 2019
Özge Atılgan Karakulak and Fatma Sevde Tan, Gun + Partners The Euro exchange rate used for approval of medicine prices in Turkey is determined as per the Decision on Pricing of Human Medicinal Products. The Decision which was published in the Official Gazette numbered 29989, dated 24 February 2017, set the Euro exchange rate as 70% of the average Euro value of the previous year. However, on 14 February 2019, an amendment (Turkish language) was published in the Official… »
Changes to Minimum Wage, Severance Payments and Administrative Fines in 2019
Minimum wage, severance payments and administrative fines prescribed by the Labour Act are revised at the beginning of each calendar year. Minimum wage The minimum wage rate for 2018 was TL2,029.50 (gross) per month. As of 1 January 2019, this has increased to TL2,558.40 (gross) per month. The new rate applies from 1 January 2019 to 31 December 2019. Minimum wage applies to all employees, regardless of age, industry and experience. The only exceptions are the coal and lignite… »
Employee Incentives in Turkey
1. What kinds of incentive plan are most commonly offered and to whom? The most prevalent type of monetary incentive plan in Turkey is bonus paid monthly or annually. For most of the employees this bonus may be calculated as sales commission calculated upon good or services sold to customer or the employees may receive project bonuses from the work performed with their team. The highest ranked employees may also benefit from profit sharing. Some of the companies also… »
Is a Public Interest Compulsory Licence on the Way?
Compulsory licensing (CL) has been one of the most important concepts in the new Turkish IP Law which entered into force in 2017. Although the concept is not new, the new Article 129, among others, provides the following possible conditions for granting a CL: (i) failure to work or insufficient working that does not meet the national market needs before the expiration of a period of four years from the date of filing of the patent application or three years from the date of… »
Corruption Perceptions Index 2018 Has Been Released
Introduction Transparency International announced the results of the 2018 Corruption Perceptions Index (the “2018 Index”) on January 29, 2019. As known, this study has been carried out and published by Transparency International since 1995, and reflects the public sector corruption perspective of experts, non-governmental organisations and representatives of the business world on a scale from 0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean). When compared to the 2017 results, Turkey… »
Minister of Health Announces That Prices of Medicines Will Be Raised by 26,4% from 19 February 2019
The Euro exchange rate used for approval of medicine prices in Turkey is determined as per the Decision on Pricing of Human Medicinal Products (“Decision”). The Euro exchange rate which has long been fixed to TRY 1.9595 and not updated according to the current rate was determined as 70% of the average Euro value of the previous year by the new Decision which was published on 24 February 2017. Accordingly, the Price Evaluation Commission would gather within the first 45 days… »
The New Personal Data Protection Law 2019 in Turkey
On 7 April 2016, a new law on the protection of personal data came into force in Turkey, Data Protection Law 6698 (Data Protection Law). It is the first law of its kind, regulating the protection of personal data, and also introducing many new obligations that persons or entities dealing with personal data (data controllers) must comply with. Until 2016, the protection of personal data, except for certain regulated sectors, was regulated by a single provision in the Turkish… »
One Last Step Before Litigating Your Commercial Receivables: Mandatory Mediation
Introduction In order to improve time and cost efficiency, in recent years the Turkish legislature has created legal initiatives to encourage private parties to settle through compromise rather than litigation. In this regard, mandatory mediation for commercial receivables has been recently introduced via the Law on Legal Procedures to Initiate Proceedings for Monetary Receivables arising out of Subscription Agreements (Law 7155) with new articles being added to the… »
Could a Reduction in a State’s Income Violate Public Policy – A View on Turkey?
The Public Policy Exception as an Unruly Horse There is an ongoing quest for a uniform application of the New York Convention. However, the interpretation of the exceptions to enforcement still varies. Albeit applying the same provisions, national courts continue to adopt different approaches to the enforcement of foreign arbitral awards. This is particularly true where the public policy exception is raised under Art. V(2)(b). Considerable debate exists as to what the public… »
Turkish IP Court Delays Invalidation Action After Considering European Patent Convention
A Turkish generic company filed an invalidation action against a leading US pharmaceutical originator company in Turkey and requested the invalidation of its patent – a Turkish validation of a European patent granted by the EPO. The opposition proceedings were still pending before the EPO at the filing date of the invalidation action in Turkey. The patent owner subsequently requested a delay of the national proceedings, stating that the patent claims could still be amended… »
Mandatory Mediation Introduced for Patent Disputes in Turkey
As per Article 20 of the Commencement of Execution Proceedings in Monetary Receivables Arising from Subscription Agreements Code, Article 5/A was incorporated into the Turkish Commercial Code on 1 January 2019. The article introduces mandatory mediation for claims involving commercial receivables. The new provisions do not apply to pending lawsuits before first-instance courts, regional civil courts or the Court of Cassation. Applications for mediation must be finalised… »
Mediation now Mandatory for Monetary-related IP Disputes
Mediation now mandatory for claims relating to commercial receivables As civil suits falling under IP-related codes are considered as commercial actions, mediation is now mandatory for certain types of IP disputes It is expected that mediation will become mandatory for other types of IP disputes Discretionary mediation was first introduced into the Turkish legal system in 2013 by Law No 6325 on Mediation in Civil Disputes as one of the alternative dispute resolution… »