Attempted Coup’s Impact on Turkish Judiciary
The failed coup represents the loss of almost one fifth of the judicial workforce in one go. It leaves an enormous workload, as the Judiciary will have to deal with the huge number of charges that are being brought before them, not only against their own members but also against thousands of military and public personnel. However, it should be noted that the majority of the conglomerate judiciary remains in duty and intact as the courts continued their normal functioning on… »
Turkish Patent Institute Reconsiders Absolut Refusal
A trademark application consisting of a 3D multi-visual representation of the famous Absolut vodka bottle filed for Class 33 alcoholic beverages was initially rejected by the Turkish Patent Institute (TPI) on absolute grounds, as the application was found devoid of distinctive character under Article 7(a) of Trademark Decree Law 556. In response to an appeal, the TPI board held that even though there were no sufficient grounds to declare the application inherently… »
Court Appoints Former Partner as Gratuitous Bailee to Preserve Company Books
Introduction Under Article 82 of the Commercial Code (6102/2011), merchants are obliged to preserve company books and records, such as daybooks, inventories, general ledgers and general assembly decision books. The obligation to preserve a company’s books extends to post-liquidation, as per Article 544 of the Commercial Code, which provides that a company’s books and records must be preserved following the end of the liquidation process in accordance with Article 82. Article… »
New Draft Industrial Property Law in Progress
After being opened for the public consultation by The Turkish Patent Institute (“TPI”), the Draft Industrial Property Law (“Draft Law”) was sent to Turkish Parliament for the final vote. The Draft Law contains provisions on trademarks, patents, industrial designs and geographical indications which are currently addressed by separate Decree Laws. The Draft Law clarifies and enacts some issues which have been developed by the courts and are accepted by TPI on the basis of… »
Data Protection Issues in Turkey
In the meantime, the long awaited Data Protection Law (the “Law”) entered into force on April 7, 2016 just days after the news of Turkey’s biggest data breach. For many years, Turkey had lacked a separate legislative measure regarding the issue of data protection. Previous draft laws that had been sent to the Turkish Parliament were either returned to the proposing committee or not even discussed. Adoption of data protection law was a real need both for the Turkish society… »
Talking Turkey
In order to comply with the codification system of the Turkish law further to the decisions of the Constitutional Court, a draft IP law (the Draft I Law) has been prepared by the Turkish Patent Institute (TPI) relating to all IP rights other than copyrights. On 24 February 2016, The Ministry of Science, Industry and Technology circulated the Draft Law on the TPI’s website, with the consultation ending on 4 March 2016. When enacted, the Draft Law will replace the decree-laws… »