Turkey Increases R&D Incentives
The Turkish government has introduced a new incentive scheme to attract foreign investors in hope that Turkey becomes a key center for pharmaceutical R&D. Turkey’s pharmaceutical industry ranks as the sixth largest in Europe, and the 16th largest globally (1). Last year, the Turkish Government unveiled plans to position the country in the top 10 most-preferred locations for R&D investment in the pharmaceutical sector by 2023. Since the creation of the modern Republic… »
Anti-Bribery and Corruption Review 2014, 3rd Edition, Turkey Chapter
I INTRODUCTION Anti-bribery and anti-corruption, which have not yet strongly differentiated themselves from one another in Turkey, have been a very hot topic in recent times. Society, lawmakers and the judiciary have taken a staunch approach against bribery in their own ways. Society has raised its voice against bribery and corruption where possible as it regards bribery and corruption as an obstacle to the target of reaching the economic level of developed… »
TPI's Change of Practice Should Help Prevent Bad-Faith Applications
In April 2011 a trademark application consisting of two words - in which the second word was the trademark (registered worldwide) and trade name of an Italian company - was filed in the name of a Turkish company before the TPI. Although the Italian company filed an opposition against the application, it was expected to proceed to registration, as the applicant had held a valid trademark registration for the phrase at issue since 1999. Even though this registration was the… »
TPI’s Change of Practice Should Help Prevent Bad-faith Applications
In an important decision, the Turkish Patent Institute (TPI) has changed its position concerning applications filed in bad faith. In April 2011 a trademark application consisting of two words – in which the second word was the trademark (registered worldwide) and trade name of an Italian company – was filed in the name of a Turkish company before the TPI. Although the Italian company filed an opposition against the application, it was expected to proceed to registration, as… »
Better Protection for Genuine Right Owners Against Trade Mark Squatters: Compensation for Damages for Bad Faith
General Assembly of the Civil Chambers of the Court of Appeals decision, 27 March 2013, Merit No 2013/11-209, Decision No 2013/399 The Turkish Court of Appeals (CoA), upholding a ruling of the Ankara IP court (Ankara 2nd Civil Court of Intellectual and Industrial Property Rights, decision of 24 February 2011; Merit No 2011/15; Decision No 2011/51), recently ruled that if it is determined by an IP court that the defendant filed an application in bad faith to obtain a… »
Turkey: Tackling Counterfeits at the Border
It has almost become tautological to state that Turkey’s geographical location makes the country not only a natural trade route, but also a thriving hub for the dissemination of counterfeit products around the globe. Turkey’s economy has enjoyed seismic growth over the past decade, and so has its counterfeit sector. However, in recent years have there have been stringent efforts to counteract the expansion and reduce the trade of counterfeit products in Turkey. To both… »