Drug Reimbursement Practices
We come across constantly on the street, on the Internet, in the cafés when we go to buy coffee with donation campaigns carried out to cover the costs of patient treatments. Although it is essential for the state to cover the health costs in accordance with the constitutional principle of the social state, we encounter with more news of uncovered treatment costs. For example, Spinal Muscular Atrophy, the disease known colloquially as SMA, results from the inability of… »
Bolar-Like Hurdle for Generics
Precis: The judgment of the Ankara IP court in a case involving a marketing authorisation application demonstrates that an exemption similar to the so-called Bolar exemption can apply to Gx pharmaceutical companies. Background The so-called Bolar exemption was introduced into Turkish law on 22 June 2004 with an amendment to Patent Decree Law No 551 and was maintained in the IP Code that entered into force on 10 January 2017. Article 85/3(c) of the IP Code rules that… »
Similarity Assessment of House Marks
The issue of how the similarity assessment will be carried out in the signs containing house marks is discussed in the Trademark Examination Guideline of the Turkish Patent and Trademark Office, by providing several precedents on this topic. House mark, also referred to as the main, parent or umbrella trademark, is, as the name suggests, an upper concept that serves as a roof to bring together the families of trademarks created by companies. House marks are signs that have… »
Consequences of Decisions in Cases Requiring Technical Expertise Without Expert Examination in Administrative Trials
Introduction Article 31 of the Administrative Procedure Code No. 2577 (“APC”) sets out the cases to which Civil Procedure Code No. 6100 (“CPC”) shall apply where IYUK contains no provisions. As per the referred provision, CPC shall apply to expert examinations. According to Article 266 of the CPC, courts decide to obtain expert opinion in cases where the resolution require special or technical information other than law, ex-officio or upon request of either party. However… »
Neither a Compulsory License nor an IP Waiver is the Solution to Finding or Accessing the Vaccine
Since the pandemic seems to lose its impact and life is going back to normal, it may be a good time to look into the lessons learned so far from Covid 19 pandemic and make necessary preparations against a possible new one. The pandemic brought many discussions on IP rights from day one. As we all know, compulsory licensing was the first solution mechanism depended on by the governments as it was thought that the existing patent rights were the only obstacle to reaching a cure… »
New Regulations Expected For OTT Service Providers
With the bill known as ‘law against disinformation’, there are several provisions specifically related to the Law on the Regulation of Internet Broadcasts and Prevention of Crimes Committed through Such Broadcasts (“Law No. 5651”) and the Press Law. The amendment proposals related to the Law No. 5651 and the Press Law have been on the agenda for a while of the publication of the bill. In addition to these issues discussed widely, with the bill, ‘over the top’ (OTT) services… »