Updates on Mandatory Mediation for IP Disputes
As of January 01, 2019, mediation is mandatory for monetary related commercial disputes in Turkey. In our 2019 thought leadership paper, we shared our opinions on the effects of such development applied to IP related disputes in which compensation or payment of a certain amount is sought. Up to this point, practical impacts of this change were a question, especially for the cases that include both monetary and non-monetary claims. Recent decisions of the Turkish Court of… »
Borders and Principles of Processing Employee Data in Turkey in Light of DPA and Court Decisions
Click here to watch the webinar on this topic. Private life has been protected under the Turkish Constitution before the enactment of Data Protection Law came into force in 2016 in Turkey. Disputes related to monitoring employee personal data in the work place have been subject to court decisions based on the constitutional provisions mostly and also several decisions have been taken by the Data Protection Authority (“DPA”) in this respect. Legal grounds for data processing… »
The Benefits of Filing a Criminal Case Based on Trademark Infringement for Counterfeit Products Subjected to the Crime of Smuggling
Turkey’s geographical location and dynamic population make Turkey an important market for smuggled products and one of the major transit countries. In its most basic definition, a smuggled product corresponds to the products entering the country without permission or with underreporting/false declaration. Products subject to the crime of smuggling comprise a wide range of sectors from pharmaceuticals to tobacco and alcohol products, from textiles to phones and car components.… »
Employing a Trademark as a Domain Name Alone is Not Sufficient to Prove Genuine Use
The first instance Civil Court for Intellectual and Industrial Rights (“IP court”) in its decision rendered in October, 2020, pointed out that the use of the subject mark solely as a domain name is not deemed sufficient to prove the use of the mark as a trademark. The decision concerns a revocation action for non-use filed against a trademark that has been registered for more than five years, but which has not been used properly and effectively with respect to the relevant… »
Implementation of Mandatory Mediation in IP Disputes: Court of Cassation Issues Contradictory Decisions
Background An implementation problem occurs when monetary and non-monetary claims are raised together in IP cases, since the code introducing mandatory mediation does not provide a specic rule for disputes combining both monetary and non-monetary claims in a single case. In such scenario, one of the following three options must be applied by the courts: passing through mandatory mediation and entering into the merits of the case for all claims; dismissing all claims based… »
Analysis on Corruption Perceptions Index 2020 in Times of Covid-19
2020 Corruption Perception Index (“CPI 2020”), Transparency International’s annual report reflecting the perception of corruption in public sector among 180 countries/territories all over the world, was announced on 28 January 2021. The contributions of country experts, non-governmental organisations and representatives of the business world generate the results in the CPI which measures up the countries/territories on a scale from 0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (very… »