Introduction
The fight against corruption is a serious challenge in the pharmaceutical sector in Turkey and worldwide. This is because the state is generally the main buyer of goods and services provided by pharmaceutical companies and healthcare professionals such as doctors play a significant role as decision makers in the purchasing process.
Interactions between pharmaceutical companies, healthcare professionals and healthcare organisations are highly regulated by general…
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The European Patent Convention (EPC) is part of Turkish domestic law and is enforced in Turkey under Article 90 of the Constitution. As an international agreement, it cannot be declared unconstitutional. The EPC can be applied directly in Turkey and is legally binding. Under it, Turkey recognises the competence and decisions of institutions established under the EPC. Member states cannot declare their preference for decisions of European Patent Office (EPO) bodies (eg, the…
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The applicant filed a trademark application for the sign depicted below, seeking registration in Class 3 of the Nice Classification:
The opponent is the owner of prior trademark registrations with WIPO for the exact same sign and has been using that sign for the same goods for years. It opposed the application pursuant to:
Article 8/3 of the Decree Law No 556 on the Protection of Trademarks (genuine rights of the opponent);
Article 8/4 (well-known status of the cited…
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Turkey is a country almost barren of oil and natural gas resources. Its production is minimal when compared to its hydrocarbon rich neighbours such as Azerbaijan, Russia, Iraq and Iran. Although recent exploration activities suggest a potential in terms of oil and natural gas, Turkey is not expected to be an important oil or natural gas producer in the short or even mid-term.
Although Turkey does not have the natural resources of its neighbours, it still has a specific…
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The Assembly of Civil Chambers of the Court of Appeals recently ruled that trademarks containing identical descriptive phrases give rise to a likelihood of confusion, thereby reversing the first-instance court’s decision that there is no likelihood of confusion between such trademarks. The assembly’s approach grants exclusive rights over descriptive and generic phrases found in trademarks which could legitimise unfair competition between rights holders and render notions such…
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