Guideline on Scientific Meetings on Medical Devices Updated
On 22 August 2023, the Turkish Medicines and Medical Devices Agency (Agency) announced an updated Guideline on Scientific Meetings and Educational Activities to be Held in Accordance with the Regulation on Sales, Advertising and Promotion of Medical Devices (Turkish language) (Guideline) on its official website. The Guideline replaced the previous version dated 15 November 2022. The Guideline was updated shortly after the revision made to the Regulation on Sales, Advertising… »
Healthcare Regulation 2024 in Turkey
1. Organisation, financing and structure of the healthcare system Organisation How is healthcare in your jurisdiction organised? What is the role of government? The healthcare system is governed principally by the Fundamental Law on Healthcare Services No. 3359 and dated 15 May 1987, which furnishes the Ministry of Health (MoH) with the authority to issue healthcare-related regulations and establish a healthcare system enabling each and every person living in Turkey… »
An In-Depth Analysis of Inventorship of AI and Türkiye’s Position
“In recent legal debates, the patentability of AI-generated inventions has been contentious. Historically, only humans were considered inventors, anchored in notions of personhood and intellect. Yet, in a bold move, South Africa and Australia's Federal Court recognised AI, specifically DABUS, as a potential inventor in 2021, defying conventional views. Proponents argue that this accommodates modern innovation trends, while sceptics raise concerns about ownership rights… »
The Guideline on Consumer Reviews Has Been Published
The Guideline on Consumer Reviews (“Guideline”), enacted by the Advertisement Board at the meeting dated 12.09.2023 and numbered 337, has recently been published. The purpose of the Guideline is to inform advertisers, advertising agencies, media organizations and persons, institutions and organizations engaged in advertising activities on fundamental principles regarding consumer reviews, obligation of informing consumers and procedure for checking reviews before publication… »
Turkish Court of Cassation’s Comparison of Goods in Different Subclasses
During 2022, the 11th Civil Chamber of the Turkish Court of Cassation (the CoC) issued several decisions regarding trade marks covering goods in class 5. The CoC formed its evaluation on the likelihood of confusion by comparing the subclasses of class 5. The details of the decisions are provided below: Aster v Paster A cancellation action was filed against the Office’s decision rejecting the opposition filed against the trade mark PASTER in class 5 relying upon the… »
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) from Intellectual Property Law Perspective and Türkiye’s Position
Introduction On 20 September 2017, the term “NFT” (non-fungible token) was officially coined by Dapper Labs Chief Technology Officer Dete Shirley in the form of the ERC-721 standard. NFTs boomed in 2021 and have remained relevant since. Despite the drops observed in their market volume in 2023, NFTs are still in the spotlight as numerous global brands are continuing to launch NFT collections and many trademark applications with coverage including NFTs are being filed all… »
Green Or Simply Greenwashing?
Advertisers frequently integrate environmental claims into their advertisements and promotions to portray their products and services as eco-friendly or green, and to shape consumers’ perception of their positive environmental impact. This is particularly influenced by the growing environmental consciousness among consumers and advertisers. However, to prevent advertisements that may be false and misleading to consumers, exploit their environmental sensitivity, and… »
Dilution of Well-known Mark and Applicant’s Bad Faith: PTO Issues Exemplary Decision
The Trademarks Department granted broader protection to the well-known SINGER mark, refusing an application including the term ‘Singer’ in Class 1 The decision examined the conditions for dilution of a well-known mark under Article 6/5 of the IP Code The well-known status of the SINGER mark, as well as the word and graphic elements in the application, played a role in deciding on the applicant’s bad faith The Trademarks Department has decided that the application for… »
Court of Cassation Examines Impact of Bankruptcy on Collection of Employee Receivables
In practice, bankruptcy of a defendant employer during court proceedings related to employee receivables may be confusing for both the parties of a dispute and the courts handling the proceedings. The Court of Cassation recently examined a case where the defendant employer became bankrupt during court proceedings initiated for employment receivables in the decision dated 8 February 2022. (1) Definition of urgent matters According to article 194 of the Enforcement and… »
Council of State's Unification of Decisions on Appeals Filed by Intervening Parties
Until recently, the Council of State of Turkey had an unsettled practice regarding the appealability of decisions by intervening parties where the principal party does not appeal a decision. Indeed, certain chambers of the Council of State allowed intervening parties to appeal decisions regardless of the principal party's choice, whereas the other chambers restricted the intervening parties' right to appeal with the principal party's appeal. Lately, a unification of decisions… »
New Euro Fx Rate For Drug Prices
On 23 July 2023, Presidential Decree numbered 7399 (Turkish language), amending the Decision on Pricing of Medicinal Products for Human Use (Decision), was published in the Official Gazette numbered 32257. Accordingly, the EUR1 value in Turkish Lira, to be used in the pricing of medicinal products for human use (formerly TRY10.7577) was increased by 30.5% and set as TRY14.0387. If the rate of increase in the product-specific price is higher than the rate of increase in the… »
Enforcement of Foreign Judgments 2024 in Turkey
Treaties Is your country party to any bilateral or multilateral treaties for the reciprocal recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments? What is the country’s approach to entering into these treaties, and what, if any, amendments or reservations has your country made to such treaties? Except for multilateral treaties on family law, Turkey is not a signatory to multilateral treaties for the reciprocal recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments. However, Turkey is a… »