Court Considers Third Party's Product When Evaluating Novelty of Industrial Design
In November 2010 Turkish company SPA Fonksiyonel Gıda İçecek ve Turizm Yatırımları Ticaret İthalat İhracat Limited Şirketi filed an industrial design application for the design reproduced below before the Turkish Patent Institute (TPI). Red Bull GmbH filed an opposition against the application on the grounds of lack of novelty and distinctiveness based on the get-up of the Red Jak energy drink, depicted below, which was on sale in 2006 and 2007. The opposition was also… »
Emergency Buttons for Business Partners
On 21 July 2016, the Council of Ministers of Turkey announced a state of emergency for the entire country due to the failed military coup which took place on 15 July 2016. Following such announcement, the state of emergency period has been further extended for an additional three months starting from 19 January 2017 as per the decision published in the Official Gazette on 5 January 2017. As a consequence of the state of emergency, the Council of Ministers has decided to take… »
Turkish Restrictions on the Internet: The Highly Debated New Law in Turkey Enters into Force and is Subsequently Amended
Social Responsibility Turkish Restrictions on the Internet: The Highly Debated New Law in Turkey Enters into Force and is Subsequently Amended March 11, 2014 Articles — Bentley James Yaffe, Selin Sinem Erciyas and Uğur Aktekin Corporate and M&A Intellectual Property Services First Published: Mondaq, Co-Author, Featured Article: The Law Regarding the Amendment of the Decree Law on the Structure and Duties of the Ministry of Family and… »
Turkey’s New Internet Law Increases State Control
Turkey’s new internet regulations are being seen as draconian. Turkey’s controversial new Omnibus Law, which came into effect on 19 February, has introduced some significant changes to the existing internet publication law. The new law received criticism at every legislative stage, from the initial debates in the commission to the final approval by the president. It introduces amendments that will increase the mechanisms of state and judicial control over internet use and… »
Solar Licence Applications: Testing New Licensing and Contest Regulations
Introduction Taner Yıldız, the minister of energy and natural resources, recently commented that “there cannot be a growing economy without a growing energy sector”. This statement reflects estimations that Turkey’s electricity demand and supply must double by 2023 if the government’s economic goals are to be achieved. Turkey depends heavily on imported oil and gas to produce electricity. The government has put much effort into increasing the use of local resources in… »
Government Rocked By Waves Of Corruption
During the past decade Turkey has undergone a significant economic transformation. While further economic growth is expected, commentators have been shocked by recent alarming allegations. On December 17 2013 a corruption scandal emerged in Istanbul. The investigation commenced after Iranian gold merchant Riza Sarraf was mentioned on the suspect list of the Illicit Money Report prepared by the Turkish Financial Crimes Investigation Board (MASAK) in 2008. In light of the… »
Transfer Of A Business Line: An Asset Transfer, A Transfer Of Commercial Enterprise Or A Spin-Off?
There are various reasons why a company may decided to transfer one or more of its business lines, such reasons being, not deriving sufficient profit, needing to facilitate the management and specialization of different business lines, or simply because during an acquisition the transferee may not wish to acquire ail business lines of the transferor, instead preferring to exclude one or more of the transferor’s business lines from the scope of the acquisition. One of the… »
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… »