The Guideline for Environmental Claims in Advertising Has Been Published
The Guideline for Environmental Claims in Advertising (“Guideline”), enacted by the Advertisement Board at the meeting dated 13.12.2022 and numbered 328, has been published. The purpose of the Guideline is to inform persons, institutions and organizations on legal compliance of their environmental claims contained in commercial advertisements and commercial practices conducted by advertisers, advertisement agencies and media organizations. Highlights of the Guideline… »
What The Plausibility Requirement Means For Turkish IP Law
Grounds for invalidation of a patent under the Turkish Industrial Property Law (6769) are listed as per the numerus clausus principle. The concept of plausibility – which, in recent years, has been the subject of numerous evaluations (especially by the EPO) and frequently debated in academic circles – has not yet found a place within the scope of any legal regulation in Turkey and there is no consensus on the Turkish word that meets this concept as a legal term. However, the… »
The Euro Value Applied to Pharmaceutical Prices was increased by 36.77%
On 14 December 2022, the presidential decree numbered 6546 (“Decree”) amending the Decision on Pricing of Medicinal Products for Human Use (“Decision”) was published in the Official Gazette numbered 32043. With the provisional clause added to the Decision, the effective date of the changes made in real source price or ex-factory price as per Article 10 of the Communique on the Pricing of Medicinal Products for Human Use, was determined to be the publication date of this… »
State Council’s Decision on the Rules and Procedures Regarding Experts at Insurance Arbitration Commission
Article 16(12) of the Regulation on Insurance Arbitration ("the Regulation") stipulates that arbitrators can decide to get the opinion and vote of an expert upon the request of one of the parties or ex-officio, if the case requires special or technical knowledge which falls outside of legal expertise. Board of Directors of the Insurance Arbitration Commission issues a list of experts for the arbitrators to apply each year as per the rules set out by the Turkish Insurance and… »
Court of Cassation Puts an End to Long-Running Sheraton Dispute
Background In 2015 the Turkish Court of Cassation (CoC) found that the trademark SOYIÇ HOTEL and device (depicted below on the left) was confusingly similar to Sheraton’s well-known device mark (depicted below on the right), so that there was likelihood of confusion (decision of the 11th Chamber of the Court of Cassation dated 9 March 2015, merit number 2014/ 18262, decision number 2015/ 3101). The CoC also held that Sheraton’s device trademark is well known in its… »
Authorization Obligation is on the Horizon for OTT Services
The law, known as the 'disinformation law,' entered into force after being published in the Official Gazette on October 18, 2022. The new period for all OTT service providers, which provide interpersonal electronic communications services within the scope of audio, visual, written communications provided to the end users or subscribers having internet access, independently from the operators and internet services, through a publicly available software, has started on October… »
Sanction Against Shoe Ad Disrespecting Food
The Advertisement Board rendered a recent guiding decision implementing Article 7/2 of the Regulation on Commercial Advertisement and Unfair Commerce Practices (“Regulation”) titled “Accuracy and Honesty” and ruling that “Advertisements shall be in compliance with the principles of fair competition which have gained acceptance in both business life and in public opinion within the framework of the sense of economic and social responsibility” The decision pertains to the… »
Court Provides Guidance on How to Conclude Actions For Undue Receivables
Introduction The potential conclusion of actions initiated for undue receivables has been a controversial issue under Turkish law. There have been several different opinions on how the courts should conclude these cases. Certain courts have dismissed them on procedural grounds, while others have examined the merits. Recently, the Grand General Assembly on the Unification of Judgments of the Court of Cassation rendered a unification decision on how to conclude actions… »
Recent Changes in Relation to Determination of Companies Subject to Independent Auditing
The Presidential Decision No. 6434 on Determination of Companies subject to Independent Auditing (the “Decision”) was published in the Official Gazette on November 30, 2022. The Decision provides significant changes to the independent auditing thresholds compared to the Decision No. 2018/11597 on Determination of Companies subject to Independent Auditing, which will remain in force until January 1, 2023. With the effect of the Decision, publicly-traded companies that exceed… »
Extension of the Deadline Regarding Amendments to the Communiqué With Respect to Capital Loss and Negative Equity
The Communiqué (the “Amending Communiqué”) published in the Official Gazette on November 8, 2022, extended the deadline provided under Provisional Article 1 of the Communiqué on the Procedures and Principles Regarding Implementation of Article 376 of the Turkish Commercial Code No. 6101 (the “Implementation Communiqué”). The Implementation Communiqué was previously amended on December 26, 2020, and certain loss items were excluded from the calculation of capital loss or… »
New Provision Introduced to Decision on Drug Pricing
On 9 November 2022, the Presidential Decree numbered 6365 Amending the Decree on Pricing of Medicinal Products for Human Use (Turkish language) (Decision) was published in the Official Gazette numbered 32008. The following paragraph has been added under Article 2 of the Decision: "Discount practices that cause temporary price changes in the country/countries where the product is offered for sale, special practices related to product classification and taxation practices shall… »
Guidelines on Donation of Non-Approved Drugs
On 28 September 2022, the Turkish Medicines and Medical Devices Agency (Agency) published guidelines (Turkish language) on donation from abroad of human medicinal products that are not approved in Turkey on its official website. The guidelines have been prepared to determine the procedures and principles regarding donation from foreign companies within the scope of the Regulation on Licensing of Human Medicinal Products. The most significant provisions of the guidelines are… »