Insights

Thought Leadership

COVID-19 HUB

COVID-19 HUB

Our COVID-19 HUB is designed to keep our stakeholders updated and help them understand the legal effects of COVID-19 outbreak, and take steps to maintain their businesses in Turkey.

Commercial Dispute Resolution Under Turkish Law Rules, Developments and Insights - 2020

Commercial Dispute Resolution Under Turkish Law Rules, Developments and Insights - 2020

We focus on the four main topics of commercial dispute resolution under Turkish law, and the most important and challenging issues in commercial dispute resolution under Turkish law.

Patent Law in Turkey Key Developments and Predictions - 2020

Patent Law in Turkey Key Developments and Predictions - 2020

We focus on the key aspects of patent litigation in Turkey, and the most important or challenging issues in Turkish Patent Law.

Trademark Law in Turkey Key Developments and Predictions - 2020

Trademark Law in Turkey Key Developments and Predictions - 2020

We focus on the eight main challenges encountered in the interpretation and implementation of key changes introduced by the IP Code.

Copyright Law in Turkey Key Development and Predictions

Copyright Law in Turkey Key Development and Predictions

In the report, we outline seven controversial issues that we often encounter in Turkish copyright Law.

Life Sciences Law in Turkey Key Developments and Predictions - 2020

Life Sciences Law in Turkey Key Developments and Predictions - 2020

We focus on the key aspects of life sciences in Turkey, the most important and challenging issues in Turkey’s life sciences industry.

Media and Advertising Law in Turkey Key Developments and Predictions - 2020

Media and Advertising Law in Turkey Key Developments and Predictions - 2020

We focus on the key aspects of media and advertising law in Turkey, and the most important or challenging issues in Turkish media and advertising Law.

Data Protection and Privacy Law in Turkey Key Developments and Predictions

Data Protection and Privacy Law in Turkey Key Developments and Predictions

We focus on the key aspects of data privacy matters and developments in Turkey, and the most important or challenging issues regarding the same.

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Monthly Newsletters

November 2020

November 2020

We are pleased to publish our monthly newsletters to update our community and clients about legal developments in Turkey.

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Advertisement Board Imposed Sanctions due to False Health Claims in Advertising of Food Supplements

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Technology, Media and Telecom and Life Sciences || Hande Hançar and Baran Güney

In its decision dated 14th of July 2020 the Advertisement Board imposed sanction against the advertisement of a food supplement branded “No Attack”. According to Advertisement Board the advertising of this food supplement by celebrities in Turkey as well as the producer itself incorporated false health claim. Hence the Advertisement Board ordered to cease the broadcast of the said advertisements in any media and imposed administrative monetary fine corresponding to TRL 104.78...»

ICTA’s Decision on Social Network Providers

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Data Protection and Privacy || Begüm Yavuzdoğan Okumuş and Selin Başaran Savuran

Definition of "Social Network Provider" has been added to the Law numbered 5651 on the Regulation of Internet Broadcasts and Prevention of Crimes Committed through Such Broadcasts (“Internet Law”) with the amendments that entered into force as of October 01, 2020. Although the amendments have regulated main issues concerning social network providers, the details of their obligations and sanctions have been subject to discussions and required more clarification. Accordingly on...»

Turkish Court of Appeal Rules on Abuse of the Right to Sue

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Trademarks and Designs || Güldeniz Doğan Alkan and Dilan Sıla Kayalıca

In a recent case concerning trade mark law, the Turkish Court of Appeal ruled that even in cases of bad faith on the part of the defendant, the claimant can face the principle of loss of right due to silence as well as the barrier of abuse of the right to sue. The decisions As some readers may be aware, two German companies, Speck Pumpen Verkaufsgesellschaft GmbH and Winter Pumpen GmbH, had a dispute over the SPECK trade mark. This trade mark conflict included some actions b...»

COVID-19’s Impact on Compliance Issues and Internal & External Investigations

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Business Crimes and Anti-Corruption || Filiz Toprak Esin

COVID-19 outbreak, which was announced to be a pandemic by the World Health Organization on 11 March 2020[1], had inevitable impacts on corporate compliance processes due to the evolving business and workplace practices. In parallel with the increase in remote working, along with the psychological and financial distress on individuals emerging from the crisis, many companies have come up against a changing landscape for fraud with a rising number of fraud cases, as well as th...»

Court of Cassation's Latest Approach to Actions for Unquantified Amounts of Receivables

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Dispute Management || Beril Yayla Sapan, Asena Aytuğ Keser and Melis Sılacı Korkmaz

Introduction When the new Code of Civil Procedure was enacted in 2011, it introduced a new case type to Turkish litigation, enabling plaintiffs to file actions for unquantified amounts of receivables, the determination of which is left to the courts. When filing such actions, plaintiffs must: state the amount of determinable receivables as the minimum amount subject to the dispute; pay a case fee based on this amount; extend their claim to the amount calculated by the court;...»

COVID-19’s Impact on Contracts and Relation with Force Majeure

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Corporate and M&A || Gün + Partners

The following statements are intended to help clarify the current legal situation caused by COVID-19 in terms of contracts and are valid for contractual relations subject to Turkish law. If contracting parties choose a law other than Turkish law as the law to be applied to the contract, the following statements may not apply. In such cases, the matter would have to be interpreted according to the law under which the contractual relationship is governed. 1. What is Force Majeu...»

COVID-19 and Personal Data Protection

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Data Protection and Privacy || Begüm Yavuzdoğan Okumuş and Selin Başaran Savuran

1. Can processing personal data for the purpose of protecting public health within the scope of the struggle and measures taken to prevent the Covid-19 epidemic and its risk be considered as an exception under the Personal Data Protection Law in Turkey? What are the legal reasons for data processing within this scope? Under Article 28 of the Law on the Protection of Personal Data No. 6698 ("Law No. 6698"), cases that may be exempted from the application of the Law are listed....»

Effects of COVID-19 Pandemic on Grace Periods and Use Obligation Provided for Trademarks in Turkey

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Trademarks and Designs || Güldeniz Doğan Alkan and Ayşenur Çıtak

Effects of Covid-19 pandemic on trademarks’ use requirement has been discussed globally and it is also a hot topic in Turkey. In order to discuss its effects, the grace periods provided for trademarks in the Turkish Industrial Property Code (“the IPC”) and justified reasons for non-use will be explained first. After giving an outline of the precautions taken against the Covid-19 pandemic in Turkey, we will provide our comments on the matter. General Information Regarding the ...»

Turkey’s New Data Storage and Transfer Requirements for Banks

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Data Protection and Privacy and Finance || Begüm Yavuzdoğan Okumuş and Direnç Bada

Amendments to Turkish Banking Law No. 5411 in February 2020 introduced important provisions regarding how banks handle confidential customer data. Based on these provisions, the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency introduced a secondary regulation that was finalized in March, the Regulation on Banks’ Information Technology and Electronic Banking Services. This regulation contains binding provisions related to data processing and transferring of bank customers. Definitio...»

Restrictions on Dividend Distribution Extended to 31 December 2020

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Corporate and M&A || Görkem Bilgin and Ahmet Niyazi Ülkü

Within the scope of the fight against the Covid-19, the provisional article 13, which was added to the Turkish Commercial Code ("TCC") on April 16, 2020, brought some restrictions on the dividend distribution rights of equity companies until 30 September 2020 and the exemptions regarding the companies covered by the regulation, the procedures and principles in relation to the practice were determined by the Communiqué issued by the Ministry of Commerce ("Ministry") and publis...»

Product Liability and Safety 2020 in Turkey

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Dispute Management || Pelin Baysal and Ilgaz Önder

Sources of law 1. What are the main areas of law and regulation relating to product liability? Turkey does not currently have specific legislation on product liability. However, the Product Safety and Technical Regulations Law 7223, which will enter into force on 12 March 2021, introduces a specific liability regime. This answer refers both to the current law and to the new product liability regime under Law 7223. Product liability claims of a commercial nature are based mai...»

Data Controllers’ Registry (VERBIS)

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Data Protection and Privacy || Gün + Partners

Pursuant to Article 16 of the Data Protection Law, an obligation to register in the Data Controllers Registry has been introduced for data controllers. In 2018, the Board issued decisions granting exemptions from registration obligation to certain professional groups, associations and political parties. The Board also granted a general exemption to local data controllers that have less than 50 employees, and actively less than TRY 25 million on their balance sheets. Data cont...»