Insights

What Are the Recent Decisions and Announcements Made by Government Health Institutions?

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Life Sciences || Özge Atılgan Karakulak and Dicle Doğan

The outbreak of coronavirus (COVID-19), which has been declared as pandemic by the World Health Organization, has led to widespread measures being taken around the world. The coronavirus, first seen in Wuhan, China, in December 2019, has been detected in almost 340,000 cases in 192 countries as of today, creating a global crisis with a death toll of over 19,000. The number of cases and deaths started to rise rapidly after the announcement of the first case detection in Turkey...»

Is a Minor Difference From a Patented Range Enough to Win an Infringement Case?

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Patents and Utility Models || Selin Sinem Erciyas and Zeynep Çağla Üstün

Co-published There is no explicit rule in Turkish law that covers patent infringement in cases where a product possesses a minor difference from a patented range. Further, Turkish High Court decisions have not shed any direct light on this matter. However, there have been several infringement actions brought before IP courts, wherein a rights holder has alleged that a product, which varies slightly from its patent’s scope of protection, is considered to be infringing. Thus fa...»

No Separate Claim for Interest Needed When Increasing Value of Claim in Dispute

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Dispute Management || Beril Yayla Sapan and Asena Aytuğ Keser

On 24 May 2019 the Supreme Court General Assembly on the Unification of Judgments (General Assembly) concluded that the plaintiff in a partial monetary action need not reiterate its claim for interest when increasing the value of the claim if it claimed interest for its principal receivables in the plaint petition and the claim of interest will automatically apply for the amount which is increased later on (Decision 2017/8 E, 2019/3 K). Background Partial claim actions are fi...»

Key Developments and Predictions for Copyright Law in Turkey

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Copyrights || Gün + Partners

Copyright protection is granted under Law on Intellectual and Artistic Works No. 5846 (the “LIAW”) in Turkey. The LIAW entered into force on January 01, 1952, and was amended in the years of 1983, 1995, 2001, 2004, 2007 and, lastly, 2008. The Draft Bill on the Amendment of the Code (the “Draft Bill”) was published for public opinion on May 05, 2017; however, there is currently no indication that this Draft Bill will enter into force in the near future. On the other hand, the ...»

Coronavirus Support Package Announced on 18 March 2020 and Its Effects on Sectoral Basis

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Corporate and M&A , Employment , Administrative, Tax and Regulatory , Construction and Real Estate and Finance || Pelin Baysal and Beril Yayla Sapan

After first seen in December 2019 in Wuhan, China, the coronavirus -which leads to Covid-19 disease- has spread to 192 countries in only three months. The number of confirmed coronavirus cases has exceeded 340,000 globally with the number of deaths exceeding over 14,000 as of 23 March 2020. The first case of coronavirus in Turkey was detected on 11 March 2020. The number of cases in Turkey had increased to 1236 in the following 13 days with 30 citizens losing their lives due ...»

Key Developments and Predictions for Media and Advertising Law in Turkey

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Technology, Media and Telecom || Gün + Partners

In Turkey, the central piece of legislation on advertising law compliance issues is Turkish Consumer Protection Law numbered 6502 (“CPL”), the Regulation on Commercial Advertisements and Unfair Commercial Practices (the “Advertising Regulation”), prepared in line with the CPL and Broadcasting Law No. 6112. Broadcast media advertising is ruled and supervised by the RTUK, which is an autonomous and impartial public legal entity. The RTUK regulates and supervises the radio, tele...»

Innovator Companies Seek to Protect Themselves Against Generic Companies

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Patents and Utility Models || Özge Atılgan Karakulak and Aysel Korkmaz Yatkın

In order to contribute to human health, innovative pharmaceutical companies carry out studies that take many years and require huge amounts of investment and research, and as a result, they obtain patent protection for their inventions for a limited period of time. It is very important that the patent rights, which are limited only for a certain period of time, can be used and protected effectively. Applying for abridged marketing authorisation (MA) by referencing the origina...»

Claiming Compensation for IP Infringement

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Trademarks and Designs || Hande Hançar and Güldeniz Doğan Alkan

IP right owners suffer a huge amount of damages in some IP right infringement cases as they invest substantial amounts for their rights. Therefore, compensation claims are of vital importance for IP right owners in order to recover their damages, protect reputation and have a deterrent impact on the infringing party. Since every IP right infringement act is primarily a tort, it is necessary to prove the wrongful act, fault of the infringing party, incurred damage and the casu...»

Is Digital Service Tax Dead Already? Legal Barriers in the Way of Collecting Digital Service Tax in 2020

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Administrative, Tax and Regulatory || Pelin Baysal and Muzaffer Atar

New taxes entered into our lives with the Act numbered 7194 which was published in the Official Gazette on 7 December 2019. One of these taxes is Digital Service Tax. The law provides that digital service providers are liable for this tax at a ratio of 7,5% over the revenue they generate from their digital services. The examples of such digital services include games, software, applications, music, video, online advertisement and online market place services. If tax payers ar...»

Insurance Litigation 2020 in Turkey

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Insurance and Reinsurance || Pelin Baysal and Ilgaz Önder

Fora 1. In what fora are insurance disputes litigated? In the Turkish judicial system, insurance disputes are resolved by the commercial courts, irrespective of the amount or value of the dispute. On the other hand, insurance disputes arising out of maritime law are heard by a specialised commercial court. If a province has no specialised court or any other regular commercial court, disputes are heard by the general competent court, namely a civil court of first instan...»

World Intellectual Property Rights and Remedies 2020, Turkey Chapter

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Trademarks and Designs and Patents and Utility Models || Uğur Aktekin , Özge Atılgan Karakulak and Mutlu Yıldırım Köse

World Intellectual Property Rights and Remedies features analysis and commentary by leading practitioners on key intellectual property legislation from jurisdictions throughout Europe, Latin America, and Asia, as well as English translations of key intellectual property legislation from non-English-speaking jurisdictions. Each chapter clearly describes the nuances of local practice regarding how to register and protect copyrights, patents, trade, and service marks. Find helpf...»

Court of Appeal Reverses Own Decision in WING CHUN Case

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

The First-Instance IP Court rejected a request for the invalidation of the mark WING CHUN in Classes 41 and 45, and the Court of Appeal affirmed On further appeal, the Court of Appeal reversed its own opinion The court held that the mark should be invalidated for some of the remaining services in Class 41 Background In 2011 the defendant applied to register the trademark WING CHUN in Classes 41 and 45, including sports activities, educational services, organisation of sympo...»