Advertisement Board’s Power to Block Access was Annulled
The Turkish Constitutional Court (“Court”) annulled paragraph 12 of Article 77 of the Consumer Protection Law, which granted the Advertisement Board the power to partially or entirely block access to websites containing unlawful advertising content. The relevant rule was considered to be unconstitutional pursuant to the Court’s decision dated 13 September 2023 and numbered 2022/70 E. - 2023/152 K. In its decision, the Court ruled that the scrutinized legal rules do not meet… »
Discount Sale Ads and Loyalty Programs Under the Microscope
The Advertisement Board ("Board") closely monitors the discount sales campaigns, which have become a tradition in e-commerce, held in November and known as "Legendary November Discounts", "Fabulous Friday Discounts", where discounts at various rates are announced for a large number of products. The Board imposes administrative sanctions on discount sales advertisements and practices that deceive and mislead consumers and create the perception that there is a higher price… »
Alcoholic Beverage Advertisements through Alibi Branding
Brand communication of alcoholic products to consumers is strictly prohibited in Türkiye and there is full prohibition of advertisement of alcohol, any manner in all forms of media. This ban includes broadcasts on TV and radio, advertisements in cinema, product placement, printed media, as well as advertisements on social media and digital platforms. Alibi branding is an alternative mechanism for promotion of alcohol brands and in fact, this is a grey area. Although there is… »
Dark Patterns on the Advertisement Board's Agenda
Unfair commercial practices, also known as the "dark patterns", have entered the agenda of the Advertisement Board. Dark patterns may in fact be considered as unfair commercial practices regulated under the Regulation on Commercial Advertising and Unfair Commercial Practices ("Regulation"). Pursuant to the Regulation, a consumer-oriented commercial practice is deemed to be unfair if it does not comply with the requirements of professional care and if it significantly impairs… »
First Legal Regulation for Artificial Intelligence Systems: AI Act
Artificial intelligence, which has become one of the most important components of modern technology, has rapidly transformed our interaction with technology, seamlessly integrating into various areas of our daily routines. AI technologies, offering significant advancements and innovative solutions in fields such as medicine, finance, transportation, education and many others, have also brought with sensitivities towards critical issues such as ethics, security and privacy.… »
The First of its Kind: Compensation for Damages Caused by Unfair Preliminary Injunction Decisions in the Pharmaceutical Industry
One must have deep knowledge and experience in many different disciplines to play a role in the solution of complex and multi-layered patent law disputes. One of the most important examples of this situation are compensation actions filed following the abolition of preliminary injunctions in patent disputes related to the pharmaceutical industry. As a matter of fact, the decisions of the courts of first instance and the Court of Appeal in these types of cases give direction… »
A New Slant on the Implementation of the Bolar Exemption in Turkish Patent Law
The Bolar Exemption falls under the provision of Article 85(3)/(c) of the Industrial Property Code No. 6769 (IP Code) and regulates the marketing authorisation of pharmaceuticals, the testing and experiments required for this purpose and the exemption of experimental acts involving the patent subject to the invention from the scope of rights protected by the patent. The aim of the Bolar Exemption is to ensure that Gx pharmaceutical products can be put on the market without… »
SEP: Navigating the Technology-Driven World
Standard-Essential Patents (SEPs) is a concept arising from the interaction between patent rights, which provide exclusive use of an invention and “standards” aimed at the widespread and mandatory use of this innovation in the relevant market. Considering the upward trend in patent litigation arising from SEPs, it would be fair to say that SEP has become patent law’s new buzzword. Licensing SEPs: FRAND Terms Standard Developing Organisations (“SDOs”) determine the technical… »
Fending Off Tactical Patent Invalidation Actions
Filing patent invalidation actions for tactical purposes, such as jeopardizing patent infringement actions of patent owners and gaining time by complicating the infringement proceedings, has become a common strategy of infringers in recent years. With this strategy, the parties infringing the patent may cause the patent owner to suffer due to the inability to enforce their patent as they are entitled to during the limited protection period of 20 years, even if the invalidity… »
Possible Effects of a Unified Patent Court in Türkiye
The concept of the Unified Patent Court (UPC) entered the lives of European Patent holders with the UPC Agreement, an international agreement dated 19 February 2013. The Unified Patent Court started operating as of 01 June, 2023. The Unified Patent Court constitutes a big and important step towards unity of the judiciary for European Union member states. The Statistics and Trends Centre of the European Patent Office (EPO) reported that 17,788 unitary effect requests were made… »
Preventing Price Decreases of Original Pharmaceutical Products with Partial Preliminary Injunctions
Timely and appropriately strategized action is key for owners of pharmaceutical patents wishing to maximise benefits of the rights granted to them. The Turkish Industrial Property Code regulates the exemption of patent rights concerning experimental acts regarding the product subject to the invention, as well as marketing authorisation, and the necessary testing and experiments within its scope. In practice, the Courts occasionally erroneously interpret the wording of the law… »
EU Pharmaceutical Package - EU Pharmaceutical Legislative Reform and its Impact on Türkiye
On 26 April 2023, the European Commission (the “Commission”) adopted a proposal for a new Directive and Regulation (the “Proposal”) which revise and replace the existing general pharmaceutical legislation. The proposal adopted by the Commission replaces the existing general pharmaceutical legislation (Regulation 726/2004 and Directive 2001/83/EC) and the legislation on pharmaceuticals for children and rare diseases (Regulation 1901/2006 and Regulation 141/2000/EC… »