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Insights

We share our knowledge and expertise to update our community and clients about legal developments in Turkey.

COVID-19’s Impacts on Trademark Prosecution

1. Within the context of the measures taken for combating COVID-19, how will Turkish Patent and Trademark Office (TURKPATENT) function?TURKPATENT is open and active. In order to keep the number of physically working personnel of TURKPATENT at minimum, flexible working methods such as remote or shift working will continue to be implemented. However, as TURKPATENT is a paperless office and has a functional e-filing system, the services of TURKPATENT are not interrupted in this… »

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

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 28 Million cases in 215 countries as of today, creating a global crisis with a death toll of over 900.000. The number of cases and deaths started to rise rapidly after the announcement of the first case detection in… »

COVID-19: Update on Clinical Research Precautions

Dicle Doğan and Fatma Sevde Tan, Gun + Partners On 25 July 2020, the Turkish Medicines and Medical Devices Agency published an update to its announcement titled Precautions to be taken in Clinical Research due to the COVID-19 pandemic (Turkish language) that was originally published on 20 March 2020. The update reflects feedback collected from the industry. The updated announcement states the following: Applications to conduct online meetings between research personnel… »

District Court Upholds Foreign Mark Owner’s Opposition Based on ‘Genuine Right Ownership’ Ground

Cummins Inc opposed the registration of the mark GENUINE PARTS on the ground of ‘genuine right ownership’ The District Court ruled that Cummins had genuine rights in the mark due to its registrations in the European Union and the United States As the applicant and Cummins operated in the same field of business, the application had been filed in bad faith Background The principle of ‘genuine right ownership’, which is regulated by Article 6/3 of the Turkish Intellectual… »

Amendments to the Law No: 5651 Concerning Social Media

The law amending the Law No. 5651 on the Regulation of Internet Broadcasts and Prevention of Crimes Committed through Such Broadcasts (the “Law No: 5651”) was accepted by the Turkish Grand National Assembly on July 29, 2020 and published in the Official Gazette on 31 July 2020. These amendments, which have been on the agenda for a long time and known as social media regulations, bring fundamental changes. New provisions have been added to the Law No. 5651. Essentially… »

COVID-19: Declarations of Conformity for Medical Devices Valid Only if Issued by Manufacturers

Dicle Doğan and Fatma Sevde Tan, Gun + Partners On 1 July 2020, the Turkish Medicines and Medical Devices Agency published an announcement (Turkish language) stating that declarations of conformity for medical devices issued by organisations other than manufacturers have no validity. Declarations of conformity can only be issued by manufacturers. Products classified under the Turkish Medical Devices Regulation as Class I (non-sterile and non-measuring) products and under the… »

Turkish Court of Appeal Considers Mandatory Mediation Requirement in Disputes Containing Both Monetary and Nonmonetary Claims

Mediation became mandatory for monetary-related commercial disputes from 1 January 2019, but the practical impact of this change had remained unclear Based on a recent Court of Appeal decision, it appears that monetary and non-monetary claims can be filed together without going through mandatory mediation This decision is significant in view of the high number of IP-related cases that include both types of claim Background Mediation became mandatory for monetary-related… »

How Did COVID-19 Impact Employers in Turkey?

Closures Certain sectors were temporarily closed, by administrative order, ceasing all business operations. Those businesses that remained open introduced several workplace practices in order to minimise the risk of transmission, in line with their occupational health and safety obligations, which have been heightened in current circumstances. Governmental facilities granted to employers The Governmental authorities provided a prohibition on the termination of employment for… »

COVID-19 Impact on Trademarks

Having affected the whole world, Covid 19 pandemic also had an impact on trademark law as the other areas of law. When considered in detail, it can be seen that trademark law is affected in various aspects by the Covid 19 pandemic. As a matter of fact, one of the most apparent examples of this impact is that the number of trademark applications related to the Covid 19 period has risen, although the number of trademark applications in total has decreased. Worldwide known… »

Postponed Articles of the Turkish Code of Obligations Concerning Workplaces Have Entered Into Force

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Although the Turkish Code of Obligations No. 6098 ("TCO") entered into force on 1 July 2012; with Article 53 of the Law on Amendment of Certain Laws and Decree Laws dated July 4, 2012 and numbered 6353, enforcement of Articles 323, 325, 331, 340, 342, 343, 344, 346 and 354 of the TCO (“Postponed Articles”) has been postponed for 8 years as of 1 July 2012 for workplace lease agreements where the lessee is a merchant in the scope of the Turkish Commercial Code ("TCC") or a… »

Discovery of Evidence and Preliminary Injunction Demands During COVID-19

Co-published An IP court has accepted the discovery of evidence demand made by an originator company against a generic pharmaceutical company after the court’s expert panel confirmed that patent infringement had occurred, but has then rejected the originator’s request for a preliminary injunction due to the so-called ‘Bolar’ exemption. Facts An originator company filed a discovery of evidence request with a preliminary injunction demand against a generic company that… »

Web-based Scientific Meetings of Medical Device Companies

Dicle Doğan and Fatma Sevde Tan, Gun & Partners On 11 June 2020, the Turkish Medicines and Medical Devices Agency published new guidelines (Turkish language) on scientific meetings and educational activities regarding medical devices. The guidelines, which were updated by an amendment made on 27 April 2020, state that in terms of scientific web-based meetings, only meetings that last more than one day should be notified. This is further to the existing rules, which do not… »

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