Prohibition on Termination and Unilateral Unpaid Leave Enters Into Force
Introduction On 17 April 2020 the Law on Minimising the Impacts of the New Coronavirus (COVID-19) Outbreak on Economic and Social Life and the Amendment of Certain Laws (7244) (the Amendment Law) was published in the Official Gazette (31102) and entered into force. The most significant amendments introduced to the Labour Act, the Act on Trade Unions and Collective Bargaining Agreements and the Unemployment Insurance Act include: the prohibition on employers terminating… »
Did the Advertisement Board Clarify the Limits of Distributing “Free Item” With Food Products?
In a recent decision dated February 11, 2020 and numbered 2019/9931 the Advertisement Board, held that promotions of a food company for its potato chips with accompanied free ice tea coupons are compliant with Advertising Regulation. Hence Advertisement Board imposed no sanction against these promotions. This is an important and exemplary decision for evaluating the Advertisement Board’s approach in terms of implementation of Article 24/A (3) of the Regulation on Commercial… »
Understanding Indirect Infringement in Turkish IP Practice
Turkish IP law does not explicitly define ‘indirect infringement’. However, legislators refer to Article 86 of the Industrial Property Code, which clarifies a patent holder’s right to prevent third parties from supplying the essential means of the invention (ie, that which serves the working of the patented invention) to unauthorised parties. In order for this provision to apply, third parties must be aware that these elements or instruments are sufficient to implement the… »
How Do Insurance Contracts Respond to COVID-19 Outbreak?
1. General Overlook Measures and restrictions being gradually introduced by the government against the COVID-19 outbreak, which was announced as a pandemic by the World Health Organization and diagnosed for the first time in Turkey on 11 March 2020, aim to protect public health while sustaining employment, production and supply chains. Restrictions, which were first imposed on flights to China in February, were introduced for flights to another 71 countries in March.[1] These… »
Trademarks with High Distinctiveness in Bad Faith Assessment
... 11th Civil Chamber of the Turkish Court of Appeals (“CoA”) has set forth in its decision dated 18.11.2019 (2019/359 E. and 2019/7279 K.) that the later dated trademark application was filed in bad faith by taking into account the high level of recognition as well as the original and distinctive nature of the prior dated trademark which has no meaning. ... CoA has emphasized in its decision dated 18.11.2019 (2019/359 E. and 2019/7279 K.) that the high distinctive character… »
Key Developments and Predictions for Trademark Law in Turkey - 2020
Trademark law has continued to evolve at a slow pace within the course of the last year, while January, 2020, marks the completion of the third year of Industry Property Code No. 6769 (“the IP Code”). The Turkish Patent and Trademark Office (“TÜRKPATENT” or “the Office”) issued guidelines in an aim to bring clarity on absolute grounds examination, and a new guideline is to be announced within the first half of 2020. The decisions of TÜRKPATENT in opposition and appeal phases… »
Loss of Right Due to Acquiescence in Infringement
The loss of right due to the acquiescence principle had not been regulated in Turkish Law prior to the implementation of the IP Code. However, the Court of Appeals has started to apply this principle based on the circumstances of each case within the scope of the good faith principle and prohibition on abuse of rights, which is regulated under Article 2 of the Turkish Civil Code (“TCC”), and these have become established case-law precedents. In the decisions of the Court of… »
Protection Scope of Weak Trademarks
According to Article 4 of the IP Code a sign should be distinctive in order to benefit from trademark protection. Distinctiveness is an essential factor in determining the scope of protection of a trademark, and the protection scope of trademarks differs according to the distinctiveness level of the component(s) that form the trademark. The trademarks composed of non-distinctive components, or components where the distinctiveness is weak, are called “weak trademarks.”… »
Accuracy Assessment on Decisions of the Office
The assessment of accuracy of the Office’s decisions has always been a controversial issue under Turkish trademark law. A recent decision issued by the 2nd IP Court of Ankara that opposed the Court of Appeal’s (“CoA”) decision, constitutes a remarkable precedent, illuminating the issue. The owner of earlier trademarks, which are also recorded as a well-known trademark by TÜRKPATENT, filed a lawsuit in opposition against a later-dated, and confusingly similar application. The… »
Registered Use Defense in Infringement Actions
As per the settled Court of Appeals (“the CoA”) precedents established during the Trademark Decree-Law era – which ended upon enactment of the new Intellectual Property Code No. 6769 (“IP Code”) on January 10, 2017, it was accepted that use, which was based on a registered trademark, cannot create infringement, regardless of whether this use creates confusion and infringement with a senior trademark registration. As a result of these precedents, use based on a registered… »
Avoiding Genericide of a Trademark
Article 42/1(d) of the former Decree Law set forth that an invalidation action could be filed against a trademark if it becomes a common name of the goods or services it was registered for as a result of the trademark proprietor’s behaviours. The same rule was preserved in the IP Code under Article 26/1(b) as grounds for revocation, instead of invalidation, and with different wording. As per Article 26/1(b), the Office may revoke the trademark upon request, if the trademark… »
The Impact of Non-Use Defence in Criminal Cases
As per the IP Code, trademark protection provided by this law is obtained through registration. However, although registration is necessary to protect the rights of trademark owners and to claim their rights against third parties, this may be insufficient. Indeed, a trademark must be genuinely used in Turkey with respect to goods and services for which it is registered. However, if the trademark is not genuinely used within five years from registration, or if its use is… »