Amendment to Press Labour Law: Who is Considered a Journalist?
Under Turkish law, journalists are subject to Law No. 5953 on Arrangement of Relations Between Employers and Employees in the Field of Press (the Press Labour Law), which sets out the terms and conditions of their employment. The former wording of article 1 of the Press Labour Law stated that the law covered: those who work in any kind of intellectual or artistic works at news and photo agencies, periodical publications and newspapers published in Turkey and those who fall…»
Waiving from IP Rights in the Post-Covid Landscape
As the effects of the pandemic fade, it may be a good time to look into the lessons learned and take the necessary precautions against the next one. Indeed, pandemics have been a fundamental part of human history since time immemorial and diligently addressing the reasons for their emergence and the problems they create is quite important. However, the problem of inequitable access to drugs and vaccines faced during the pandemic remains unsolved today, with discussions of the…»
Insurance Litigation 2023 in Turkey
ForaIn what fora are insurance disputes litigated? In the Turkish judicial system, in principle, 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. Insurance disputes to which a consumer is a party are heard by consumer courts. If a province has no specialised or regular commercial court, disputes are heard…»
Pricing of Pharmaceuticals and the Fixed Exchange Rate
Pharmaceutical prices in Turkey have always been a controversial issue. The prices of medicines for sale are set under the Decision on Pricing of Human Medicinal Products (“Decision”) and the Communiqué on the Pricing of Human Medicinal Products (“Communiqué”) of September 29, 2017, issued by the Ministry, which is vested with the competencies to regulate this area. The Decision provides a reference pricing system, whereby the least expensive ex-factory price in one of the…»
Unified Patent Court - How It Will Resonate in Turkey?
The concept of the Unified Patent Court (“UPC”) entered the lives of European Patent holders with the UPC Agreement, an international agreement dated February 19, 2013. The system is intended to begin operation on June 01, 2023. The courts in question constitute a big and important step towards ensuring the unity of the judiciary for European Union member states. With the completion of the approval processes for 17 European Union members, a few days before the start of the…»
“Plausibility” in Turkish Patent Law and Its Impact on Invalidation Proceedings
The grounds for the invalidation of a patent within the scope of Industrial Property Law No. 6769 are listed per the numerus clausus principle. The concept of plausibility – which has been the subject of numerous evaluations, especially by the European Patent Office (“EPO”) and frequent debate in academic circles in recent years – has not yet found a place within the scope of any legal regulation in Turkey. Moreover, there is no consensus on a Turkish wording for an…»
Market Access- Alternative Reimbursement Models
The pharmaceutical industry has long required a unique model for price setting where its conditions could be negotiated with the SSI, exempt from regular price and reimbursement rules given to innovative products. With the enactment of the Social Security and General Health Insurance Law numbered 6552 in September 2014, alternative reimbursement models became an essential topic in the Turkish healthcare industry. The complementary provisions introduced with the Regulation on…»
Termination Disputes relating to Partnership in Non-Public Joint Stock Companies
In joint stock companies, which is one of the most preferred partnership types due to the limited liability of shareholders, due to various concerns such as family and personal concerns and the relevant shareholders’ unsatisfied expectations relating to the company’s performance, shareholders may sometimes wish to terminate the partnership with other shareholders. In such cases, it is critical which actions can be taken by the controlling shareholders against the minority who…»
Market Availability of Products
The New Regulation on Licensing of Human Medicinal Products prepared by the TMMDA entered into force upon its publication in the Official Gazette numbered 31686, dated December 11, 2021. The Regulation on Licensing of Human Medicinal Products reflects up-to-date processes present in TMMDA practice that were absent in its previous iteration dated 2005, and provide compatibility with the EU directive numbered 2001/83/EC. In order to ensure supply continuity an exception for…»
The Need for an Injunction in Cases Where the EPO Proceeding is a Pending Issue
Although there is no explicit provision in Turkish Law for the acceptance of the ongoing opposition or appeal proceedings before the European Patent Office (“EPO”) as a “pending issue”, in practice due to the principle of procedural economy, pending issue decisions may be given by the Civil Courts of Intellectual and Industrial Property Rights on a case by case basis. As Turkey is party to the European Patent Convention, upon the issuance of a revocation decision regarding a…»
Preliminary Injunction Decisions against Patent Trolls to Prevent the Enforcement of Patent Rights
Patent and utility model rights, vital to incentivizing R&D and innovation, provide their holders with a significant advantage over their competitors and grant an absolute right for a certain period. However, as in every system, there are players in the patent and utility model ecosystem who use these rights contrary to the purpose and spirit of the system. These players, who obtain patent/utility model registrations by taking advantage of the loopholes in the system…»
Named Patient Program
Named Patient Programs (“NPP”) is one of the exceptional pharmaceutical importation regimes for products that lack market authorisation or which are authorized but unavailable in the Turkish market for various reasons. In cases where a product does not have marketing authorization in Turkey or has a marketing authorization but cannot be found on the market, and patients need the product in question, it is possible to procure the pharmaceutical via this particular method upon…»