Insights

Thought Leadership

COVID-19 HUB

COVID-19 HUB

Our COVID-19 HUB is designed to keep our stakeholders updated and help them understand the legal effects of COVID-19 outbreak, and take steps to maintain their businesses in Turkey.

Trademark Law in Turkey Key Developments and Predictions - 2021

Trademark Law in Turkey Key Developments and Predictions - 2021

We have compiled our articles on various topics of trademark law that we deem important for brand owners, which we have developed over the course of the last year.

Patent Law in Turkey Key Developments and Predictions - 2021

Patent Law in Turkey Key Developments and Predictions - 2021

We focus on the key aspects of patent litigation in Turkey, and the most important or challenging issues in Turkish Patent Law.

Life Sciences Law in Turkey Key Developments and Predictions - 2021

Life Sciences Law in Turkey Key Developments and Predictions - 2021

We focus on the key aspects of life sciences in Turkey, the most important and challenging issues in Turkey’s life sciences industry.

Data Protection and Privacy Law in Turkey Key Developments and Predictions 2021

Data Protection and Privacy Law in Turkey Key Developments and Predictions 2021

We focus on the key aspects of data privacy matters and developments in Turkey, and the most important or challenging issues regarding the same.

Copyright Law in Turkey Key Development and Predictions 2021

Copyright Law in Turkey Key Development and Predictions 2021

In the report, we outline seven controversial issues that we often encounter in Turkish copyright Law.

Commercial Dispute Resolution Under Turkish Law Rules, Developments and Insights - 2020

Commercial Dispute Resolution Under Turkish Law Rules, Developments and Insights - 2020

We focus on the four main topics of commercial dispute resolution under Turkish law, and the most important and challenging issues in commercial dispute resolution under Turkish law.

Media and Advertising Law in Turkey Key Developments and Predictions - 2020

Media and Advertising Law in Turkey Key Developments and Predictions - 2020

We focus on the key aspects of media and advertising law in Turkey, and the most important or challenging issues in Turkish media and advertising Law.

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Monthly Newsletters

June 2021

June 2021

We are pleased to publish our monthly newsletters to update our community and clients about legal developments in Turkey.

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Employing a Trademark as a Domain Name Alone is Not Sufficient to Prove Genuine Use

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Trademarks and Designs || Gün + Partners

The first instance Civil Court for Intellectual and Industrial Rights (“IP court”) in its decision rendered in October, 2020, pointed out that the use of the subject mark solely as a domain name is not deemed sufficient to prove the use of the mark as a trademark. The decision concerns a revocation action for non-use filed against a trademark that has been registered for more than five years, but which has not been used properly and effectively with respect to the relevant se...»

Broad Trademarks Registered Without Intention to Use

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Trademarks and Designs || Uğur Aktekin, Mutlu Yıldırım Köse and Merve Çimen Sevine

Filing trademarks on a broad list of goods and services without the intention to use is common practice in Turkey. Owners of such trademarks might have acted in bad faith at the time of filing, or could abuse their rights arising from such trademarks while enforcing them. To illustrate, owners of overly broad trademarks may request third parties to pay a high amount of monies to grant them letters of consent, to withdraw their opposition, or to engage in co-existence agreemen...»

Updates on Mandatory Mediation for IP Disputes

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Trademarks and Designs || Gün + Partners

As of January 01, 2019, mediation is mandatory for monetary related commercial disputes in Turkey. In our 2019 thought leadership paper, we shared our opinions on the effects of such development applied to IP related disputes in which compensation or payment of a certain amount is sought. Up to this point, practical impacts of this change were a question, especially for the cases that include both monetary and non-monetary claims. Recent decisions of the Turkish Court of Cass...»

Enforcement of the Foreign Court Decisions Related to IP Rights in Turkey

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Trademarks and Designs || Gün + Partners

In principle, a court order rendered in one country has its legal effects and consequences only within the same country. For a foreign court decision to create legal effects and consequences, in Turkey, this decision needs to be legally recognized and/or enforced by Turkish courts. Regulations regarding the recognition and enforcement of foreign court decisions are stipulated between Articles 50 and 59 of the International Private and Civil Procedure Code (“IPCPC”), numbered ...»

Well-known Trademark Registry Is Again Open for Debate

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Trademarks and Designs || Gün + Partners

In a recent decision that challenged long-standing precedents, the Court of Cassation has concluded that the Turkish Patent and Trademark Office (“Office”) has no authority to create and maintain a registry for recording well-known trademarks. The background of the case relies upon the fact that the plaintiff’s application to have its trademark recorded as well-known was rejected by the Office’s Re-examination and Evaluation Board (“Board”). The plaintiff filed a cancellation...»

Boundaries of the Supervisory Power Granted to the Court of Cassation

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Trademarks and Designs || Gün + Partners

When we take a closer look at the history of the Turkish judiciary system, the Court of Cassation has been an institution existing under different names and with different powers since 1868, and it serves as the supreme court of our judicial justice system. The Court of Cassation has taken the current position and duties together with the establishment of regional courts of justice, and the adoption of the triple justice system. Prior to the establishment of regional courts o...»

Effects of Covid-19 on Brand Enforcement in Turkey

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Trademarks and Designs || Gün + Partners

Turkey’s first official diagnosis of COVID-19 was announced on March 11, 2020. Since then, the country has experienced lockdowns, quarantines, travel bans and limited access to public services at various levels. There were months where the legal and administrative bodies’ effectiveness was inversely proportional with the curve of pandemic. Incidentally, brand enforcement activities were also heavily affected, especially during the second and third quarters of 2020. However, b...»

The Effect of the Pandemic on Trademark Applications

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Trademarks and Designs || Gün + Partners

2020 was a difficult year for businesses as humanity started to live through the first global disaster of the millennium, the Covid-19 pandemic. Just as the fluctuations in the economy and our changing work and lifestyles due to long months spent at homes destroyed our understanding of “normal.” As a result, business mentality, preferences and actions taken during the crisis have all changed. Although it is inevitable for trademark filings to be affected by these changes, the...»

Implementation of Mandatory Mediation in IP Disputes: Court of Cassation Issues Contradictory Decisions

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Trademarks and Designs || Güldeniz Doğan Alkan and Ayşenur Çıtak

Background An implementation problem occurs when monetary and non-monetary claims are raised together in IP cases, since the code introducing mandatory mediation does not provide a specic rule for disputes combining both monetary and non-monetary claims in a single case. In such scenario, one of the following three options must be applied by the courts: passing through mandatory mediation and entering into the merits of the case for all claims; dismissing all claims based o...»

Enforcement: An International Litigation Guide 2020, Turkey

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Trademarks and Designs || Güldeniz Doğan Alkan, Cansu Evren and Ayşenur Çıtak

I. PRE-FILING REQUIREMENTS/DEMAND LETTERS Although it is not mandatory to send a demand letter before instituting proceedings in this jurisdiction, it is common to send such a letter. Although it is not mandatory to attempt to settle with the other party before instituting proceedings in this jurisdiction, it is commonly done. It is neither mandatory nor common to engage in mediation or other alternative dispute resolution proceeding with the other party before inst...»

Analysis on Corruption Perceptions Index 2020 in Times of Covid-19

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Business Crimes and Anti-Corruption || Filiz Toprak Esin and Asena Aytuğ Keser

2020 Corruption Perception Index (“CPI 2020”), Transparency International’s annual report reflecting the perception of corruption in public sector among 180 countries/territories all over the world, was announced on 28 January 2021. The contributions of country experts, non-governmental organisations and representatives of the business world generate the results in the CPI which measures up the countries/territories on a scale from 0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean). Leav...»

The Practitioner’s Guide to Global Investigations 2021

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Business Crimes and Anti-Corruption || Filiz Toprak Esin and Asena Aytuğ Keser

1 Identify the highest-profile corporate investigation under way in your country, describing and commenting on its most noteworthy aspects. There have been several criminal investigations in public health or education institutions regarding bribery and misconduct. However, none of them can be identified as high-profile corporate investigations. Instead, the focus during the past year regarding compliance-related issues appears to have been on administrative and regulatory in...»