Recent Changes Regarding the Determination of Companies Subject to Independent Auditing
The Decision Amending the Decision on Determination of Companies Subject to Independent Auditing ("Amendment Decision") was published in the Official Gazette dated April 6, 2024. The Amendment Decision provides significant changes to the independent auditing thresholds compared to the Decision on Determination of Companies Subject to Independent Auditing, which was put into effect by Presidential Decree No. 6434 and applied until January 1, 2024 ("Decision"). Accordingly… »
European Union Artificial Intelligence Act Approved: What Does It Entail in Terms of Copyrights?
*The Artificial Intelligence (“AI”) Act was approved by the members of the European Parliament on March 13, 2024. Although the AI Act does not include a direct regulation in regard to copyrights, it is seen that the obligations imposed on AI providers in Article 53 are intended to prevent copyright infringements. Generative AI models such as ChatGPT, BERT, LaMDA, DALL-E2, which enable the creation of original content by processing data such as text, image and sound, are now… »
Turkish Medicines and Medical Devices Agency Published the Industry Report on Medical Devices
On April 4, 2024, the Industry Report on Medical Devices, prepared by the Turkish Medicines and Medical Devices Agency ("Agency") to present the current state of the market together with recent developments in the medical device industry, was published on the Agency’s website. The Industry Report on Medical Devices includes assessments of global developments in the medical device industry, statistical information on the Turkish market, and explanations of the current… »
Ban on Foreign Currency Payment in Certain Sale of Goods Contracts Lifted
With the amendment made to the Communiqué on the Decree numbered 32 Regarding the Protection of the Value of the Turkish Currency (the "Communiqué"), effective as of April 21, 2022, for buyers residing in Türkiye, except for vehicle sale contracts, in the event that there is an agreement in the sale of goods contracts that all payments under the contract are to be made in foreign currency or indexed to foreign currency, it was regulated that these obligations must be… »
How to Evaluate Social Responsibility in Advertisements?
The Advertisement Board ("Board") made a striking decision at its meeting on January 9, 2024. The decision is based on the provision of the Regulation on Commercial Advertising and Unfair Commercial Practices ("Regulation") which emphasizes the necessity of taking economic and social responsibility into consideration in advertisements. The decision in question pertains to the introduction of the collection titled “The Jacket” by the global textile giant Zara on their… »
Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Copyright
AI technologies and generative AI models enabling the creation of original content by processing text, images, sound and other data have been a hot topic of this year. Should the outputs generated by AI be copyrighted work, if so who owns the rights, and copyright infringement by use of AI have been widely discussed. The general rule appears to be that an AI cannot have rights to the works it generates and that only human creativity can enjoy copyright protection. In the… »
PTO Issues Exemplary Decision Clarifying Concept of ‘Bad Faith’
The PTO has refused an application for MA MONDE FRESHEN UP & SHINE following an opposition by a foreign cosmetics company The fact that the applicant sought to register a sign identical to the opponent’s trademark could not be a mere coincidence The Trademarks Department also considered the opponent’s trademark registrations and usage abroad, as well as the applicant’s bad faith The Trademarks Department has found that the application for MA MONDE FRESHEN UP &… »
Boundaries of Competition in Labor Markets: An Analysis in Terms of No-Poaching Agreements and Ancillary Restraints Defense
The consecutive investigations initiated by the Competition Board ("Board") due to competition violations in labor markets, with the first one in 2021, have stirred significant attention. Following the investigations concerning 32 undertakings, primarily consisting of innovation-based technology companies, which resulted in substantial administrative fines imposed on some of the undertakings within the scope of the investigation, the investigations initiated against 19… »
Named Patient Program in Turkey
Named Patient Program (“NPP”) is one of the exceptional pharmaceutical importation regimes for products that are not authorized or authorized but unavailable in the Turkish market for various reasons. After numerous allegations in the news that the drugs supplied from abroad and used in cancer treatment were only products containing painkillers and that the products were counterfeit, the Regulation on the Supply of Medicines from Abroad (“NPP Regulation”) was published on… »
Omnibus Law Amends Pharmaceutical Legislation
On 1 March 2024, the Omnibus Law Amending Certain Laws and Decree Law No. 663 (the “Omnibus Law”), which amends certain provisions of the Law No. 1262 on Pharmaceuticals and Medical Preparations (the “Law No. 1262”) and the Fundamental Law on Healthcare Services No. 3359 (the “Law No. 3359”), was published in the Official Gazette numbered 32476. In the general preamble of the Omnibus Law, it was stated that social and economic transformation, rapidly developing technology… »
Jurisdictional Conflicts in Global FRAND Cases and the EU's WTO Complaint against China for Alleged Violation of TRIPs
Anti-suit injunctions ("ASI") issued by Chinese courts, which prevent parties of proceedings concerning standard-essential patents ("SEPs") from bringing proceedings against each other in different countries, have become one of the controversial issues in these proceedings, highlighting the "jurisdiction of the court". As is known, in the case of SEPs, the first issue that confronts the patent holder and the company implementing the SEP is whether a licence has been asked… »
Turkish Court of Cassation’s Recent Approach to Public Policy in Enforcement and Setting-Aside of Foreign Arbitral Awards
In general terms, public policy is defined as a set of rules and principles ensuring a smooth conduct of public services, a state’s security and safety, and compliance of the relationship between individuals with the principles of peace and ethics[1]. Due to its conceptual nature and vulnerability to a turmoil of different interpretations, violation of public policy appears as one of the most prevalent counter arguments in enforcement and setting-aside proceedings of foreign… »