PTO Prepares for Administrative Revocation of Trademarks
Article 26 of the Industrial Property Code, which grants the PTO the authority to revoke trademarks, will come into force on 10 January 2024 The PTO has recently released a draft regulation for comment The draft regulation includes procedural details on how revocation requests will be made before the PTO Background The Industrial Property Code No 6769 (IP Code), which entered into force on 10 January 2017, provides that the Turkish Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) has… »
Is Alternative Dispute Resolution Effective Enough for “.tr” Domain Names?
This article discusses the alternative dispute resolution mechanism for ".tr" domain names in Türkiye. It highlights the efficiency of the alternative dispute resolution mechanism and addresses some concerns over the transparency of proceedings. TRABIS (".tr" Network Information System), established by the Turkish Information and Communication Technologies Authority ("BTK"), became operational on September 14, 2022 and undertook the management of ".tr" domain names. Upon… »
A Practical Overview of Disclosure of Trade Secret as a Criminal Offense
Trade secrets bear critical value for companies to stand out and become distinct from their competitors in the competitive market conditions. Indeed, companies are often exposed to significant risks arising from the disclosure of trade secrets due to misconduct of certain individuals having access to these secrets. Therefore, confidentiality of these secrets, which bear commercial value and provide a competitive advantage, is almost crucial for companies to survive. In this… »
Minority Shareholders' Rights in Joint Stock Companies
In order to prevent the majority shareholders, who hold the superiority of capital and voting in the management of joint stock companies, from executing unfair and unjust acts against the minority shareholders and violating the rights of the minority shareholders, the legislator has granted some special rights to the minority shareholders and allowed them to protect their interests against the decisions taken with the influence of the majority. Thus, the balance of interests… »
Guideline on Scientific Meetings on Medical Devices Updated
On 22 August 2023, the Turkish Medicines and Medical Devices Agency (Agency) announced an updated Guideline on Scientific Meetings and Educational Activities to be Held in Accordance with the Regulation on Sales, Advertising and Promotion of Medical Devices (Turkish language) (Guideline) on its official website. The Guideline replaced the previous version dated 15 November 2022. The Guideline was updated shortly after the revision made to the Regulation on Sales, Advertising… »
Work Bearing The Characteristics of Its Author - “Selvi Boylum Al Yazmalım”
The decision of the 11th Civil Chamber of the Court of Cassation dated 24.05.2022 and numbered 2020/8509 E. 2022/3996 K. has been enlightening both in terms of the examination of the distinctive signs of the work and the works bearing the characteristics of the author, and in terms of the amendments made to the Law on Intellectual and Artistic Works, especially regarding cinematographic works. A. Summary of the Case The lawsuit subject to the decision was filed by the… »
Healthcare Regulation 2024 in Turkey
1. Organisation, financing and structure of the healthcare system Organisation How is healthcare in your jurisdiction organised? What is the role of government? The healthcare system is governed principally by the Fundamental Law on Healthcare Services No. 3359 and dated 15 May 1987, which furnishes the Ministry of Health (MoH) with the authority to issue healthcare-related regulations and establish a healthcare system enabling each and every person living in Turkey… »
OneTrust Data Guidance Turkey - Cookies & Similar Technologies
Begüm Yavuzdoğan Okumuş, Yalçın Umut Talay and Seda Öztürk have contributed to Data Guidance Turkey - Cookies & Similar Technologies, which is published by OneTrust. OneTrus Data Guidance Turkey - Cookies & Similar Technologies provides comprehensive guidance on the legal framework, regulatory authority guidance, definitions, consent management, and cookie information requirements concerning the use of cookies and similar technologies in Turkey. The guidance stresses… »
The Guideline on Consumer Reviews Has Been Published
The Guideline on Consumer Reviews (“Guideline”), enacted by the Advertisement Board at the meeting dated 12.09.2023 and numbered 337, has recently been published. The purpose of the Guideline is to inform advertisers, advertising agencies, media organizations and persons, institutions and organizations engaged in advertising activities on fundamental principles regarding consumer reviews, obligation of informing consumers and procedure for checking reviews before publication… »
Turkish Court of Cassation’s Comparison of Goods in Different Subclasses
During 2022, the 11th Civil Chamber of the Turkish Court of Cassation (the CoC) issued several decisions regarding trade marks covering goods in class 5. The CoC formed its evaluation on the likelihood of confusion by comparing the subclasses of class 5. The details of the decisions are provided below: Aster v Paster A cancellation action was filed against the Office’s decision rejecting the opposition filed against the trade mark PASTER in class 5 relying upon the… »
Turkey's Position on Non-Fungible Tokens
Introduction On 20 September 2017, the term “NFT” (non-fungible token) was officially coined by Dapper Labs Chief Technology Officer Dete Shirley in the form of the ERC-721 standard. NFTs boomed in 2021 and have remained relevant since. Despite the drops observed in their market volume in 2023, NFTs are still in the spotlight as numerous global brands are continuing to launch NFT collections and many trademark applications with coverage including NFTs are being filed all… »
Green Or Simply Greenwashing?
Advertisers frequently integrate environmental claims into their advertisements and promotions to portray their products and services as eco-friendly or green, and to shape consumers’ perception of their positive environmental impact. This is particularly influenced by the growing environmental consciousness among consumers and advertisers. However, to prevent advertisements that may be false and misleading to consumers, exploit their environmental sensitivity, and… »