Choosing the Proper Court for Provisional Attachments in Relation to international arbitration seated in Turkey
Turkish international arbitration law (IAL) governing disputes with a foreign element, where the seat of arbitration is Turkey,1 contains a provision (article 6) which paves the way for the parties’ application before Turkish courts for provisional attachments. The IAL widens the scope of Turkish courts’ jurisdiction to render provisional attachments by stating that this particular provision is applicable not only for arbitrations seated in Turkey but also for those seated… »
What are the Rules Around the Non-Use Defence in Oppositions?
The new IP Code came into force on January 10 2017 in Turkey. One of the major changes in the new IP Code is a non-use defence in opposition proceedings. According to the IP Code, if the ground trade mark was registered more than five years from the application date (or priority date) of the opposed trade mark application, upon request by the owner of the trade mark application, the Office is obliged to ask the opponent to prove effective use of the ground trade mark(s) on… »
Tobacco Products Packaging: Plain Packaging and Limited Trademark Use Came into Force
The Law on Amending Some Laws and Decree-Laws related to Health numbered 7151 (“the Law no. 7151”) has been adopted in The Grand National Assembly of Turkey on 15.11.2018 and published in the Official Gazette on 05.12.2018. Articles 23, 24 and 25 of the Law no. 7151 amend some articles of The Law on Prevention and Control of Hazards of Tobacco Products dated 26.11.1996 and numbered 4207 (“The Law no. 4207”) and bring new regulations to tobacco market. Major Changes Summary of… »
Procedural Changes Bring Swifter Justice in Employment Cases
Turkey’s Labor Courts Act (No. 7036) has introduced a number of changes to the administration of justice in employment disputes, including mandatory mediation, which must now be undertaken prior to initiating court proceedings, and a new appeal procedure for challenging a court’s decision. Mediation With the Labor Courts Act, it has become mandatory to apply for mediation in the following situations: Both employers and employees must do so for claims about employee… »
Bad Faith Recognized as Grounds for Invalidation
The General Assembly of the Court of Appeals has held that a registered trademark may be invalidated on the grounds of bad faith (Case 2008/11-501E 2008/507, July 16 2008, only recently published). The case arose out of an action for the invalidation of the trademark RG 512 (and design) on the grounds that it was confusingly similar to the earlier mark RG 512 (and design). The earlier mark was not registered or used in Turkey, but was registered and used in other countries.… »
Hope for Microsoft: Opponent Which Led New Application for Unused Mark Found to Have Acted in Bad Faith
The Re-examination and Evaluation Board of the Turkish Patent and Trademark Office has reversed a decision of the Trademarks Department in which the latter had rejected claims of bad faith against a new application fıled by the applicant to avoid the consequences of a possible partial revocation of its earlier trademark. Background In November 2014 Microsoft Corporation fıled a trademark application in Turkey through WIPO for the mark POWER BI, covering specific goods in… »
Consultation on Draft Medical Devices Regulation
Dicle Doğan and Fatma Sevde Tan, Gun + Partners On 4 October 2018, the Turkish Medicines and Medical Devices Agency published the draft Regulation on Medical Devices (Turkish language), which was drafted in parallel with the EU Medical Device Regulation ((EU) 2017/745). The draft regulation is currently open to public consultation until 16 November 2018 and may be amended before final publication. One of the significant changes that the draft regulation will introduce for… »
Court Rules on Protection of Well-Known Trade Mark
In a recent decision, the Court of Appeal (the CoA) ruled that the well-known status of the GARANTİ mark for banking services would prevent registration of the KUTUP GARANTİ PLUS mark for different services. In June 2012, a Turkish company, with the word KUTUP as the main element of its commercial name, applied to register the mark KUTUP GARANTİ PLUS in Classes 35, 37 and 40. The opponent, a renowned company in the banking sector owning many GARANTİ trade marks in several… »
Leading Home Appliances Manufacturer Granted Preliminary Injunction Against Competitor
Co-published Last year, Turkey’s leading home appliance manufacturer filed two patent infringement actions, claiming the determination, prohibition and prevention of a patent infringement and seeking a preliminary injunction against an international company in the same sector for its coffee machine products. The infringement actions were based on two patents protecting different features and methods of a Turkish coffee machine – the first electronic coffee machine dedicated… »
Is Good, Fast, and Cheap Arbitration a Dream?
The business community’s original idea of arbitration was to solve commercial disputes smoother and faster than the conventional courts could. Back in those days, arbitration was, by definition, fast. However, this perception has changed. In the 2015 International Arbitration Survey, cost and lack of speed were considered as the worst characteristics of international arbitration. As a reaction to this growing appetite to run proceedings in a more efficient manner, arbitration… »
Iran Sanctions from a Neighbouring Country’s Perspective: the Turkish Standpoint
It was announced that the economic sanctions against Iran will be brought back to a large extent after the United States unilaterally withdrew from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (“Iran nuclear deal”) implemented by the United Nations Security Council (“UNSC”) Resolution numbered 2231 and adopted in 2015, with the declaration of U.S. President Donald Trump on May 8, 2018. Immediately after the Iran sanctions having made staggering effects on the world trade are back… »
Stay of Execution to Mandatory Arbitration
The provisions providing for “appropriate remuneration” to be mandatorily determined by arbitration contained in the Regulation on Employee Inventions, Inventions Made at Institutions of Higher Education and Public-Funded Projects have been widely discussed since the entry into force of the Regulation. However, the Council of State assessed the provisions on mandatory arbitration for employee inventions for the first time in a case filed for the stay of execution and… »