New Company Set to Boost IP Commercialisation
The Turkish Patent and Trademark Office (the Office) founded a company on April 2 2018 based in Ankara, called Türk Sınai Mülkiyet Değerleme Mühendislik ve Danışmanlık Hizmetleri Anonim Şirketi (TÜRKSMD). The company’s sole owner is currently the Office. TÜRKSMD will be able to pursue commercial purposes since it is founded as a corporation and is open to all nationalities, persons and institutions. The primary aim of TÜRKSMD is to value intellectual property rights belonging… »
The Fashion Industry and New Provisions of Turkish Industrial Property Code Regarding Protection of Unregistered Design Rights
The fashion industry, nourished by an infinite source – that is, human creativity – is constantly changing, yet the manufacturing process changes even faster. As the duration of the process in which a product is manufactured and offered to consumers became much shorter, the copying of designs also became more convenient and common. The rules pertaining to the protection of unregistered designs, one of the novelties introduced with the Industrial Property Code No 6769 (the ‘IP… »
The Draft Regulation on Online Broadcasting via Radio, Television and On-demand Services Has Been Published
The Draft Regulation on Online Broadcasting via Radio, Television and On-demand Services (“Draft Regulation”) stipulating the implementation of the newly incorporated Article 29/A of the Law No.6112 on the Establishment of Radio and Television Enterprises and Their Media Services (“RTUK Law”) was published on RTUK’s website on 27 September 2018. This client alert aims to summarize major points within the Draft Regulation. Personal communication services (e.g. platforms such… »
Interpretation of Big Data by InsurTechs
Technology shows its transformative and disruptive impact on virtually every economic field. The insurance market is no exception and can no longer remain closely reliant on its conventional operational tools. Data sets that are in large volumes and that are hard to process using traditional data processing methods (‘Big Data’) are frequently argued to have the potential to replace these traditional tools by providing efficacious equivalents. As a reflection of the… »
Supreme Court Rules on Calculation of Overtime Pay
The Supreme Court recently issued a number of decisions setting out how to calculate overtime pay and how employees can prove any overtime owed when required. The Supreme Court’s findings, which govern overtime pay, can be summarised as follows: Signed payslips can be used as material evidence. This means that where signed payslips document overtime paid, they will constitute proof that payment has been made to an employee, unless the employee can prove forgery. If an… »
Amendments to Collection of Electronic Evidence Procedures
Amendments The previous version of Article 134′s first paragraph stated as follows: Upon the motion of the public prosecutor during an investigation with respect to a crime, the judge shall issue a decision on the search of computers and computer programs and records used by the suspect, the copying, analyzing, and textualization of those records, if there is strong doubt based on solid evidence and it is not possible to obtain the evidence by other means. Under the new… »
The GDPR: Challenges and Solutions
The General Data Protection Regulation (the “GDPR”) came into force on 25 May 2018. Although a two years grace period was granted to data controllers for complying with the GDPR, it was only at the week of the May 25th that we saw full with new privacy policies drafted in accordance with the GDPR. These last minute privacy notifications did not come as a surprise; the GDPR introduced new obligations which required most businesses to readjust their processes and new challenges… »
Enhancing the Justice System
Over the past year, several Turkish laws have been amended to help improve the country’s investment environment and to make it easier for investors by increasing the quality and speed of the judicial system. The Law on the Amendment of Certain Laws for the Improvement of the Investment Environment No. 7099 introduced changes to regulations in the Turkish Commercial Code, Tax Procedure Law, Social Security and General Health Insurance Law, Property Law, Law on Municipal… »
Turkey Residents’ FX Contracts Are Prohibited
The Presidential Executive Decree No. 85, dated 12 September 2018, amending the Decree No. 32 on the Protection of the Turkish Currency purports to prohibit the [private or public] residents in Turkey from agreeing in their payment obligations in or indexed to foreign currencies in the [private law] contracts between them or in the contracts emanating payment obligations for and in relation to sale and purchase of movable and immovable, all kinds of lease and rentals of… »
Board Decisions on the Obligation to Register to the Data Controllers Registry
With its recent decisions published on the Official Gazette dated August 18th 2018, the Data Protection Board, the regulatory authority on data protection in Turkey (“Board”), has announced additional data controller categories exempt from the obligation to register to the Data Controllers Registry and also set forth the starting dates and deadlines of the obligation to register to the Data Controllers Registry for different categories of data controllers that do not enjoy… »
Obligation to Bring Export Revenue to Turkey
In accordance with the communiqué on export Revenue published in the past few days, Revenue relating to export transactions carried out by residents in Turkey, will be transferred or brought directly and without delay to the bank which mediates the export after the importer’s payment. The last regulation regarding the Resolution No: 32 on the Protection of the Value of Turkish Currency has been made with the Communiqué Concerning the Resolution No: 32 on the Protection of the… »
International Registrations Subject to Disparate Treatment in Opposition Proceedings
The new Turkish Intellectual Property (IP) Code came into force on January 10, 2017 (as previously reported in the INTA Bulletin on February 15, 2017, Vol. 72, No. 3 and on October 15, 2017, Vol. 72, No. 18), and introduced a major change to Turkish trademark law and practice with respect to the non-use defense in opposition and litigation proceedings. Under the new law, the Turkish Patent and Trademark Office must notify the applicant of an opposition filed against its… »