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.

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.

Patent Law in Turkey Key Developments and Predictions - 2020

Patent Law in Turkey Key Developments and Predictions - 2020

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

Trademark Law in Turkey Key Developments and Predictions - 2020

Trademark Law in Turkey Key Developments and Predictions - 2020

We focus on the eight main challenges encountered in the interpretation and implementation of key changes introduced by the IP Code.

Copyright Law in Turkey Key Developmentr and Predictions

Copyright Law in Turkey Key Developmentr and Predictions

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

Life Sciences Law in Turkey Key Developments and Predictions - 2020

Life Sciences Law in Turkey Key Developments and Predictions - 2020

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

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.

Data Protection and Privacy Law in Turkey Key Developments and Predictions

Data Protection and Privacy Law in Turkey Key Developments and Predictions

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Monthly Newsletters

August 2020

August 2020

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

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Protection Scope of Weak Trademarks

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Trademarks and Designs || Gün + Partners

According to Article 4 of the IP Code a sign should be distinctive in order to benefit from trademark protection. Distinctiveness is an essential factor in determining the scope of protection of a trademark, and the protection scope of trademarks differs according to the distinctiveness level of the component(s) that form the trademark. The trademarks composed of non-distinctive components, or components where the distinctiveness is weak, are called “weak trademarks.” Althoug...»

Accuracy Assessment on Decisions of the Office

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Trademarks and Designs || Gün + Partners

The assessment of accuracy of the Office’s decisions has always been a controversial issue under Turkish trademark law. A recent decision issued by the 2nd IP Court of Ankara that opposed the Court of Appeal’s (“CoA”) decision, constitutes a remarkable precedent, illuminating the issue. The owner of earlier trademarks, which are also recorded as a well-known trademark by TÜRKPATENT, filed a lawsuit in opposition against a later-dated, and confusingly similar application. The ...»

Registered Use Defense in Infringement Actions

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Trademarks and Designs || Gün + Partners

As per the settled Court of Appeals (“the CoA”) precedents established during the Trademark Decree-Law era – which ended upon enactment of the new Intellectual Property Code No. 6769 (“IP Code”) on January 10, 2017, it was accepted that use, which was based on a registered trademark, cannot create infringement, regardless of whether this use creates confusion and infringement with a senior trademark registration. As a result of these precedents, use based on a registered trad...»

Avoiding Genericide of a Trademark

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Trademarks and Designs || Gün + Partners

Article 42/1(d) of the former Decree Law set forth that an invalidation action could be filed against a trademark if it becomes a common name of the goods or services it was registered for as a result of the trademark proprietor’s behaviours. The same rule was preserved in the IP Code  under Article 26/1(b) as grounds for revocation, instead of invalidation, and with different wording. As per Article 26/1(b), the Office may revoke the trademark upon request, if the trademark ...»

The Impact of Non-Use Defence in Criminal Cases

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Trademarks and Designs || Gün + Partners

As per the IP Code, trademark protection provided by this law is obtained through registration. However, although registration is necessary to protect the rights of trademark owners and to claim their rights against third parties, this may be insufficient. Indeed, a trademark must be genuinely used in Turkey with respect to goods and services for which it is registered. However, if the trademark is not genuinely used within five years from registration, or if its use is inter...»

Recent Practice on Color Marks in Turkey

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Trademarks and Designs || Gün + Partners

One of the major changes brought by the IP Code that came into force on 10 January 2017 is on non-traditional marks and, especially, on color marks. Although it was also possible to register color marks prior to the change of legislation, in practice, the use of an internationally recognized color code within the application form was not possible, hence color codes were mentioned by a separate petition, and the applications were considered as “device trademarks” within the re...»

The New Trademark Examination Guideline

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Trademarks and Designs || Gün + Partners

TÜRKATENT published The New Trademark Examination Guideline (“the Guideline”) on September 30, 2019. The Guideline defines the criteria regarding the examination of trademark applications on absolute grounds for refusal within the scope of the IP Code that came into force in 2017. The Guideline updates the previous guideline that had been in force since 2011, clarify the principles of absolute grounds for refusal that are explained in the IP Code, and provides consistency in ...»

Turkish Court Deals With Indirect Infringement Case

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Patent and Utility Models || Selin Sinem Erciyas and Aysel Korkmaz Yatkın

Indirect infringement is not explicitly dealt with in the Turkish IP Law. However, the legislator confers, via Article 86 of the Industrial Property Code (IPC), a right to the patent holder to prevent third parties from supplying essential elements of the invention to unauthorised people, which will eventually lead to the working of the patented invention. In order for this provision to be implemented, third parties must be aware that these elements or instruments are suffici...»

An Alternative to Data Transfers Abroad: Binding Corporate Rules

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Technology, Media and Telecom and Data Protection and Privacy || Begüm Yavuzdoğan Okumuş

With the announcement dated April 10  2020, Turkish Data Protection Authority (“DPA”) determined Binding Corporate Rules as a mean to be used for the data transfer abroad based on Article 9/2 of Law on Personal Data Protection numbered 6698 (“Law”) and introduced a new tool for the highly controversial and ambiguous matter in Turkey. By indicating in the announcement that the undertakings taken as per Article 9/2 of the Law would be usually practical for the bilateral data tr...»

Turkish Court of Appeal Rules on Likelihood of Confusion

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Trademarks and Designs || Güldeniz Doğan Alkan and Ayşenur Çıtak

The Turkish Court of Appeal has overturned lower court decisions in a case concerning likelihood of confusion between trade marks sharing a common weak element. Güldeniz Doğan Alkan and Ayşenur Çıtak explain. Origins of the dispute Türkiye İş Bankası A.Ş., which is a popular bank and holder of the well-known trade mark Türkiye İş Bankası in Turkey, filed an application for the mark shown on the right in classes 9 and 36. An opposition was filed against the application re...»

MedTech Europe Guidance Regarding Conduct During COVID-19 Crisis

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Life Sciences and Business Crimes and Anti-Corruption || Özge Atılgan Karakulak and Fatma Sevde Tan

In the current COVID-19 crisis medical device companies continue to prove support to healthcare professionals, healthcare organizations, healthcare systems and governments in order to fulfill the urgent needs. However, the local regulations and codes of conduct for the industry on relationship between the medical device companies and governmental organizations are still in force. Therefore, it is likely that some actions taken by the medical device companies in response to th...»

European Parliament Approved the Proposal for Postponing the Implementation Date of Medical Device Regulation No (EU) 2017/745 (MDR)

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Life Sciences || Dicle Doğan and Fatma Sevde Tan

The coronavirus (Covid-19) crisis has created extraordinary circumstances that require substantial additional resources and an increased availability of vitally important medical devices. However, none of this could reasonably have been anticipated at the time of adoption of the Medical Device Regulation numbered (EU) 2017 /745 (“MDR”) to be in the force on 26 May 2020. In this regard, on 3 April 2020, the European Commission has adopted a proposal to postpone by one year the...»