Procedures and Strategies for Anti-Counterfeiting in Turkey
The availability of preventive measures at Customs is vital in the fight against counterfeiting. In light of this, the Customs Code and the relevant customs regulations have been amended in line with TRIPs. Legal frameworkTurkey is a party to most international IP-related treaties, including the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs), which aims to harmonise the legal framework for anti-counterfeiting and anti-piracy. Turkey’s new IP Code… »
District Court Confirms Regulatory Data Protection is an IP Right
Regulatory data protection has been a contentious issue since it was introduced into Turkish law via the Ministry of Health Licensing Regulation. The most problematic areas are: the implementation of regulatory data protection as market exclusivity, despite contradictory wording in the Licensing Regulation; and limiting the regulatory data protection right to within the patent term. When this issue comes before IP courts in cases of unfair use of data by third parties… »
First Damages Claim Decision in Pharma Sector for Unjust Preliminary Injunction
The Istanbul IP Court has recently decided on a generic company’s damages claim based on an unjust preliminary injunction, in what appears to be the first decision of its kind by Turkish IP courts within the pharmaceutical sector. The parties can appeal the decision before the district court, as well as the court of appeal, after the proceedings. FactsThe dispute between an originator firm and a generic firm derived from an infringement claim. The court had issued a… »
Constitutional Court Issues Decision on Reasonable Time Requirement in Criminal Proceedings
Introduction Since 2012, individuals in Turkey have been able to make individual complaint applications to the Constitutional Court claiming that the state has violated their fundamental constitutional rights (or rights under the European Human Rights Convention) through its acts or omissions. One of the most common claims is that the state has violated an individual’s right to a fair trial by failing to meet the reasonable time requirement and concluding criminal cases over… »
Business Crime and Investigations in Turkey
Corporate manslaughter Regulatory provisions and authorities 1. What is the main legislation relevant to corporate manslaughter? There is no specific law that regulates corporate manslaughter in Turkey. However, in the Turkish Criminal Code (Law No 5237), there is a general provision regarding negligent homicide which can be a legal basis for prosecution, depending on the specifics of the case. Offences 2. What is the specific offence that can be used to prosecute corporate… »
Well-known Trade Marks in Turkish Legal Practice: Scope of Protection
I. Introduction The scope of protection of well-known trade marks has been important yet controversial in Turkey, both in the period before the adoption of the Decree Law No. 556 Pertaining to the Protection of Trade marks of 24.06.1995 (‘Decree Law No. 556’) and with the Industrial Property Act No. 6769 (‘the IP Act’) adopted by the Turkish Parliament, published in the Official Gazette and entered into force on 19 January 2017.2 The definition of well-known trade marks… »
The Implications of EPO Opposition Proceedings on Enforcement and Validity Actions in Turkey
Ever since Turkey became a member to European Patent Convention (EPC), the enforcement or invalidity of the Turkish validation of a European Patent (EP), while proceedings before European Patent Office (EPO) are pending, has been a hot topic. The owner of a EP is normally concerned with if and how the pending opposition/appeal proceedings before the EPO impacts the enforceability or validity of the national patent validated in Turkey. The strength of a patent may seem… »
2nd Roundtable Meeting Report on “Article 155 of the IP Code”
FICPI-Turkey arranged its second roundtable meeting on the Article 155 of the Industrial Property Code no. 6769 (hereinafter referred to as “IP Code”), which is; a patent, trademark or design right holder cannot allege its registered rights as a defense in an infringement action filed by a prior right holder. This article has become a consolidated article for patents, trademarks and designs with the entrance into force of the IP Code on January 10, 2017, while it used to be… »
Istanbul IP Court Rejects PI Demand due to Pending Invalidation Action
One of the two IP courts of Istanbul rejected a crucial precautionary injunction (PI) demand of a owner on the ground that the demand requires a full trial due to the pending invalidation action against the relevant patent. The patent subject of the PI demand is disclosing use of an active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) for the treatment of certain conditions of a disease. As per the summaries of product characteristics (SmPCs) of the defendant’s drug, the infringement of… »
Life Sciences Newsletter, April 2018
Law on the Payment by the Ministry of Finance of Medical Device Companies’ accumulated receivables Dicle Doğan and Fatma Sevde Tan, Gun + Partners Historically, medical device companies could not receive payments for any products sold to state university hospitals in Turkey. On 6 April 2018, an Omnibus Bill was published in the Official Gazette numbered 30383 (Turkish language), introducing a new payment model for accumulated unpaid debts arising from the purchase of drugs… »
Debts Related to Purchase of Drugs and Medical Devices will be Covered by the Ministry of Finance
Medical device and pharmaceutical companies could not get payments for products they sold to public university hospitals for a long while. It was the issue of concern how these debts, which disrupted the cash flow of the sector, would be compensated. On April 6, 2018, the Law numbered 7104 on Amendment of the Value Added Tax Law, Some Laws and Decree Law No. 178 was published (“Law”).”Provisional Article 75″ added to Law No. 2547 of the Higher Education Law with the Law;… »
Turkey Implements Further Measures to Improve the Country’s Investment Environment
While Turkey has faced many challenging times over recent years, a wide range of efforts have and continue to be made by the Turkish government to further improve the country’s investment environment. One such initiative is the recent introduction of a new law, ‘Law on the Amendment of Certain Laws for the Improvement of the Investment Environment numbered 7099’ (the “Law”), which was published in Turkey’s Official Gazette on 10 March 2018 to (i) support domestic and… »