Turkish Patent and Trademark Office issues guidelines for proof of use in opposition proceedings
Turkish Patent and Trademark Office issues guidelines for proof of use in opposition proceedings Following the entry into force of the Industrial Property Code (6769) on January 10 2017 and the Regulation on the Implementation of the Industrial Property Code on April 24 2017 (see “New IP Code enters into force: 2017 will be the year of IP rights” and “Entry into force of new Regulation on the Implementation of the Industrial Property Code”), on April 28 2017 the Turkish… »
TURKEY: Implementing Regulation of the New IP Code Enters into Force—Major Changes for Trademarks
Following the entry into force of the Turkish Industrial Property Code (the IP Code) on January 10, 2017, a draft of the implementing regulation regarding the IP Code was immediately prepared and views of the stakeholders were collected. The regulation has been finalized and was published in the Official Gazette on April 24, 2017. The most important provisions in the regulation with respect to trademarks are in relation to co-existence agreements and the use requirement in… »
Regulation on Annual Paid Leave Amended to Allow Employees to Divide Annual Leave
Introduction The right of employees to annual paid leave is regulated by Articles 53 to 60 of the Labour Act (4857) and the Regulation on Annual Paid Leave. According to the act and the regulation, employees can use their annual paid leave if they have worked for their employer for at least one year. Employees are entitled to at least: 14 days’ annual paid leave for one to five years of service; 20 days’ annual paid leave for five to 15 years of service; and 26 days’ annual… »
Life Sciences Newsletter, September 2017
Reimbursement of optics products dependant on Product Tracking System subscription Bentley James Yaffe and Nehir Aydeniz, Gün + Partners In June 2017, the system for the registration of medical devices was switched from the National Databank of the Turkish Medicines and Medical Devices Agency (TITUBB) to the Product Tracking System (UTS). According to a follow-up announcement on the website of the Turkish Medicines and Medical Devices Authority, the modules for the tracking… »
“Zero” is Descriptive for Beverages – Court of Appeals
With its recent decision dated March 9 2017 and numbered 2016/14857 E, 2017/1442 K, the Turkish Court of Appeals (CoA), by reversing its previous decision in the same dispute, held that the trade marks Uludağ Zero and Panda Zero cannot be considered confusingly similar on the basis of the commonness of the term “zero” since this term is descriptive for beverages. The decision concerns a cancellation action filed by the plaintiff against the decision given by the Turkish… »
Turkey: Limitation Periods for wage-related Claims
The first draft law on Labour Courts (‘Draft Law’) was transmitted by Parliament on 25 May 25 2017 with some amendments, having been submitted to the relevant public institutions and organisations for review, two days earlier. One of the provisions that the Draft Law introduces, is a new limitation period in relation to claims for accrued but untaken paid leave and compensation payable upon termination. Although the Labour Act provides for a five year limitation period for… »
Regulation on Health Data – Stay of Execution
Update: Turkish Council of State has stopped execution of the Regulation on the Processing of Health Data and the Maintenance of Privacy Following the long awaited Law on Protection of Personal Data (“Law”) dated April 7, 2016; the Ministry of Health (“MoH”) issued the Regulation on the Processing of Health Data and the Maintenance of Privacy (“Regulation”) on October 22, 2016. Since the very beginning, the Regulation was widely criticised as it contains provisions… »
Impact of Finalised Revocation Decision on Preliminary Injunction Demands
Under Turkish procedure law, a preliminary injunction is regulated as a temporary legal protection measure pursuant to Article 389 of the Civil Procedure Code (6100). The aim of this protection is to prevent much higher damages during proceedings that continue for at least four to five years until the decision is finalised. The adoption of preliminary injunction decisions depends on the existence of certain conditions, such as a situation which may make it difficult to… »
The General Data Protection Regulation: Achieving Compliance for EU and non-EU Companies
The European Union (EU) has introduced new legislation on the protection of personal data: the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The GDPR was adopted on 27 April 2016 and it will come into force on 25 May 2018 after a two-year transition period. Businesses in the EU are readjusting their processing activities in order to ensure compliance with the GDPR. However, it is not only EU businesses that should be working towards compliance, but also some non-EU businesses… »
Extraordinary Times
As the developments frequently makes headlines in international media we, the Turkish people, have been living in extraordinary times since the 15 July 2016 military coup attempt. Whilst it was generally known that members of a faith-based movement had worked their way up the ranks of almost all state institutions and secured the key decision making posts, we all trusted in their good intentions for our nation and the country. The judiciary was the most infiltrated, we had… »
Shining Light on Turkey’s New IP Code
Turkey’s Industrial Property Code No 6769 (“the IPC”) was published in the Official Gazette and came into force on 10 January 2017. The IPC abolished the Decree Laws on the protection of trademarks, patents, geographical indications (“GIs”) and designs by unifying them into a single code. One of the main aims of the IPC is providing compliance with developments in EU IP law. At this point, in addition to unifying and harmonising the existing… »
Telecoms and Media 2017, Turkey Chapter
Communications policy 1 Regulatory and institutional structure Summarise the regulatory framework for the communications sector. Do any foreign ownership restrictions apply to communications services? The main legislation governing the communications sector is the Electronic Communications Law numbered 5809 and dated November 05, 2008. (the “ECL”). The ECL provides the main principles regarding the authorisation of the operators, their obligations and the powers granted to… »