What Copyright and Trademark Owners Should Know About the Approach to NFTs in the Republic of Türkiye
Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) have grown in popularity since first entering public consciousness in 2021. They are digital tokens and may represent unique—virtual or real-world—items including songs, artworks, GIFs, virtual game items, videos, and cartoons. NFTs are created using blockchain technology and primarily operate within Ethereum, a blockchain platform with automated (smart) transactions. NTFs cannot be exchanged or replaced. The NFT is technically not the asset… »
Allocation of Domain Names in Structure of “a.tr”
In addition to domain names such as "com.tr" and "org.tr", which are already being allocated in Türkiye, allocation of domain names in the structure of "a.tr" has also become possible as of September 14, 2023. Domain names in the structure of “a.tr” do not include extensions such as ".com", ".net", ".org", etc. but have a direct country code extension of ".tr". Domain names in the structure of "a.tr", which have their legal basis in Provisional Article 3 of the Regulation on… »
FILA v EILO: Re-examination and Evaluation Board Carries out Global Appreciation of Visual Aspects of Conflicting Marks
FILA Luxemburg SARL opposed the registration of the figurative mark EILO based on the earlier well-known FILA marks While the Trademarks Department rejected the opposition, the Re-examination and Evaluation Board decided in the opponent’s favour The board notably concluded that the application was similar to the FILA marks in its overall appearance The Re-examination and Evaluation Board of the Turkish Patent and Trademark Office has recently rejected a trademark… »
Global Patent Litigation 2023, Turkey Chapter
Özge Atılgan Karakulak, Selin Sinem Erciyas and Zeynep Çağla Üstün have contributed to 2023 edition of Global Patent Litigation: Strategy & Practice - Turkey Chapter, which is published by Wolters Kluwer. “Global Patent Litigation: Strategy & Practice” is a resource that provides reliable descriptions of the patent laws for key countries along with insights into successful strategies to avoid, defend, or pursue litigation in each jurisdiction. Every chapter is updated… »
Guideline on The Processing of T.R. Identity Numbers Published By The Personal Data Protection Authority
Within the scope of the Law No. 6698 on the Protection of Personal Data ("Law"), the Turkish Republic Identity Number ("T.R. ID Number") information of individuals is not included in the category of sensitive personal data, but rather is evaluated within the scope of identity data in the general category of personal data. However, in practice, the direct processing of the T.R. Identity Number data while the same data processing purpose could be achieved by processing… »
Changes to Minimum Wage, Severance Payments and Administrative Fines in 2024
At the beginning of each year, the minimum wage, severance payments and administrative fines prescribed by the Labour Act are revised. This article provides an overview of the 2024 changes, which came into effect on 1 January 2024. Minimum wage In 2023 the monthly minimum wage rate was 10.008.00 Turkish liras (gross), which was increased to 13,414.50 Turkish liras (gross) as of 1 July 2023. As of 1 January 2024, this has increased to 20.002.50 Turkish liras (gross). In this… »
It’s Time for Administrative Revocation of Trademarks!
Before the Industrial Property Law (“IP Code”) no. 6769 entered into force on January 10, 2017, procedures related to trademark rights were governed by the former Decree Law no. 556 on the Protection of Trademarks (“Decree Law”). While revocation of trademarks is dealt with by both pieces of legislation, the introduction of the IPL brings a major change to Turkish Trademark Law, stating that requests for revocation of trademarks must be filed with the Turkish Patent and… »
Turkish Constitutional Court Decision on the Internet Law
The Constitutional Court found that some amendments introduced to the Law no. 5651 on Regulation of Publications on the Internet and Combatting Crimes Committed by Means of Such Publication (“Internet Law”) are unconstitutional in accordance with its decision dated 11.10.2023 and numbered 2020/76 E. and 2023/172 which was published in the Official Gazette dated 10.01.2023 and numbered 32425.[1] Evaluations on Provisions Found to be Unconstitutional Powers Granted to the… »
Current Discussions for Processing of Personal Data in Insurance Sector
The Law on Protection of Personal Data No. 6698 (the “DPL”) has entered into force on April 7, 2016 in Turkiye to (i) protect the fundamental rights and freedoms, particularly the protection of private life, in processing of personal data and (ii) regulate the obligations and principles and procedures to be followed by real and legal persons processing personal data. The DPL is applicable to all real persons whose personal data are processed as well as real and legal entities… »
New Exemption for Procurements of the State Supply Office
With the Law No. 7491 published in the Official Gazette dated 28 December 2023, an additional article 12 was added to the Public Procurement Law (the “Law”). Accordingly, a new exemption has been introduced for procurements of vehicles, vehicle renting, fuel, medicines, medical supplies and medical devices which are to be made by the General Directorate of State Supply Office (“DMO”) on behalf of the administrations. Current Exemptions There were already some exemptions in… »
Conditions for Pharmaceutical Exporters Other than Pharmaceutical Warehouses is Published
On 29 December 2023, the Turkish Medicines and Medical Devices Agency (“Agency”) has published Guidelines on the Conditions for Pharmaceutical Export Made by Companies Other than Pharmaceutical Warehouses (the “Guidelines”). The Guidelines has been prepared in order to ensure the shipment and export of pharmaceutical products and dietary foods for special medical purpose in compliance with national and international standards, while protecting public health. The Guidelines… »
Guidelines on Medical Device Meetings Has Been Updated
On 4 January 2024, the Turkish Medicines and Medical Devices Agency (“Agency”) announced on its official website that the Guidelines on Scientific Meetings and Educational Events to be Held within the Scope of the Regulation on the Sales, Advertisement and Promotion of Medical Devices (“Guidelines”) has been updated. Within the scope of the update, only in the third paragraph of Article 9 of the Guidelines, which came into force on 04 January 2024, the following issues have… »