Legislative framework and causes of action
Turkey is a party to most major international treaties relating to intellectual property, including the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights and the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property. Turkey is also a member of international organisations such as the World Trade Organisation that have a connection with intellectual property.
At national level, the Industrial Property Code (6769...»
Law on Protection of Personal Data numbered 6698 provides under the article titled “Data Security Liabilities” that, data controllers must take all necessary technical and administrative measures to ensure the appropriate level of security to:
Prevent unlawful processing of personal data,
Prevent unlawful access to personal data,
Maintain safeguarding of personal data.
Within the scope of the same article, if the data processed is obtained/ accessed by third parties through...»
QUESTIONS:
Accountability, Processing in Third Countries, and Information
(A) Are there any special requirements, by way of law of practice, for technical and organisational measures with regard to the processing of genetic-, biometric-, or health data in your jurisdiction?
Pursuant to Article 6 of the Turkish Data Protection Law numbered 6698 (“DPL”), personal data relating to the health, sexual life, biometric and genetic data are deemed to be sensitive personal data. While...»
Overview of main IPRs
1. What are the main IPRs in your jurisdiction? How are they protected?
Patents and utility models
Patents. Patents are granted for inventions which are all of the following:
Novel.
Represent an inventive step (that is, surpass the current standard for state-of-the-art in a particular industry).
Capable of industrial application.
The following categories are exempted from patent protection:
Discoveries, scientific theories, and mathematical methods.
Pla...»
Patents
1. What are the legal requirements to obtain a patent?
The applicant has to prove the following to obtain a patent (Article 82/1, Industrial Property Code (IPC)):
Novelty.
Inventive step.
Industrial application.
2. What categories are excluded from patent protection?
The following are not considered as inventions and therefore cannot be patented (Article 82/2, Industrial Property Code (IPC)):
Discoveries, scientific theories, mathematical method.
Plans, methods and...»
The Agency published Guidelines on Protection of Personal Data in Pharmacovigilance Activities (“Guidelines”) on 1 August 2019.
The Guidelines state that no explicit consent is required for the processing of patient data reported by the adverse effect notification, regardless of whether the person making the adverse effect notification is a patient, healthcare professional or relative. Additionally, pursuant to the Guidelines, the persons under the confidentiality obligation ...»
Although parties to international transactions frequently agree to arbitrate, they sometimes reconsider that commitment when a dispute arises, and look to challenge the validity of the arbitration agreement. Thanks to the separability presumption, the courts and the tribunals insulate the arbitration agreements from attacks on the underlying contract and uphold arbitration. However, the separability presumption sometimes backfires; particularly if one is attempting to arbitra...»
A four-day legal gap was created following the annulment of Article 14 of Decree-Law No 556, which regulated the use requirement
The Court of Cassation has recently considered this legal gap for the first time
It is now clear that one may file a non-use revocation action without having to wait for the expiry of the five-year period following the publication of the IP Code
Background
In 2016 the Turkish Constitutional Court annulled Article 14 of Decree-Law No 556, which reg...»
The liability arising out of the failure to pay the company debts directly belongs to the company itself since it has a separate legal entity. Therefore, the application is made to the legal entity first for the unpaid tax debts of the limited liability company, and if it is determined that the debt cannot be collected from the company, the application is directed to the legal representatives or to the shareholders. This is being the rule; the company itself is responsible fo...»
Amendments to the Turkish Property Code were published in the Official Gazette on 8 July 2019
Notarised signature declarations/notarised signature circulars are no longer required for a number of procedures
It is hoped that this will eliminate paperwork and speed up processes at the Patent and Trademark Office
The Turkish Regulation on the Implementation of the Industrial Property Code, which is the main regulation for industrial property rights, has been amended by a regul...»
The Turkish Constitutional Court rules in its decision dated May 30, 2019 and having the application number of 2015/11192 and also published in the Official Gazette numbered 30836 and dated July 19, 2019 (the “Decision”) that holding the board of director’s members, not having any representation authority, jointly and severally liable with the joint stock company for the Social Security Institution (“SSI”) debts does not violate proprietary right of the concerned member of th...»
Sources of law
1. What are the main areas of law and regulation relating to product liability?
Turkish law does not have specific legislation for product liability. Product liability claims are based mainly on tort law and contract law provisions under the Code of Obligations 6098.
In addition, consumers can base product liability claims on the Consumer Protection Law 6502, enacted in light of EU directives, including:
Directive 2002/65/EC concerning distance marketing of co...»