IP Court: Foreign Registrations Should be Taken Into Account During Examination
In a recent decision, the Third Civil IP Court of Ankara has made a detailed examination of the distinctiveness and descriptiveness of a trademark, and cancelled the refusal of the Turkish Patent Institute (TPI) based on a strong reasoning. Arguably, the decision – in which the court also interpreted the impact of foreign registrations for the same trademark – sets an important precedent for similar cases. The applicant’s trademark application for AIRCRUISE BIONICS, which is… »
Turkey: Paternity and Adoption Leave Introduced into Turkish Law
Whilst state employees have been entitled to 10 days paternity leave (increased in 2011 from three days) plus 24 months unpaid leave upon request and 24 months unpaid adoption leave (introduced in 2011), there was no similar entitlement for most private sector employees. Nevertheless, whilst legislation was silent on the matter for a long time, many private sector employers voluntarily granted their employees paternity leave of three to five days. Initially it was mostly… »
Solar Power in Turkey
Solar power has been one of the hot topics in the Turkish energy market in recent years. Considering the immense potential of solar energy, especially in the southern part of Turkey (approximately 1,330 kW/m2per year), the attention to solar power has come as no surprise. Both local and foreign investors are making plans to take part in the nascent Turkish solar market. Although the potential of solar power in Turkey has been recognized for many years, it was not until June… »
Recent Developments in Named Patient Pharmaceutical Supply Programme
Introduction The Pharmaceutical and Medical Device Institution – established under the Ministry of Health -published new Guidelines on the Supply from Abroad and the Use of Pharmaceuticals in April 2014, which were amended in December 2014. The amendments – as well as developments at the Social Security Institution – introduce important changes to the named patient programme in Turkey. The purpose of the guidelines is to determine the procedures and principles regarding the… »
Square Pegs in Round Holes: Invalidation Actions Against Unexamined Patents
The Turkish patent regime has a pre-grant opposition system and recognises two types of patent: unexamined patents and examined patents. Unexamined patents are granted without a substantive examination and are protected for seven years, while examined patents are granted only after passing the substantive examination and are protected for 20 years. Unexamined patents can also be converted into examined patents if a request for examination is made during the seven-year… »
Alternative Procedures for Asset Recovery
Introduction The Fifth Judicial Reform Package introduced important amendments to the Criminal Procedure Code on February 21 2014, including new requirements for the confiscation and freezing of assets as a precautionary measure during criminal investigations. These included a requirement for the competent authority to prepare a report in order for a confiscation decision to be rendered. Based on the nature and specifics of the case, the competent authority could be: the… »
Anti Counterfeiting 2015, A Global Guide, Turkey Chapter
Legal framework Turkey 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. Accordingly, Trademark Decree-Law 556 is almost fully compliant with TRIPs. There are specialist civil and criminal IP courts in the three largest Turkish cities (Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir). In other cities the regular civil… »
The International Arbitration Review, Turkey Chapter, 6th Edition
I INTRODUCTION The use of arbitration as an ADR method in Turkey is on the rise, especially for international disputes. There is also a growing demand for the use of domestic arbitration, however, domestic parties mostly prefer court litigation for cultural and financial reasons and because of the way court and arbitration system is structured in Turkey. The establishment Arbitration of the IstanbulCentre, which aims to attract not only disputes involving Turkish parties but… »
Scope of Employers That Benefit From Employment Protection Provisions Has Been Widened
The number of employees in an associated company abroad, must be considered when determining whether an employer has more or less than 30 employees, for the purposes of employment protection under the Turkish Labour Act. Article 18 of the Turkish Labour Act provides employment protection for employees who have been working for at least six months at a workplace which has at least 30 employees. In these circumstances, an employer must have a valid reason to terminate an… »
Court Clarifies Meaning of ‘Identical’ and ‘Indistinguishably Similar’ Under Article 7/1(b)
In a recent decision (merit number 2014/15516, decision number 2015/327, January 14 2015), the 11th Chamber of the Court of Appeal has upheld a decision of the court of first instance (Ankara Fourth Civil Court of Intellectual and Industrial Property Rights, merit number 2014/17, decision number 2014/136, June 11 2014) in which the court had cancelled a decision of the Re-Examination and Evaluation Board of the Turkish Patent Institute (TPI). The board had rejected the… »
IP Court Applies European Patent Convention in National Invalidity Proceedings
The general practice of the Turkish IP Court is to continue with invalidation proceedings brought against the Turkish validation of a European patent even where the patent is still under opposition or appeal before the European Patent Office (EPO). Although it is obvious why it may not be effective for a local court to evaluate the validity of the patent before the EPO has issued its final decision, the Turkish IP Court has based this practice on the length of EPO proceedings… »
Court of Appeal Recognises Well-known Status of Sheraton Device Marks
The Court of Appeal held that the SHERATON device marks are well known in the relevant sector; it was not possible for consumers to recognise that the trademarks belonged to two different entities, and consumers could believe that the SOYIÇ HOTEL mark belonged to the plaintiff. The court further held that the defendant was attempting to benefit unfairly from the plaintiff’s trademarks. Upon rejection by the Turkish Patent Institute (TPI) of the appeal filed against the… »