fbpx

Insights

We share our knowledge and expertise to update our community and clients about legal developments in Turkey.

Draft Patent Law Brings Barriers to Patent Protection in Turkey

The draft patent law amending the Decree Law numbered 551 Pertaining to the Protection of the Patent Rights (“Patent Decree Law”) is currently the hot button of patent rights in Turkey. Since Turkey adhered to the European Patent Convention (“EPC”) in 2000, there is a bifurcated system differing for both national and European patents validated in Turkey. In order to harmonize the procedures and eliminate the differences, a draft patent law amending the Patent Decree Law… »

Are Second Medical Use Claims Medical Treatment Methods? Evaluation of a Recent Turkish IP Court Decision

Turkey has been a member of European Patent Convention (“EPC”) since 1 November 2000. European Patents, granted by European Patent Office, are validated in Turkey without further examination and protected as a national patent. The competence of EPO in patentability assessment is also respected by Turkish Supreme Court and it has been the case law to take the patentability assessment of the EPO into consideration during national invalidation cases, not only related to European… »

Uncertainty Regarding Legal Status Of Social Security Institution’s Reimbursement Commission

Introduction On June 19 2015 the 15th Chamber of the Council of State stayed the execution of the Directive on the Working Principles and Rules of Procedure of the Reimbursement Commission (July 3 2014). However, the Social Security Institute had already repealed the directive approximately two months before the motion to stay its execution was granted and a new directive containing the repealed provisions in their entirety entered into force on April 30 2015. Accordingly… »

Turkey: A Rising Star In The Pharmaceutical Industry

You are waiting in line, trying to decipher several different languages spoken around you: English, Dutch, German, Arabic, French… This scene is not from an airport but rather from a Turkish hospital: thousands of foreigners, communicating through translators, visit healthcare institutions every day and numbers are increasing exponentially; in the first six months of 2014, 162,445 medical tourists visited Turkey. This is only one of the results of the Health Transformation… »

Copromotion of Pharmaceutical Products

In October 2014 the co-promotion of pharmaceutical products became a top priority for the pharmaceutical sector – including pharmaceutical companies, leading non-profit associations and their legal counsel – after the Ministry of Health sent letters to certain pharmaceutical companies. Cancellation of co-promotion permissions The letters stated that the ministry was cancelling co-promotion permissions which had previously been granted to the pharmaceutical companies and… »

Turkey: A Growing Market with Huge Potential

eatured Article: Waiting in line, trying to decipher the different languages spoken around you: English, Dutch, German, Arabic, French… This scene is not from an airport but rather from a Turkish hospital: thousands of foreigners, communicating through translators, visit healthcare institutions every day. A quarter of a million foreign patients come to Turkey each year for medical treatment – and this number is increasing exponentially. This is only one of the results of… »

IP Court Finds Second Medical Use Claims to be Medical Treatment Methods

In 2000 Turkey joined the European Patent Convention (EPC). Recently, the Istanbul IP Court, evaluating a patent infringement claim filed by the patentee of a ‘Swiss-type’ European patent, rejected the claim on the grounds that the patent was a “medical treatment method” which should not have been registered under Article 52(4) of the EPC 1972, and therefore was null and void. Decision The European patent at issue was registered by the European Patent Office (EPO) on… »

Copyright 2015, Turkey Chapter

1. Copyright Subsistence 1.1 What are the requirements for copyright to subsist in a work? The protection of copyrights is regulated under the Law of Literary and Artistic Works No. 5846 (Law No. 5846). According to Law No. 5846, an intellectual or artistic creation is qualified as a ‘work’ subject to copyright protection if: it is original, namely if it is the result of independent, creative effort by the author (this is a subjective condition); and it falls under one of… »

TPI Softens its Approach to Registration of 3D Marks

Under the Turkish Trademark law, there is in principle no ban on the registration of the three-dimensional (3D) shape of goods and/or their packaging. In fact, such trademarks are mentioned in the list of registrable signs and are subject to the same conditions as other types of trademarks. Article 5 of the Decree Law No 556 Pertaining to the Protection of Trademarks states as follows: “Provided that it is capable of distinguishing the goods and services of one undertaking… »

The Role of IP in Building a Reputable, Knowledge-based Law Firm

Intellectual Property (IP) rights are intangible assets that are either the creations of minds or are chosen or created in the form of distinctive signs. Among IP rights, trademarks and copyrights stand out as the most important and relevant for use by law firms. Trademarks form the legal basis for protecting a law firm’s brand, while copyrights form the legal basis for protecting its knowledge. Trademarks provide an exclusive ownership and protection perpetually as long as… »

Strengthening Bilateral Commercial Relations Between U.S. and Turkey

Articles -

Associations between the U.S. and Turkey started in 1947 when the U.S. Congress designated Turkey as a recipient of economic and military assistance intended to help the U.S. resist threats from the Soviet Union. From a historical point of view, relations between Turkey and the U.S. have been multidimensional and based upon mutual respect and interest. Currently Turkey and the U.S. cooperate across a broad geography, covering Iraq, the Middle East, North Africa, the Balkans… »

A Better Judiciary to Realise Turkey’s Potential

Articles -

Mehmet Gün, senior partner at Gün + Partners, examines the difficulties facing the Turkish judiciary and how essential a first-class justice system is to Turkey’s progress In the 1980s, Turkey undertook significant liberalisation of its national economy. Since then, liberalisation has increasingly become a pivotal part of the international economy. Between the 1980s and 2000, Turkey learnt some very important lessons in the form of economic crises and was saved by… »

Stay Informed

Subscribe to stay up to date on the latest legal insights and events of your choice.