Solar Licence Applications: Testing New Licensing and Contest Regulations
Introduction Taner Yıldız, the minister of energy and natural resources, recently commented that “there cannot be a growing economy without a growing energy sector”. This statement reflects estimations that Turkey’s electricity demand and supply must double by 2023 if the government’s economic goals are to be achieved. Turkey depends heavily on imported oil and gas to produce electricity. The government has put much effort into increasing the use of local resources in… »
Government Rocked By Waves Of Corruption
During the past decade Turkey has undergone a significant economic transformation. While further economic growth is expected, commentators have been shocked by recent alarming allegations. On December 17 2013 a corruption scandal emerged in Istanbul. The investigation commenced after Iranian gold merchant Riza Sarraf was mentioned on the suspect list of the Illicit Money Report prepared by the Turkish Financial Crimes Investigation Board (MASAK) in 2008. In light of the… »
Transfer Of A Business Line: An Asset Transfer, A Transfer Of Commercial Enterprise Or A Spin-Off?
There are various reasons why a company may decided to transfer one or more of its business lines, such reasons being, not deriving sufficient profit, needing to facilitate the management and specialization of different business lines, or simply because during an acquisition the transferee may not wish to acquire ail business lines of the transferor, instead preferring to exclude one or more of the transferor’s business lines from the scope of the acquisition. One of the… »
Turkey Increases R&D Incentives
The Turkish government has introduced a new incentive scheme to attract foreign investors in hope that Turkey becomes a key center for pharmaceutical R&D. Turkey’s pharmaceutical industry ranks as the sixth largest in Europe, and the 16th largest globally (1). Last year, the Turkish Government unveiled plans to position the country in the top 10 most-preferred locations for R&D investment in the pharmaceutical sector by 2023. Since the creation of the modern Republic… »
Anti-Bribery and Corruption Review 2014, 3rd Edition, Turkey Chapter
I INTRODUCTION Anti-bribery and anti-corruption, which have not yet strongly differentiated themselves from one another in Turkey, have been a very hot topic in recent times. Society, lawmakers and the judiciary have taken a staunch approach against bribery in their own ways. Society has raised its voice against bribery and corruption where possible as it regards bribery and corruption as an obstacle to the target of reaching the economic level of developed… »
TPI's Change of Practice Should Help Prevent Bad-Faith Applications
In April 2011 a trademark application consisting of two words - in which the second word was the trademark (registered worldwide) and trade name of an Italian company - was filed in the name of a Turkish company before the TPI. Although the Italian company filed an opposition against the application, it was expected to proceed to registration, as the applicant had held a valid trademark registration for the phrase at issue since 1999. Even though this registration was the… »
TPI’s Change of Practice Should Help Prevent Bad-faith Applications
In an important decision, the Turkish Patent Institute (TPI) has changed its position concerning applications filed in bad faith. In April 2011 a trademark application consisting of two words – in which the second word was the trademark (registered worldwide) and trade name of an Italian company – was filed in the name of a Turkish company before the TPI. Although the Italian company filed an opposition against the application, it was expected to proceed to registration, as… »
Better Protection for Genuine Right Owners Against Trade Mark Squatters: Compensation for Damages for Bad Faith
General Assembly of the Civil Chambers of the Court of Appeals decision, 27 March 2013, Merit No 2013/11-209, Decision No 2013/399 The Turkish Court of Appeals (CoA), upholding a ruling of the Ankara IP court (Ankara 2nd Civil Court of Intellectual and Industrial Property Rights, decision of 24 February 2011; Merit No 2011/15; Decision No 2011/51), recently ruled that if it is determined by an IP court that the defendant filed an application in bad faith to obtain a… »
Turkey: Tackling Counterfeits at the Border
It has almost become tautological to state that Turkey’s geographical location makes the country not only a natural trade route, but also a thriving hub for the dissemination of counterfeit products around the globe. Turkey’s economy has enjoyed seismic growth over the past decade, and so has its counterfeit sector. However, in recent years have there have been stringent efforts to counteract the expansion and reduce the trade of counterfeit products in Turkey. To both… »
Third Party Right For Direct Claim Against Liability Insurer
1. Introduction & General Background Third party right for direct claim has been explicitiy recognized with a specific provision (Article 1478) introduced by the new Turkish Commercial Code numbered 6102 and dated January 13!h, 2011 OheTCC”). Until July 1st, 2012, when the TCC, with a wider insurance section and a specific part in relation to third party liability insurance, entered into force, there was no specific provision in the former TCC with respect to right of… »
Courts Protect Well-known US Trademark Never Used in Turkey
On December 3 2012 the 11th Civil Chamber of the Court of Appeal upheld a decision of the Ankara Second IP Court in which the latter had determined that the trademark W-KING was confusingly similar to the trademarks W (and device), W RETREAT & SPA, W HOTELS and W HOTELS (and device) in Classes 37 and 43 of the Nice Classification. The IP Court found that adding a word element to the distinctive part of a mark is insufficient to create distinctiveness and eliminate the… »
Turkish Patent Institute Gets Electronic Makeover
The Turkish Patent Institute (TPI) has improved its online system to ensure that users are able to file, track and oppose applications in just a few clicks. It has recently announced – on its website and in seminars organised in Ankara and Istanbul – details of further steps to implement a system that is both more efficient and in keeping with the demands of the contemporary technological society by January 2013. The current website has a user-friendly interface divided into… »