Insights
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… »
Turning the Turkish Tide on Rising Tactical Patent Invalidation Actions
Filing patent invalidation actions for tactical purposes such as jeopardising patent infringement actions of patent owners and gaining time by complicating the infringement proceedings has become a common strategy of infringers in recent years. This strategy may cause the patent owner to suffer due to the inability to use its patent properly during the limited protection period of 20 years, even if the invalidity claims do not have a solid basis and they are filed on a ‘try… »
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 2023
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 2023 changes, which came into effect on 1 January 2023. Minimum wage In 2022 the monthly minimum wage rate was 5,004 Turkish liras (gross), which was increased to 6,471 Turkish liras (gross) as of 1 July 2022. As of 1 January 2023, this has increased to 10,008 Turkish liras (gross). The minimum wage… »
Turkey's New Trademark Revocation System: Administrative Changes Effective January 2024
Administrative revocation will be possible before the Office as of 10 January 2024. According to Article 9 of the Industrial Property Law No. 6769 (“IPL”), if a trademark is not used in five years as of its registration date or its use is suspended for a consecutive period of five years; it will be vulnerable to revocation due to non-use. Revocation of trademarks based on non-use were traditionally filed as a court action before the specialized IP courts under the previous… »
EUROPATENT Case Considers Re-examination and Evaluation Board’s Discretion to Examine Absolute Grounds for Refusal
This long-running case went all the way to the Court of Cassation The Trademarks Department had partially refused the application for EUROPATENT on the grounds of descriptiveness and lack of distinctiveness; the board then decided ex officio to refuse the application for all the services applied for, citing additional grounds for refusal The case was analysed under the provisions of the now-repealed Decree Law No 556, which was in force at the relevant date Absolute… »
OneTrust Data Guidance Turkey - Employment
Beril Yayla Sapan and Begüm Yavuzdogan Okumuş have contributed to Data Guidance Turkey - Employment, which is published by OneTrust. OneTrus Data Guidance Turkey - Employment provides detailed information on employee privacy and data protection regulations in Turkey, covering key legislation, official guidelines, supervisory authorities, and case law. It outlines the absence of a specific employee privacy law in Turkey but emphasizes the importance of the Personal Data… »
The Decision Of The Constitutional Court On The Administrative Fine Imposed By The Personal Data Protection Board
The Constitutional Court in its decision dated 12.10.2023 and numbered 2020/7518, published in the Official Gazette dated 15.12.2023, determined that the deficiencies in the proceedings against the administrative fine imposed by the Personal Data Protection Board (the “Board”) on a global hotel chain (the “Applicant”), in which the Board determined to have violated its obligations to ensure data security, violated the Applicant’s right to property. Within this framework, the… »
PTO Prepares for Administrative Revocation of Trademarks
Article 26 of the Industrial Property Code, which grants the PTO the authority to revoke trademarks, will come into force on 10 January 2024 The PTO has recently released a draft regulation for comment The draft regulation includes procedural details on how revocation requests will be made before the PTO Background The Industrial Property Code No 6769 (IP Code), which entered into force on 10 January 2017, provides that the Turkish Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) has… »
Determination of Royalty in Case of Compulsory License
The institution of “compulsory licensing”, which is regulated firstly in Article 99 of the repealed Decree-Law No. 551 and then, under Article 129 et seq. of the Industrial Property Law (“the IP Code”) in force, as a reflection of TRIPS Article 31, has not been needed to be implemented for long years in our country [Turkey]. However, with the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, it has suddenly gained popularity since it is regarded as a “convenient” tool for abrogating patent… »
Declaration on Use of Patent and Compulsory License
The new IP Codenumbered 6769 abolished the provisions on “the use requirement of patents” and “the evidence of use” of the Decree-Law About the Protection of Patent Rights. The IP Code now focuses on the requirements of use for patents within the provision of a Compulsory License. Accordingly, a patent owner must use the patented invention within three years following the publication of its granted decision in the Official Bulletin (‘the Bulletin’) or within four years from… »
Similarity of Short Trademarks: Patent and Trademark Office Deviates From Practice in Groundbreaking Decision
Minor alterations were previously considered sufficient for consumers to distinguish between short marks The PTO recently held that the word mark M + PLUS was similar to the opponent’s series of earlier M marks The office diverged from standard practice in a decision that focused on the overall impression made by the marks on consumers Background When the Turkish Patent and Trademark Office assesses whether two signs are confusingly similar under Article 6/1 of the… »
News and Events
Özge Atılgan Karakulak Moderated a Panel at IBA's "Hot topics in Technology, Communications and Intellectual Property Law" Online Event
Özge Atılgan Karakulak, co-chair of IBA - IP and entertainment law committee and partner in our patent and utility models practice, was the moderator of the "Patents in a Pandemic" panel at IBA - "Virtual roundtables: Hot topics in Technology, Communications and Intellectual Property Law" online event. https://www.ibanet.org/conference-details/CONF2114
Hande Hançar Is Talking About the Assignment of Copyrights Procedure Under Turkish Law
Turkish copyright system follows the classical author’s rights doctrine, therefore based on very conservative principles which are difficult to maintain in a world of rapid and unpredictable technological developments. In our video, Hande Hançar is talking about the assignment of copyrights procedure under Turkish Law. Further details are available in our thought leadership paper.…
Mutlu Yıldırım Köse and Havva Yıldız Spoke on “Non-Fungible Tokens (NFT)" at İstanbul Bilgi University
Mutlu Yıldırım Köse and Havva Yıldız spoke on NFT and its relation to copyrights at the Data-Based Economics Lab of Istanbul Bilgi University.
Uğur Aktekin Will Moderate a Table Topic at INTA 2021 Annual Meeting
Uğur Aktekin, co-chair of our intellectual property practice, will be the moderator of the Table Topic: "Leveraging Copyrights in Your Brand Protection Strategy" at INTA 2021 Annual Meeting Virtual+ on 17 November 2021, 08:00 am-09:00 am EST. https://www.inta.org/2021-annual-meeting-virtual/table-topics/
Aysel Korkmaz Yatkın Will Speak at Mondaq Webinar on Patent Enforcement in Europe
Aysel Korkmaz Yatkın, partner in our patent and utility models practice, will be one of the speakers at Mondaq "Learn from the Expert: Patent Enforcement in Europe" webinar delivered by MLL, Freshfields and other leading European firms on 18 November 2021 at 4:00 PM UTC. https://bit.ly/3Fe2jHO
We Had Information Security Training
In the light of ISO 27001 we had information security, risks and precautions training.
Announcement of 2021 Partner Promotions
We are pleased to announce the continued growth of our firm with the promotion of Begüm Yavuzdoğan Okumuş, Beril Yayla Sapan and Görkem Bilgin to partner in our corporate and commercial practice areas taking effect from 1 October 2021. https://gun.av.tr/people
Dicle Doğan Has Been Awarded as Rising Star by Euromoney Legal Media Group's "Rising Stars EMEA Awards 2021"
Dicle Doğan, managing associate in our life sciences practice, has been awarded as rising star in Turkey by Euromoney Legal Media Group's "Rising Stars EMEA Awards 2021" which aims to recognise the outstanding work being done by the region’s emerging leaders. https://www.iflr.com/article/b1thybzf1ql0nz/rising-stars-awards-emea-2021-winners-announced
Uğur Aktekin Will Speak at FICPI Virtual 20th Open Forum
Uğur Aktekin, partner in our trademarks and designs practice, will be a panellist of "Trade mark joint custody: Tips and trends for co-branding" panel at FICPI Virtual 20th Open Forum on 3-5 November 2021. https://ficpi.org/events/virtualevent/2021-ficpi-20th-virtual-open-forum
Hande Hançar is Outlining the Alternative Methods for Claiming Compensation for Trademark Infringement in Turkey
Recovery of damages is one of the most important initiatives of IP owners to protect their IP portfolio. In our video, Hande Hançar is outlining the alternative methods for claiming compensation for trademark infringement in Turkey. Further details are available in our thought leadership paper.
Özge Atılgan Karakulak Moderated a Panel at IBA - Virtual Fever the New Pandemic Conference
Özge Atılgan Karakulak, co-chair of IBA - IP and Entertainment Law Committee, was the co-moderator of the "Have patents cured Covid-19?" panel at IBA - Virtual Fever the New Pandemic Conference in Berlin, Germany. https://www.ibanet.org/session-details/se_85026
We Conducted Another Round of Raids on Infringers in Istanbul
We are proud the announce that we conducted yet another round of simultaneous raids at the warehouses and production sites of several infringers in Istanbul last week, enabling us to seize over two hundred thousand pieces of textiles, leather goods and accessories. This joint operation started with detailed investigations of our in-house investigation team and could be concluded thanks to excellent support of law enforcement officers on behalf of many clients.