Insights
Labour Courts Act Comes Into Effect
Introduction On October 25 2017 the Labour Courts Act (7036) was published in the Official Gazette and officially came into effect. The act aims to ease the judiciary’s workload and accelerate the judicial process inemployment cases. It has introduced a number of changes, the most important of which include: mandatory mediation for employers and employees before initiating lawsuits; an amended procedure for reinstatement cases; and a reduced statute of limitations of five… »
Proof of Use Guidelines Updated
The Turkish Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) published the Proof of Use Guidelines on April 28 2017 (please see “Turkish Patent and Trademark Office issues guidelines for proof of use of trademarks in opposition proceedings”), after the non-use defence was enacted by the new Industrial Property Code 6769 (IPC). In order to clarify the use and functions of this new procedure, the PTO issued an updated version of the guidelines on September 30 2017. The PTO has added two major… »
Survey on Decoding Conducted by Subcommittee of the Parallel Imports Committee
The removal of product identification codes is a phenomenon and topic which trademark owners in certain branches have been dealing with for decades. In many cases, these codes not only allow the identification or tracing of the product for product safety reasons (product recalls), but may also serve the purpose of identifying the authorized reseller to whom a product was initially delivered by the brand owner. In particular, perfumes, cosmetics, and alcoholic beverages are… »
Changes Brought with the New Communiqué on the Pricing of Medicinal Products for Human Use
The new Communiqué on the Pricing of Medicinal Products for Human Use (“Communiqué”) has been enacted on 29.09.2017. The Communiqué keeps the general framework of the pricing of pharmaceuticals, although it brings a few changes as foreseen in the Decision dated 24 February 2017 the Council of Ministers No. 2017/9901 (“Decision”) The Communiqué introduced two new terms: “real source price” and “source price” which does not change the pricing system. The “real source price” is… »
Labour Courts Act Has Come into Force on 25 October 2017
Labour Courts Act has came into force on 25 October 2017 On 25 October 2017, the Labour Courts Act No. 7036 (“Act”) was published in the Official Gazette and officially came into effect. The Act aims to ease the judiciary’s workload and accelerate the judicial process in employment cases. The Act brought a number of changes to employment cases. The most important changes can be summarized as follows; Mandatory mediation is introduced for both employers and employees prior to… »
Turkish Patent and Trademark Office issues guidelines for proof of use in opposition proceedings
Turkish Patent and Trademark Office issues guidelines for proof of use in opposition proceedings Following the entry into force of the Industrial Property Code (6769) on January 10 2017 and the Regulation on the Implementation of the Industrial Property Code on April 24 2017 (see “New IP Code enters into force: 2017 will be the year of IP rights” and “Entry into force of new Regulation on the Implementation of the Industrial Property Code”), on April 28 2017 the Turkish… »
TURKEY: Implementing Regulation of the New IP Code Enters into Force—Major Changes for Trademarks
Following the entry into force of the Turkish Industrial Property Code (the IP Code) on January 10, 2017, a draft of the implementing regulation regarding the IP Code was immediately prepared and views of the stakeholders were collected. The regulation has been finalized and was published in the Official Gazette on April 24, 2017. The most important provisions in the regulation with respect to trademarks are in relation to co-existence agreements and the use requirement in… »
The General Data Protection Regulation: Achieving Compliance for EU and non-EU Companies
The European Union (EU) has introduced new legislation on the protection of personal data: the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The GDPR was adopted on 27 April 2016 and it will come into force on 25 May 2018 after a two-year transition period. Businesses in the EU are readjusting their processing activities in order to ensure compliance with the GDPR. However, it is not only EU businesses that should be working towards compliance, but also some non-EU businesses… »
Telecoms and Media 2017, Turkey Chapter
Communications policy 1 Regulatory and institutional structure Summarise the regulatory framework for the communications sector. Do any foreign ownership restrictions apply to communications services? The main legislation governing the communications sector is the Electronic Communications Law numbered 5809 and dated November 05, 2008. (the “ECL”). The ECL provides the main principles regarding the authorisation of the operators, their obligations and the powers granted to… »
IP Court Accepts Patent Infringement Action Against Global Medical Device Company
In September 2015 a global medical device company filed a patent infringement action and requested a preliminary injunction against a local company for the immediate prohibition of the production and sale of medical devices on the grounds that the local company was infringing the originator company’s registered patent with its medical devices. Before filing the action, the patent practice team worked with a European patent attorney and a reputable professor working on medical… »
Competition 2017 in Turkey
1. Which transactions are subject to notification to the Turkish Competition Authority under the Turkish merger regime? The Communiqué No. 2010/4 on Mergers and Acquisitions Requiring Authorization of the Competition Authority (“Communiqué No. 2010/4”), entered into force on 01 January 2011, sets out the types of mergers and acquisitions that require notification the Turkish Competition Authority (“the TCA”) for permission and legal validity. Article 5 of Communiqué No.… »
New Regulation on Time Limits for Completion of Legal Proceedings
The Regulation on the Determination and Enforcement of Target Investigation, Prosecution or Trial Periods was published in the Official Gazette (30105) on June 23 2017. It was enforced by the Ministry of Justice and will enter into force on September 1 2017. The regulation sets out the rules and procedures for determining the specific periods in which legal proceedings must be completed, thus ameliorating the judicial process. It applies to investigations, prosecutions and… »