Insights
How Turkey Tackles Trademark Applications Infringing Upon Copyrighted Works
We love iconic movies, animated TV series, comics, cartoons, and platform games, and enjoy making them a part of our daily life, perhaps by drinking a cup of coffee with a mug bearing a Hogwarts logo or wearing pyjamas featuring Mickey Mouse. They are not just fictional works but also symbols with a cultural effect and commercial value. This often leads to unauthorised use of the titles and characters of these copyrighted works and any other associated signs, both at a… »
PTO Issues Exemplary Decision Clarifying Concept of ‘Bad Faith’
The PTO has refused an application for MA MONDE FRESHEN UP & SHINE following an opposition by a foreign cosmetics company The fact that the applicant sought to register a sign identical to the opponent’s trademark could not be a mere coincidence The Trademarks Department also considered the opponent’s trademark registrations and usage abroad, as well as the applicant’s bad faith The Trademarks Department has found that the application for MA MONDE FRESHEN UP &… »
Recent Changes Regarding the Determination of Companies Subject to Independent Auditing
The Decision Amending the Decision on Determination of Companies Subject to Independent Auditing ("Amendment Decision") was published in the Official Gazette dated April 6, 2024. The Amendment Decision provides significant changes to the independent auditing thresholds compared to the Decision on Determination of Companies Subject to Independent Auditing, which was put into effect by Presidential Decree No. 6434 and applied until January 1, 2024 ("Decision"). Accordingly… »
European Union Artificial Intelligence Act Approved: What Does It Entail in Terms of Copyrights?
*The Artificial Intelligence (“AI”) Act was approved by the members of the European Parliament on March 13, 2024. Although the AI Act does not include a direct regulation in regard to copyrights, it is seen that the obligations imposed on AI providers in Article 53 are intended to prevent copyright infringements. Generative AI models such as ChatGPT, BERT, LaMDA, DALL-E2, which enable the creation of original content by processing data such as text, image and sound, are now… »
Ban on Foreign Currency Payment in Certain Sale of Goods Contracts Lifted
With the amendment made to the Communiqué on the Decree numbered 32 Regarding the Protection of the Value of the Turkish Currency (the "Communiqué"), effective as of April 21, 2022, for buyers residing in Türkiye, except for vehicle sale contracts, in the event that there is an agreement in the sale of goods contracts that all payments under the contract are to be made in foreign currency or indexed to foreign currency, it was regulated that these obligations must be… »
Turkish Medicines and Medical Devices Agency Published the Industry Report on Medical Devices
On April 4, 2024, the Industry Report on Medical Devices, prepared by the Turkish Medicines and Medical Devices Agency ("Agency") to present the current state of the market together with recent developments in the medical device industry, was published on the Agency’s website. The Industry Report on Medical Devices includes assessments of global developments in the medical device industry, statistical information on the Turkish market, and explanations of the current… »
How to Evaluate Social Responsibility in Advertisements?
The Advertisement Board ("Board") made a striking decision at its meeting on January 9, 2024. The decision is based on the provision of the Regulation on Commercial Advertising and Unfair Commercial Practices ("Regulation") which emphasizes the necessity of taking economic and social responsibility into consideration in advertisements. The decision in question pertains to the introduction of the collection titled “The Jacket” by the global textile giant Zara on their… »
FILA v EILO: Re-examination and Evaluation Board Carries out Global Appreciation of Visual Aspects of Conflicting Marks
FILA Luxemburg SARL opposed the registration of the figurative mark EILO based on the earlier well-known FILA marks While the Trademarks Department rejected the opposition, the Re-examination and Evaluation Board decided in the opponent’s favour The board notably concluded that the application was similar to the FILA marks in its overall appearance The Re-examination and Evaluation Board of the Turkish Patent and Trademark Office has recently rejected a trademark… »
Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Copyright
AI technologies and generative AI models enabling the creation of original content by processing text, images, sound and other data have been a hot topic of this year. Should the outputs generated by AI be copyrighted work, if so who owns the rights, and copyright infringement by use of AI have been widely discussed. The general rule appears to be that an AI cannot have rights to the works it generates and that only human creativity can enjoy copyright protection. In the… »
Private Mergers and Acquisitions 2024 in Turkey: Overview
Corporate Entities What are the main corporate entities commonly involved in private acquisitions? In the context of private M&As, the most popular company structures among the various types available under the Turkish Commercial Code are: Joint stock companies (JSCs). Limited liability companies (LLCs). The corporate veil principle applies to both JSCs and LLCs. In a JSC: Shareholders can freely transfer their shares to others without the approval of the general… »
Examination of Novelty of Designs in Türkiye
A decision of 29 March 2023 of the General Assembly of the Turkish Court of Cassation has clarified whether the examination of lawfulness of the Turkish Patent and Trademark Office’s decision on absolute novelty of a design is limited to the evidence submitted in the opposition process or whether ex officio examination can be conducted at any phase. Güldeniz Doğan Alkan and Hatice İnci Turan report for Class 99. The facts of the case The design subject to the opposition The… »
Named Patient Program in Turkey
Named Patient Program (“NPP”) is one of the exceptional pharmaceutical importation regimes for products that are not authorized or authorized but unavailable in the Turkish market for various reasons. After numerous allegations in the news that the drugs supplied from abroad and used in cancer treatment were only products containing painkillers and that the products were counterfeit, the Regulation on the Supply of Medicines from Abroad (“NPP Regulation”) was published on… »
News and Events
Mehmet Gün will speak in ICC – Turkey Arbitration Day Conference
Mehmet Gün, our founding partner, will speak on “Dispute Resolution in Turkey: Threads and Opportunities” during ICC – Turkey Arbitration Day Conference in İstanbul, Turkey on Feb 09, 2018.
DETTO - Dokuz Eylül Teknoloji Transfer Ofisi
Aysel Korkmaz, managing associate in our intellectual property practice, has spoken on patent protection in pharmaceutical product and second medical use claims, relationship between patent and marketing authorization, and cases during the InventUP Health Program hosted by DETTO - Dokuz Eylül Teknoloji Transfer Ofisi in Izmir, Turkey on Jan 16, 2018.
Selin Sinem Erciyas moderated FICPI - TÜRKİYE roundtable meeting
Selin Sinem Erciyas, partner in our intellectual property practice and vice-president of FICPI - TÜRKİYE, has moderated first roundtable meeting of FICPI - TÜRKİYE in İstanbul, Turkey on Jan 12, 2018.
Gün + Partners have won Who’s Who Legal Country Firm of the Year Award for Turkey 2018
We are delighted to announce our firm has been awarded the Who’s Who Legal Country Firm of the Year Award for Turkey in 2018 once again. http://whoswholegal.com/awards/countrystate/
Özge Atılgan Karakulak has been named as Top 250 Women in IP 2018 by Managing IP
Congratulations to Özge Atılgan Karakulak, chair of our Life Sciences Practice, for being named Top 250 Women in IP 2018 by Managing IP: http://www.managingip.com/Article/3802643/The-Top-250-Women-in-IP-2018.html
Turkey’s New IP Code and Key Changes for Trademarks İstanbul Seminar
Turkey’s New IP Code and Key Changes for Trademarks Seminar was hosted by Gün + Partners in İstanbul on Apr 13, 2018. Uğur Aktekin, Hande Hançar Çelik, Barış Kalaycı and Güldeniz Doğan Alkan, partners in our IP practice shared their experiences.
Legal 500 2019 Rankings Announced
We are proud to have the Top Tier rankings in 5 out of 9 practice areas we are ranked in Turkey The Legal 500 (Legalease) and delighted that 4 of our Partners have been ranked as “Leading Individual” in their fields, with 2 lawyers listed as Next Generation Lawyers.
AIPPI Turkey 5th Intellectual Property Law Seminar
Zeynep Seda Alhas, partner in our intellectual property practice, was part of the Trademark - Design - Artistic Works Mock Trial as a counsel for the defence on during the Sertaç Köksaldı - 5th Intellectual Property Law Seminar hosted by AIPPI Turkey in Istanbul on Apr 06, 2018.
Begüm Yavuzdoğan Okumuş got CIPP/E certification
We congratulate Begüm Yavuzdoğan Okumuş, managing associate in our Corporate and M&A and TMT practices, for becoming Certified Information Privacy Professional Europe (CIPP/E) by the IAPP - International Association of Privacy Professionals. https://lnkd.in/ecAkq-V
IBA 6th Annual World Life Sciences Conference
This year's event will feature dynamic roundtable session as well as concurrent sessions covering the hottest topics and the latest developments from across the different sectors of the Life Science Industry. We look forward to seeing you in Boston, USA. https://www.ibanet.org/Conferences/conf880.aspx
We attended INTA Annual Meeting
Our delegates attended to International Trademark Association (INTA) Annual Meeting and met with our business partners and clients around the world in Seattle, WA.
We are attending IBA Annual Conference in Rome
Our partners Özge Atılgan Karakulak, vice chair of IBA IP and Entertainment Law Committee, and Pelin Baysal, former secretary of IBA Insurance Committee will be attending the IBA Annual Conference 2018 in Rome from 7th to 12th of Oct 2018. Please contact gun@gun.av.tr if you wish to meet with them. https://www.ibanet.org/Conferences/Rome2018.aspx