Insights
Omnibus Law Amends Pharmaceutical Legislation
On 1 March 2024, the Omnibus Law Amending Certain Laws and Decree Law No. 663 (the “Omnibus Law”), which amends certain provisions of the Law No. 1262 on Pharmaceuticals and Medical Preparations (the “Law No. 1262”) and the Fundamental Law on Healthcare Services No. 3359 (the “Law No. 3359”), was published in the Official Gazette numbered 32476. In the general preamble of the Omnibus Law, it was stated that social and economic transformation, rapidly developing technology… »
The Long-Awaited Amendments to the Turkish Personal Data Protection Law Has Been Enacted
The Law No. 7499 on Amending the Code of Criminal Procedure and Certain Laws (“the, which includes the long-awaited amendments to the Turkish Personal Data Protection Law (the “Law”) and is also referred to as the 8th Judicial Reform Package, was published in the Official Gazette dated 12 March 2024 and numbered 32487. Significant changes regarding the processing of sensitive personal data, cross-border transfer of personal data, administrative sanctions and legal remedies… »
Turkish Court of Cassation’s Recent Approach to Public Policy in Enforcement and Setting-Aside of Foreign Arbitral Awards
In general terms, public policy is defined as a set of rules and principles ensuring a smooth conduct of public services, a state’s security and safety, and compliance of the relationship between individuals with the principles of peace and ethics[1]. Due to its conceptual nature and vulnerability to a turmoil of different interpretations, violation of public policy appears as one of the most prevalent counter arguments in enforcement and setting-aside proceedings of foreign… »
New Legislation on IP Infringement on e-Commerce Platforms
Law No. 7416, amending E-Commerce Law came into effect on January 01, 2023. This law obliges e-commerce platforms to take down a product if they receive a legitimate complaint alleging that a violation of intellectual and industrial property rights has occurred on their platform. According to Law No. 7416, the general principle is that the intermediary service provider (i.e., the platform) is not responsible for the illegality of the content offered by the service provider.… »
The Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Trademark Law
The impact of the spread of artificial intelligence (“AI”) technologies can be seen in many areas of law, including trademark law. The rapid development of AI technologies has given rise to the need to re-evaluate some of the basic practices and concepts of trademark law. The first aspect of these developments is the use of AI in trademark application, registration and other related administrative procedures. As can be seen from the Index[1] published by the World… »
The Relationship Between Virtual and Physical Goods and Services
The development of NFTs, artificial intelligence, and the metaverse has seen many individuals and legal entities start to include virtual goods and services within the scope of their trademarks. Discussions have been widely held about whether virtual goods and services are similar to physical goods and services and under which class these goods and services should be included in the Nice Classification, and the following developments have taken place in this regard. In a… »
It’s Time for Administrative Revocation of Trademarks!
Before the Industrial Property Law (“IP Code”) no. 6769 entered into force on January 10, 2017, procedures related to trademark rights were governed by the former Decree Law no. 556 on the Protection of Trademarks (“Decree Law”). While revocation of trademarks is dealt with by both pieces of legislation, the introduction of the IPL brings a major change to Turkish Trademark Law, stating that requests for revocation of trademarks must be filed with the Turkish Patent and… »
Can Trade Names Lead to Trademark Infringement in Turkey?
There are questions concerning whether a trade name or business name can constitute trademark infringement and unfair competition, particularly in cases where the trade name is not used as a trademark. This criticism has been disputed under both the Decree Law No. 556 Pertaining to Protection of Trademarks and the Industrial Property Code (“IP Code”)[1]. The Courts has made numerous decisions regarding this topic. The issue was discussed in the decision dated 08 February… »
The Use Criteria For The Recognition of Vested Right Claim Based on a Prior Trademark
In its decision dated 21.12.2022 and numbered 2021/5302 E.(Merits), 2022/9311 K.(Decision), the 11th Civil Chamber of the Court of Cassation upheld the Regional Court of Appeal’s decision regarding a refiled trademark application that because the plaintiff could not prove genuine use in class 44, a vested right in the plaintiff’s favor over the “M…” trademark was not constituted. On June 07, 2013, a trademark application was filed for the registration of the trademark “M…” in… »
Trademark Filing History May Result in Finding of Bad Faith Under Turkish Law
It is widely accepted in the literature[1] and decisions of the Court of Cassation[2] (“CoC”) that an applicant's attempt to create a trademark portfolio by trying to register other well-known trademarks can be sufficient to constitute proof of bad faith. In this context, first instance courts and regional courts of appeals will examine the applicant's other trademark applications and might accept that the registration of the disputed trademark was attempted in bad faith… »
Overview of Turkish IP Protection: Navigating Challenges
Turkish IP legislation is mostly in compliance with EU legislation. With the adoption of IP Code No. 6769 back in 2017, it is fair to say that legislation regarding trademarks, designs and patents is in line with international norms and standards. While the legal framework provides a solid foundation for IP rights protection, practical obstacles persist, revealing the need for further improvements. A significant challenge has been the limited specialized knowledge among… »
Sanal Moda
News and Events
Mehmet Gün comments in the Financial Times
Mehmet Gün, our founding partner, comments in the Financial Times on the latest decree on prohibition of Turkey residents’ FX contracts. https://lnkd.in/gW8Shxk
Hande Hançar moderated the “Turkish patent law and employee inventions” workshop at IP.CAMP 2018
Hande Hançar Çelik, partner in our Intellectual Property practice, led the workshop on “Turkish patent law and employee inventions” during IP.CAMP 2018 - Patents for Business Intelligence in Izmir on Sep 13, 2018. https://lnkd.in/gJqUcPT
We have hosted Biolegis Meeting in İstanbul
We have hosted Biolegis Meeting 2018 in Istanbul on 13-14 Sep 2018 with the attendance of @Biolegis member law firms and corporate counsels of life science companies. Our lawyers @Ozan Karaduman and @Begüm Yavuzdoğan Okumuş with @Funda Ekincioğlu from @MSD Turkey shared their experiences on processing personal health data in life science under the #GDPR and Turkish Law on Protection of Personal Data”. Biolegis is a pan-European network of law firms with in-depth expertise…
Hande Hançer to be moderator at IP.Camp
Hande Hançar Çelik, partner in our intellectual property practice, will lead the workshop on “Turkish patent law and employee inventions” during IP.CAMP 2018 - Patents for Business Intelligence in Izmir on Sep 14, 2018. https://www.ipcamp.org #IPCAMP2018 #Sabanciuniversitesi
ISTA Conference
Mehmet Gün, our founding partner and chairperson of İstanbul Arbitration Association (ISTA), made the opening speech and Pelin Baysal, co-chair of our Dispute Resolution practice, shared her thoughts on cultural gaps in international arbitration with a special focus on document production at ISTA Ethics Rules for Arbitrators Ethics, Latest Developments and Innovation in Arbitration Conference on Nov 16, 2018 in İstanbul. https://ista.org.tr/en/blog/istaconference2018program
ISTA Konferansı
Kurucu Ortağımız Av. Mehmet Gün’ün kurulmasına öncülük ettiği İSTA – Istanbul Tahkim Derneği, Hakem Etik Kuralları’nı tüm dünyaya duyurmak ve tahkim etiğinin duayenleri ile tartışmak amacıyla 16 Kasım 2018 tarihinde uluslararası bir konferans düzenlemiş bulunmaktadır. Konferansta tahkimde inovasyon, güncel gelişmeler ve İstanbul’un bir ticaret ve uyuşmazlık çözüm merkezi olarak yeri konularında sunumlar yer alacaktır.…
FICPI-TÜRKİYE seminar held with Istanbul Bilgi University
"FICPI-TÜRKİYE seminar on ""Significant Innovations on Trademark and Patent Prosecution Processes with the IP Code No. 6769 and Current Practice"" held in conjunction with Istanbul Bilgi University in Istanbul on Oct 26, 2018. Ugur Aktekin, our partner and president of the FICPI-TÜRKİYE, made the opening speech of the seminar. https://lnkd.in/g5XD8Qg"
We have been shortlisted in the Excellence in International Legal Services category by The Law Society 2018 Excellence Awards.
"We are pleased to be shortlisted in the Excellence in International Legal Services category by The Law Society 2018 Excellence Awards. http://www.lawsociety.org.uk/events/excellence-awards/shortlist/ "
Aysel Kokmaz Yatkın spoke about about employee inventions.
Aysel Korkmaz Yatkın, managing associate in our Patents and Utility Models practice, spoke about employee inventions as a keynote speaker at the Model Court of Justice 2019 in Ankara on Feb 10, 2019.
Talat Yörük shared his experience on customs procedures of counterfeit products
"China, Hong Kong and Turkey are the top provenances of fake goods according to OECD - OCDE Trade in Counterfeit and Pirated Goods 2016 report. Turkish Statistical Institute also reports China is the largest exporter to Turkey for the goods excepting petroleum and natural gas in 2018. Talat Yörük, senior associate of our Anti-Counterfeiting practice area, presented the legal status and customs procedures of counterfeit products during the Seminar for Identification of…
We have been selected as the “Patent Firm of the Year” in Turkey by Global IP Awards
We are delighted to have been selected as the “Patent Firm of the Year” in Turkey by Global IP Awards, which recognise law and attorney firm excellence in the field of litigation, prosecution and transactional patent work during 2018. https://cms.ipplatform.globebmg.io/sites/default/files/2019-01/Global%20IP%20Awards%20Winners.pdf
Our "Key Developments and Predictions for Trademark Law in Turkey" thought leadership paper launched
Our “Key Developments and Predictions for Trademark Law in Turkey” paper discusses the issues surrounding the interpretation and implementation of the key changes introduced by the IP Code. https://lnkd.in/gYnQ3es