Insights
Update on Legal Interest, Late Payment Fee and Deferment Interest Rates
Legal Interest Rate According to Article 1 of the Law No. 3095 on Legal Interest and Default Interest (“Law No. 3095”), interests to be paid as per Turkish Code of Obligations and Turkish Commercial Code, shall be made at an annual rate of 12%, unless a different contractual rate is agreed. The president is authorized to adjust this rate on a monthly basis, and to reduce it by up to 10% or increase it up to one time. The legal interest rate was 9% since January 1, 2006… »
Constitutional Court Annulled the Sanction for Non-Attendance to Mandatory Mediation
Article 18/A of the Law No. 6325 on Mediation in Civil Disputes ("Mediation Law") stipulates that, should the mediation process end due to one of the party’s failure to attend the first meeting without a valid excuse, that party shall be liable for all litigation costs, regardless of whether they partially or fully succeed in the subsequent lawsuit. In addition to that, no attorney fee shall be awarded to such party. The Constitutional Court recently examined… »
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… »
News and Events
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
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.…