Insights
Chef’s Recommendation: Turkish Case Offers a Tasty Takeaway for Trademark Owners
Would you like to hear more about the chef’s recommendation? First, as a starter, some background information will be provided on a trademark dispute in Turkey that has a culinary theme, with the following steps taken at the administrative stage: The owner of the above-left trademark opposed a third-party application for the above-right trademark before the Turkish intellectual property office, by addressing the entire coverage of the filing under the Nice Classification… »
Data Controllers’ Registry (VERBIS)
Pursuant to Article 16 of the Law, data controllers who meet certain criteria are obliged to register with the Data Controllers’ Registry ("VERBIS"). The procedures and principles regarding the VERBIS system, which is open to the public, are determined by the "Regulation on the Data Controllers Registry" dated December 30, 2017 ("VERBIS Regulation"). With the Board's decisions dated 2018, various professional groups, associations, foundations and political parties were… »
Protection of Personal Data In the Field of Artificial Intelligence
With the rapid expansion of the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and its integration into all areas of life, it has become essential to establish a legal framework that regulates the safe and ethical development, distribution and use of AI systems, considering the complexity and unique characteristics of this technology. In addition to promoting the safe, transparent, and human rights-respecting development of AI technologies, and aiming to protect the safety, rights, and… »
Market Access - Alternative Reimbursement Models
aaaaIn the presence of alternative reimbursement models developed globally for pharmaceutical reimbursement systems, such as payback, value-based, indication-based reimbursements, and performance-based models, the Turkish pharmaceutical industry has also required alternative reimbursement models that fall outside the usual pricing and reimbursement rules for innovative products, and that can be negotiated with the Social Security Institution (SSI) to determine reimbursement… »
Use of Hemp in Production of Pharmaceuticals
Hemp cultivation in Türkiye came to the forefront with the “Symposium on Local Governments in the Presidential Government System” held on 9 January 2019, followed by the preparation of the “Report and Action Plan on Industrial Hemp Cultivation in Türkiye”. The hemp cultivation reached a significant stage with the publication of the Law on Amendments to the Forestry Law and Certain Laws on 5 April 2025. This law encourages the production of fibre, seeds, and stems, with the… »
Updates on the Ban Regarding Foreign Currency Payment in Movable Sale Contracts
To address the challenges arising from the obligation to make payments in Turkish Lira in sale of goods contracts, which are frequently encountered in commercial life, an amendment was made in 2022 to the Communiqué on the Decree numbered 32 Regarding the Protection of the Value of the Turkish Currency (the "Communiqué"). This amendment allowed the contract value to be paid in foreign currency for certain movable sale contracts, except for vehicle contracts, concluded between… »
Food Supplements
On 20 April 2023, significant changes were made to the regulations regarding the use of health claims on food and dietary supplements. As a result, the previous regulation, the Turkish Food Codex Nutrition and Health Claims Regulation, has been repealed. With the new regulation, the process of obtaining prior administrative approval for the use of health claims has been eliminated. As long as the claims comply with the regulation and guidelines, health claims can be used… »
Named Patient Program
The Named Patient Programs (NPP) are import regimes that allow medicines not authorized in Türkiye or authorized but unavailable for various reasons to be imported from abroad upon request by a physician. Following publication of the Regulation on the Importation of Medicines from Abroad ("NPP Regulation") published on 3 February 2023, the roles of stakeholders in the relevant process have been clarified. According to this NPP Regulation, institutions and organisations… »
Artificial Intelligence and Copyright: Challenges and Opportunities
AI technologies and their relationship with Intellectual Property (IP) rights have remained a prominent topic on the global agenda this year, as they were last year. With the increasing presence of generative AI models such as ChatGPT, BERT, LaMDA, and DALL-E2, which are capable of creating original content by processing data like text, images and sound, debates continue over whether the outputs generated by these models qualify as copyrighted works, who owns the rights to… »
Fixed Exchange Rate in Pricing of Pharmaceuticals and its Impact
The prices of pharmaceuticals to be launched on the market are determined in accordance with the Decision on the Pricing of Medicinal Products for Human Use (”Decision”) and the Communiqué on the Pricing of Medicinal Products for Human Use (“Communiqué”) dated 29 September 2017, published by the Ministry of Health, which has been authorised to regulate this area. The Decision foresees a reference pricing system in which the lowest wholesaler price for the relevant product in… »
Interactions with Health Care Professionals, Transfer of Values and Conditions of Payment
Promotion activities for pharmaceutical products for human use are regulated under the Regulation on the Promotion of Medicinal Products for Human Use dated 3 July 2015 (“Promotion Regulation”). The Promotion Regulation stipulates that the promotion of pharmaceutical products can only be conducted with healthcare professionals such as doctors, dentists, and pharmacists. As a result, the interaction of pharmaceutical companies with patients are limited, and direct… »
Medicines and Medical Devices Sectors: Current Status and Evolving Dynamics
The pharmaceutical sector saw a 2.7% increase in production in 2023. However, between January and July of 2024, there was a 5.2% decrease compared to the same period in the previous year. By 2023, pharmaceutical imports increased by 8.8% reaching a value of 5.4 billion USD, while pharmaceutical exports grew by 15.8% to the size of 2.2 billion USD. In the first half of 2024, exports rose by 1.9%, while imports increased by 4.9% [1]. In 2023, the Turkish pharmaceutical market… »