Insights
Global Patent Litigation 2023, Turkey Chapter
Özge Atılgan Karakulak, Selin Sinem Erciyas and Zeynep Çağla Üstün have contributed to 2023 edition of Global Patent Litigation: Strategy & Practice - Turkey Chapter, which is published by Wolters Kluwer. “Global Patent Litigation: Strategy & Practice” is a resource that provides reliable descriptions of the patent laws for key countries along with insights into successful strategies to avoid, defend, or pursue litigation in each jurisdiction. Every chapter is updated… »
Processing of Personal Data without Consent as Expressly Stipulated by Laws
On February 12, 2024, the Personal Data Protection Authority ("Authority") published an Information Note on the Personal Data Processing Based on the Legal Reason Applicable to Processing Required for the Laws ("Information Note") and made assessments under Turkish law and EU law regarding the processing of personal data in cases stipulated by laws. Although the Information Note mostly includes general scholar explanations from Turkish law and EU law perspectives, we would… »
Impact of New Minimum Capital Amounts on Trade Registry Applications
With the Presidential Decree No. 7887 published in the Official Gazette dated November 25, 2023 and numbered 32380, the minimum capital amounts for joint stock and limited liability companies have been increased and accordingly, effective from January 1, 2024, the new minimum capital amounts have been determined as TRY 50,000 for limited liability companies, TRY 250,000 for joint stock companies and TRY 500,000 for joint stock companies that have adopted the registered… »
Allocation of Domain Names in Structure of “a.tr”
In addition to domain names such as "com.tr" and "org.tr", which are already being allocated in Türkiye, allocation of domain names in the structure of "a.tr" has also become possible as of September 14, 2023. Domain names in the structure of “a.tr” do not include extensions such as ".com", ".net", ".org", etc. but have a direct country code extension of ".tr". Domain names in the structure of "a.tr", which have their legal basis in Provisional Article 3 of the Regulation on… »
Agency Opinion on Health Claims in Food and Food Supplements Can Now Be Requested
The Regulation on the Use of Health Claims for Food and Food Supplements (“Regulation”) entered into force as of its publication on the Official Gazette dated 20 April 2023, and numbered 32169; and the requirement for obtaining approval from the Turkish Medicines and Medical Devices Agency ("Agency") under the Ministry of Health for the use of health claims in the labelling, promotion or advertisement of food supplements was abolished. Following this development, the Agency… »
Thoughts On 2023 Corruption Perception Index
Transparency International released the 2023 Corruption Perception Index (“2023 CPI”) on January 30, 2024. Widely regarded as the key reference point in this field, the annual CPI aims to measure the corruption perceptions in the public sector over various sources such as the World Bank, World Economic Forum, private risk and consulting firms and think-tanks. In the recent years, the Russian-Ukrainian war, the conflict growing violent between Israel and Hamas in Palestine… »
Aggravated Scrutiny for Consumer Reviews
Consumer reviews are of great importance in online shopping as they enable consumers to form their opinion in terms of the features and quality of the products or services that they consider purchasing and the care and professionalism the sellers and providers present to consumers. Due to the decisive impact of consumer reviews on consumers’ shopping preferences, the Regulation on Commercial Advertising and Unfair Commercial Practices ("Regulation") were amended on February… »
Changes to Minimum Wage, Severance Payments and Administrative Fines in 2024
At the beginning of each year, the minimum wage, severance payments and administrative fines prescribed by the Labour Act are revised. This article provides an overview of the 2024 changes, which came into effect on 1 January 2024. Minimum wage In 2023 the monthly minimum wage rate was 10.008.00 Turkish liras (gross), which was increased to 13,414.50 Turkish liras (gross) as of 1 July 2023. As of 1 January 2024, this has increased to 20.002.50 Turkish liras (gross). In this… »
Turkish Constitutional Court Decision on the Internet Law
The Constitutional Court found that some amendments introduced to the Law no. 5651 on Regulation of Publications on the Internet and Combatting Crimes Committed by Means of Such Publication (“Internet Law”) are unconstitutional in accordance with its decision dated 11.10.2023 and numbered 2020/76 E. and 2023/172 which was published in the Official Gazette dated 10.01.2023 and numbered 32425.[1] Evaluations on Provisions Found to be Unconstitutional Powers Granted to the… »
New Exemption for Procurements of the State Supply Office
With the Law No. 7491 published in the Official Gazette dated 28 December 2023, an additional article 12 was added to the Public Procurement Law (the “Law”). Accordingly, a new exemption has been introduced for procurements of vehicles, vehicle renting, fuel, medicines, medical supplies and medical devices which are to be made by the General Directorate of State Supply Office (“DMO”) on behalf of the administrations. Current Exemptions There were already some exemptions in… »
Turning the Turkish Tide on Rising Tactical Patent Invalidation Actions
Filing patent invalidation actions for tactical purposes such as jeopardising patent infringement actions of patent owners and gaining time by complicating the infringement proceedings has become a common strategy of infringers in recent years. This strategy may cause the patent owner to suffer due to the inability to use its patent properly during the limited protection period of 20 years, even if the invalidity claims do not have a solid basis and they are filed on a ‘try… »
Guideline on The Processing of T.R. Identity Numbers Published By The Personal Data Protection Authority
Within the scope of the Law No. 6698 on the Protection of Personal Data ("Law"), the Turkish Republic Identity Number ("T.R. ID Number") information of individuals is not included in the category of sensitive personal data, but rather is evaluated within the scope of identity data in the general category of personal data. However, in practice, the direct processing of the T.R. Identity Number data while the same data processing purpose could be achieved by processing… »
News and Events
June 8th is World Anti-Counterfeiting Day!
In an ideal world, we would not need to dedicate a day to a crime – but today is all about raising awareness about counterfeits and celebrating the ones fighting for a safer world. We operate in a jurisdiction which is notorious for counterfeits and we do our best to protect the brands of our clients both online and offline, all around Turkey and also at the customs. For tailoring the best approach and obtaining the best outcome, we leverage other measures available to us…
We Are Proud to Be Recognized as a Leading Data Firm by GDR 100 2023
We are proud to be listed among the GDR 100 2023 The world's leading data law firms. The GDR 100 is the only global ranking that captures the capabilities, track record and market reputation of the leading firms in the field. The ranking examines not only law firms' privacy and data protection capabilities, but also their work on all other kinds of data law. GDR considers data localisation, B2B disputes about data acquisition and breach responsibility, antitrust, the use of…
Webinar: World IP Day - Top Patent Cases of the year 2020 in Turkey and UK Perspective
Aysel Korkmaz Yatkın and Selin Sinem Erciyas from Gün + Partners and Aida Tohala from Bristows discussed the top patent cases of 2020 in Turkey and UK perspective and case law about the same. https://youtu.be/7ZZC1XSTNyk
Özge Atılgan Karakulak Listed in Top 250 Women in IP
Özge Atılgan Karakulak, partner in our life sciences and patent and utility models practices, is listed in Top 250 Women in IP 2021 by Euromoney's Managing IP. The publication recognises 250 senior female IP practitioners in private practice who have performed exceptionally for their clients and firms in the past year.
INTA Pre-Annual Meeting Reception 2022
This reception is planned exclusively for you and your colleagues to learn more about INTA’s upcoming 2022 Annual Meeting Live+. Feel free to bring a friend, colleague, or prospective member to find out more about this year's educational program, Business Development offerings, and more. Plus, learn about all the benefits of being or becoming an INTA member!
Özge Atılgan Karakulak Listed in Top 250 Women in IP 2022
Congratulations to Özge Atılgan Karakulak to be recognised as Managing IP's Top 250 Women in IP 2022 edition. This special publication recognises some of the senior female IP practitioners in private practice who have performed exceptionally for their clients and firms in the past year.
Barış Kalaycı spoke in Pharmaceutical Trade Marks Group 99th Conference
"According to latest annual report of Pharmaceutical Security Institute, medicines intended for Turkish market were identified in 198 new incidents that were detected in 44 countries located in seven different regions of the world, thus, Turkey is now considered as one of the global suppliers of diverted and counterfeit medicines. Baris Kalayci, chair of our anti-counterfeiting practice, spoke on ""Fighting Counterfeit and Diverted Medicines in and from Turkey"" at…
Better Justice Association, Structural Reforms Summit
"Kurucusu olduğumuz Daha İyi Yargı Derneği çatısı altında ülkemizin daha iyisini ve ilerisini gerçekleştirmesi için çalışıyoruz. Daha İyi Yargı Derneği’nin TÜRKONFED ile birlikte 24 Ekim 2019’da Ankara’da düzenlediği zirvede Yapısal Reform, hukukun üstünlüğü ve hesapverirlik önerilerimizi paylaşacağız. Detaylı bilgi ve kayıt için tıklayınız: http://www.dahaiyiyargi.org/haberler-duyurular/yapisal-reformlar-zirvesi-24-ekimde-ankarada/"
World Trademark Review (WTR) 1000 2021 Rankings Are Announced
We are pleased to announce that we have been named as the top tier firm and our 8 practitioners are recognized as the leading individuals in the World Trademark Review (WTR) 1000: The World’s Leading Trademark Professionals 2021. WTR 1000 focuses exclusively on trademark practices and practitioners, has established itself as the definitive ‘go-to’ resource for those seeking world-class legal trademark expertise.…
Announcement of New Managing Associate and Senior Associate Promotions, 2022
We are pleased to announce the continued growth of our firm with the promotion of Cansu Akbıyıklı to managing associate, Emine Taşkıran and Fatma Sevde Tan to senior associate taking effect from 1 March 2022.
Webinar: World IP Day - IP and Youth: Innovating for a Better Future – Trademarks and Copyrights Perspective
Gün + Partners celebrated the World IP Day with webinars. Enjoy the fireside chat between Ugur Aktekin and our guest Ashli Weiss Uğurlu discussing IP and Youth: Innovating for a Better Future – Trademarks and Copyrights Perspective. Topics How Ashli, as a young and passionate IP lawyer, has used IP as an innovative tool while building her own career How young entrepreneurs shall benefit from IP, in particular trademarks and copyrights, while starting up their…
Asena Aytuğ Keser Is Promoted as Managing Associate
We are pleased to announce the promotion of Asena Aytuğ Keser as our new managing associate. Asena has been with Gün + Partners since 2011. She specializes in dispute management, employment, business crimes and anti-corruption, and insurance and reinsurance practices. Asena advises and represents clients in various commercial disputes before courts and arbitral tribunals, including high profile compensation cases, M&A and shareholders disputes, insurance disputes, and…