Insights
Riddle of Applicable Application Fee in Enforcing Foreign Judgments
Under Turkish law, the rules governing the collection of trial fees are regulated by the Law of Fees No. 492 (Law no. 492) and the applicable fees are under Tariff 1 of the Law no. 492. Article 4 of Law no. 492 also explicitly refers to Tariff 1 in terms of the fees applicable in the actions for enforcement of foreign judgments stating that the applicable fee will be determined according to the value, type and nature of the verdict. The general rule under Tariff 1 is when the… »
Advertisement Board is Again Able to Block Access
Turkish Constitutional Court (“Court”) annulled the paragraph 12 of Article 77 of the Consumer Protection Law, which granted the Advertisement Board (“Board”) the power to partially or entirely block access to websites containing unlawful advertising content. The relevant rule was considered to be unconstitutional pursuant to the Court’s decision dated 13 September 2023 and numbered 2022/70 E. - 2023/152 K. which was published on the Official Gazette dated 27 October 2023 and… »
Turkish Court of Cassation Issues Landmark Ruling on “cancellation” of WIPOpanel Decisions
In a case involving a registrant whose domain name was transferred to a complainant by a WIPO panel at the end of UDRPproceedings, the Turkish Court of Cassation has clarified that it is not possible to request “cancellation” of WIPO panel decisionsrendered pursuant to the UDRP. Background The plaintiff (registrant in the UDRP proceedings) registered the gTLD ‘donerstop.com’ on 6 June 2014. The defendant (complainantin the UDRP proceedings) applied to register the trademark… »
Court of Cassation Expands on Similarity Assessment for Short, Number Marks
The 11th Civil Chamber of the Court of Cassation (CoC) has ruled that there is a likelihood of confusion between the trademarks N11 and OTEL 11 (15 February 2024, 2023/3633 E (Merits), 2024/1117 K). Background The applicant filed a trademark application for OTEL 11 in Class 43. The opponent, one of the largest online shopping websites in Türkiye, requested refusal of the application on the following basis: OTEL 11 created a likelihood of confusion with its earlier… »
Guideline on Circumstances Requiring Reissue of a Marketing Authorization For a Licensed Pharmaceutical
The transfer of pharmaceutical marketing authorizations (“MA”) entails intricate and interconnected procedures. Especially when it comes to imported pharmaceuticals, comprehensive contracts control the process when the foreign licensor company gives a license to a distributor in Türkiye and the products are offered for sale in the Turkish market. Before the MA transfer application is submitted to the Turkish Medicines and Medical Devices Agency (“Agency”), the license… »
Court of Cassation Decision Shows Importance of Trademark Use to Enjoy Protection Based on ‘Vested Rights’ Principle
In its decision dated 13 February 2024 (No 2022/4962 E (Merits), No 2024/1005 K (Decision)), the 11th Civil Chamber of the Court of Cassation has upheld a Regional Court of Appeal decision confirming a ruling of the Court of First Instance that rejected the plaintiff’s vested rights claims. Background On 11 January 2018 an application was filed for registration of the trademark MONTENT in Classes 35, 38 and 41 by the applicant, who also owned a prior registration for MONTENT… »
Turkish PTO Continues to Protect Copyright Holders Against Infringing Trade Mark Applications in Its New Decision
The Turkish Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) has a broad approach and well-established praxis regarding the protection of copyright holders’ rights on fictional works when characters, titles, and associated signs are used in third-party trademark applications. In its recent decision issued in April, the PTO accepted Paramount Pictures’ opposition filed against the trademark application “Don Carpetto”, as shown below, and rejected the registration of the contested application… »
Guidelines on Packaging Information and Instructions for Use of Pharmaceuticals have been Updated
On June 11, 2024, the Turkish Medicines and Medical Devices Agency (“Agency”) announced on its official website that the “Guideline on the Packaging Information and Instructions for Use of Medicinal Products for Human Use”, “Guideline on the Readability of the Packaging Information and Instructions for Use of Medicinal Products for Human Use” and “Guideline on Excipients in the Packaging Information and Instructions for Use of Medicinal Products for Human Use” have all been… »
Corporate Governance and Directors' Duties in Turkey 2024
1. What are the main forms of corporate entity used? The main forms of corporate entity used in Turkey are the: • Limited liability company (LLC). • Joint-stock company (JSC). The LLC and the JSC are the preferred company forms in Turkey for both foreign national and Turkish entrepreneurs. The minimum capital requirement were recently increased and from 1 January 2024, the minimum capital amount for: • An LLC is TRY50,000. • A JSC is TRY250,000. • A non-public joint stock… »
Türkiye's Update: Key Changes in Named Patient Program
Pharmaceuticals that are not authorized in Türkiye or authorized but not available on the market shall be procured from abroad as per a special authorization and on a case by case basis (Named Patient Program-NPP). This supply can be conducted by public institutions approved by the Ministry of Health that are defined as Foreign Pharmaceutical Suppliers (Suppliers) and currently constitute of the Social Security Institution and the Turkish Pharmacists Association. The… »
Artificial Intelligence and Music Industry
One of the most striking developments in the music industry in 2023 was the release of the song “Heart on my Sleeves” by an anonymous user named “Ghostwriter” using the AI-created voices of world-famous singers Drake and the Weekend. However, the song “Heart on my Sleeves” did not exist in the music market for a long time due to the removal of the song from the relevant platforms after Universal Music filed a notice of intellectual property infringement. Although the song was… »
Decision on the Protection of Neighboring Rights in Cinematographic Works
The copyright law dispute, also known by the public as the case of famous actor Kemal Sunal, was concluded with the decision of the Court of Cassation General Assembly of Civil Chambers (“General Assembly”) after going through various stages for many years.[1] In the lawsuit filed by the heirs of Kemal Sunal, the dispute centers on (i) whether it is possible to accept that Kemal Sunal’s economic rights as a performing artist within the scope of Article 80 of the Law No. 5846… »