Insights
The Rise of Online Advertising and The Problems Related to Competition Law
Recently, with the fast development of the technology and the extensive use of communication tools and the internet, marketing strategies have also experienced a significant change. Traditional marketing methods have been rapidly replaced by online advertising. Online advertising, which is a form of advertising that utilizes various internet-based channels, as a marketing strategy used on digital platforms to increase trademark popularity, promote sales and create consumer… »
Reflections of Digital Transformation on Competition Law
In recent years, the rapid spread of digital transformation, defined as the transformation of business processes, customer relationships and operations of undertakings with digital technologies, driven by the technological advancements, has led to changes in the ways of doing business. During this transformation process, the use of digital technologies, especially information and communication technologies, is increased compared to traditional methods. As Undertakings aim to… »
Decision on the Pricing of Drugs Has Been Amended
On 23 July 2023, the Presidential Decree numbered 6932 on the Amendment of the Decision on Pricing of Medicinal Products for Human Use ("Decision") was published in the Official Gazette numbered 32257. With the provisional articles added to the Decision: It has been arranged that the euro value in Turkish Lira to be used in the pricing of medicinal products for human use was increased by 30.5% to 14.0387 TRY in July 2023. While applying this increase, it is stated that the… »
Court of Cassation Examines Impact of Bankruptcy on Collection of Employee Receivables
In practice, bankruptcy of a defendant employer during court proceedings related to employee receivables may be confusing for both the parties of a dispute and the courts handling the proceedings. The Court of Cassation recently examined a case where the defendant employer became bankrupt during court proceedings initiated for employment receivables in the decision dated 8 February 2022. (1) Definition of urgent matters According to article 194 of the Enforcement and… »
Council of State's Unification of Decisions on Appeals Filed by Intervening Parties
Until recently, the Council of State of Turkey had an unsettled practice regarding the appealability of decisions by intervening parties where the principal party does not appeal a decision. Indeed, certain chambers of the Council of State allowed intervening parties to appeal decisions regardless of the principal party's choice, whereas the other chambers restricted the intervening parties' right to appeal with the principal party's appeal. Lately, a unification of decisions… »
A Practical Overview of Disclosure of Trade Secret as a Criminal Offense
Trade secrets bear critical value for companies to stand out and become distinct from their competitors in the competitive market conditions. Indeed, companies are often exposed to significant risks arising from the disclosure of trade secrets due to misconduct of certain individuals having access to these secrets. Therefore, confidentiality of these secrets, which bear commercial value and provide a competitive advantage, is almost crucial for companies to survive. In this… »
Turkish Constitutional Court Annuls Advertisement Board’s Power to Block Access to Websites
Turkish Constitutional Court (“Court”) annulled the paragraph 12 of Article 77 of the Consumer Protection Law, which granted the Advertisement 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 numbered… »
Draft Regulation by Turkey's Competition Authority: A Step Forward in Cartel Transparency
Article 4 of Code No. 4054 on the Protection of Competition ("Code") prohibits agreements, concerted practices, and decisions that restrict competition. The Regulation on Active Cooperation for Detecting Cartels ("Existing Regulation") published in the Official Gazette dated 15.02.2009 and numbered 21142 has been in force for more than 14 years to reveal cartels, which are considered the most serious competition violations in competition law, involving agreements and/or… »
Regulatory Update in Turkey: Prolonged Exclusion of Specific Losses in Capital and Equity Assessments
The Communiqué on the Procedures and Principles Regarding Implementation of Article 376 of the Turkish Commercial Code No. 6102 ("Implementation Communiqué") was amended on December 26, 2020, and it was regulated that certain loss items will not be considered in the calculations made in terms of capital loss or negative equity until January 1, 2023. Although the Ministry of Trade indicated in its statements on various occasions that this exception was introduced as a… »
Cyber Insurance and Insuring NFTs
With the frequent occurrence of cyber-attacks, having insurance coverage against these attacks has become increasingly crucial, and many insurance companies have started to provide cybersecurity insurance services. Like cryptocurrencies, NFTs which are digital assets with a specific value, are based on blockchain technology and stored in the blockchain. The blockchain is a database containing records that, once added, are almost impossible to change and is a digital ledger… »
New Minimum Capital Requirements in Turkey: Impact on Joint Stock and LLCs
With the Presidential Decree numbered 7887 and published in the Official Gazette dated 25 November 2023 and numbered 32380, it has been decided to increase the minimum capital amount for joint stock and limited liability companies by 5 times. According to this regulation, as of 1 January 2024, the new minimum capital amounts will be as follows: Minimum Capital Amount According to the Previous Legislation Minimum Capital Amount According to the New… »
Practical Guideline on Immediate Actions for Foreign Companies Facing Commercial Litigation in Turkey
Introduction Given the complex, competitive and contested course of commercial life, the odds are most businesses will face, at one stage or another, a commercial dispute raised by a business partner (eg, a customer, distributor or supplier etc,). Some of these disputes can be resolved peacefully and amicably, but others may escalate to the court level. The latter can be particularly difficult to manage for global companies operating in multiple states, as cross border claims… »
News and Events
Webinar: World IP Day - Conversation on Significant Role of IP on SMEs' Growth: The Story of WeWALK
Güldeniz Doğan Alkan from Gün + Partners and Kürşat Ceylan from WeWalk discussed the significant role of IP on SMEs’ growth: the story of WeWalk. https://youtu.be/n9IKxDlT3CY
Turkey Legal Update October edition published
"The October edition of Gün + Partners Turkey Legal Update, which aims to brief our community and clients about legal developments in Turkey, is launching today. This month we provide legal updates on arbitration with Turkish parties based on contracts that are not written in Turkish, penalty clauses in fixed term employment contracts, Courts of Appeal’s recent decision on determination of non-infringement actions regarding patent rights, and recent decision on having…
Mehmet Gün spoke about managing the dispute at GC Summit Turkey
Mehmet Gün, our founding partner moderated the panel on "Managing the dispute" at GC Summit Turkey by The Legal 500 (Legalease). Emre Derman, Board member of Akbank and Turcas and Andrew Savage, Partner of McDermott Will & Emery accompanied him on the panel.
Barış Kalaycı Spoke at the Transparency International Turkey Meeting
Barış Kalaycı, partner in our anti-counterfeiting practice, spoke on trademark crimes and money laundering at the Combatting Illicit Trade and Informal Economy Report Launch Meeting by Transparency International Turkey.
Euromoney's Benchmark Litigation 2022 Rankings Announced
We are proud to be listed as top tier firm and our founding partner Mehmet Gün is recognized as the litigation star of 2022 in Turkey by Euromoney's Benchmark Litigation. Benchmark Litigation recognises the most distinguished law firms and lawyers for their dispute resolution work over the past 12 months. https://benchmarklitigation.com/NewsAndAnalysis/Benchmark-Litigation-Europe-2022-law-firm-and-lawyer-rankings-are-now-live/Index/7676
Özge Atılgan Karakulak, Was the Trainer of “Patent Litigation Workshop in Turkey” at IP Camp 2022
Özge Atılgan Karakulak, partner in our patent and utility models practice, was the trainer of “Patent Litigation Workshop in Turkey” at IP Camp 2022. IP.CAMP is the leading training event in the field of Intellectual Property Management and Licensing that is organized by LES-Turkey since 2014. With increasing attention to strategic patent portfolio management, IP.CAMP 2022 is intended to focus on comprehensive cases as follows: Program
Webinar: The Importance of Judicial Training in Protecting The Rule of Law
On 6 July 2022 Better Justice Association (BJA) hosted a webinar on "The importance of judicial training in protecting the rule of law". Mehmet Gun, founder of BJA and Gün + Partners, was joined by leading scholars in this field from Cambridge University and Oxford Brookes University to discuss the training and development of judges, compare different approaches from around the world and consider the role of judicial training in protecting the rule of law.
Güldeniz Doğan Alkan ve Zeynep Çağla Üstün Patent Vekilliği Genel Yeterlik Sınavları 2. grup eğitimi verdi
"Fikri Mülkiyet çalışma alanı ortak avukatımız Güldeniz Doğan Alkan ve avukatımız Zeynep Çağla Üstün, Patent ve Marka Vekilleri Derneği (PEM) tarafından düzenlenen ""Patent Vekilliği Sınav Öncesi Ankara 2. Grup Eğitimi""nde sınavın “hukuk” bölümüne ilişkin konuları anlattılar. Patent Vekilliği ve Marka Vekilliği Genel Yeterlik Sınavları 16 Kasım, Cumartesi günü yapılacaktır. Sınava girecek adaylara başarılar dileriz."
We Defined Our Vision for the Next 10 Years by Mutual Agreement of All Our Colleagues and Employees
We are delighted to have achieved the goal that we envisaged in 2013. Since then, both Turkey and the world have undergone great changes. Despite the challenges that we have faced, we have grown and prospered. Thanks to our institutional structure, management systems, business methods and processes, as well as our inhouse technology, GÜNCE, we are successfully overcoming the difficulties brought by the pandemic. For everybody, it is now time to redefine the future…
We Are Registered for INTA's 2022 Annual Meeting Live+
Our firm will be represented by our partners Barış Kalaycı, Hande Hançar, Uğur Aktekin, Zeynep Seda Alhas and Director Pinar Arikan at the INTA's 2022 Annual Meeting Live+ in Washington, D.C., U.S.A. Please contact gun@gun.av.tr if you wish to meet with them. https://www.inta.org/events/2022-annual-meeting/
Begüm Yavuzdoğan Okumuş and Hande Hançar Spoke at TÜSİAD SD² Webinar
Begüm Yavuzdoğan Okumuş and Hande Hançar, partners of our TMT practice spoke at the "Legal Issues to be Considered in Cooperation of Technology User & Technology Supplier" webinar organized by TÜSİAD SD². TÜSİAD SD2, an initiative of Turkish Industry and Business Association, is the first comprehensive program in Turkey, created with the theme of “Digital Transformation in Industry” and bringing technology users and technology suppliers together. Gün + Partners is the…
Uğur Aktekin Moderated “Implementation of Trademark Law within Administrative Authorities” Panel
Our partner Uğur Aktekin moderated “Implementation of Trademark Law within Administrative Authorities” panel at the Intellectual Property Law event held in cooperation with International Trademark Association (INTA) and Turkish Patent and Trademark Office.