Insights
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… »
Examination of Novelty of Designs in Türkiye
A decision of 29 March 2023 of the General Assembly of the Turkish Court of Cassation has clarified whether the examination of lawfulness of the Turkish Patent and Trademark Office’s decision on absolute novelty of a design is limited to the evidence submitted in the opposition process or whether ex officio examination can be conducted at any phase. Güldeniz Doğan Alkan and Hatice İnci Turan report for Class 99. The facts of the case The design subject to the opposition The… »
Named Patient Program in Turkey
Named Patient Program (“NPP”) is one of the exceptional pharmaceutical importation regimes for products that are not authorized or authorized but unavailable in the Turkish market for various reasons. After numerous allegations in the news that the drugs supplied from abroad and used in cancer treatment were only products containing painkillers and that the products were counterfeit, the Regulation on the Supply of Medicines from Abroad (“NPP Regulation”) was published on… »
Omnibus Law Amends Pharmaceutical Legislation
On 1 March 2024, the Omnibus Law Amending Certain Laws and Decree Law No. 663 (the “Omnibus Law”), which amends certain provisions of the Law No. 1262 on Pharmaceuticals and Medical Preparations (the “Law No. 1262”) and the Fundamental Law on Healthcare Services No. 3359 (the “Law No. 3359”), was published in the Official Gazette numbered 32476. In the general preamble of the Omnibus Law, it was stated that social and economic transformation, rapidly developing technology… »
The Long-Awaited Amendments to the Turkish Personal Data Protection Law Has Been Enacted
The Law No. 7499 on Amending the Code of Criminal Procedure and Certain Laws (“the, which includes the long-awaited amendments to the Turkish Personal Data Protection Law (the “Law”) and is also referred to as the 8th Judicial Reform Package, was published in the Official Gazette dated 12 March 2024 and numbered 32487. Significant changes regarding the processing of sensitive personal data, cross-border transfer of personal data, administrative sanctions and legal remedies… »
Turkish Court of Cassation’s Recent Approach to Public Policy in Enforcement and Setting-Aside of Foreign Arbitral Awards
In general terms, public policy is defined as a set of rules and principles ensuring a smooth conduct of public services, a state’s security and safety, and compliance of the relationship between individuals with the principles of peace and ethics[1]. Due to its conceptual nature and vulnerability to a turmoil of different interpretations, violation of public policy appears as one of the most prevalent counter arguments in enforcement and setting-aside proceedings of foreign… »
The Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Trademark Law
The impact of the spread of artificial intelligence (“AI”) technologies can be seen in many areas of law, including trademark law. The rapid development of AI technologies has given rise to the need to re-evaluate some of the basic practices and concepts of trademark law. The first aspect of these developments is the use of AI in trademark application, registration and other related administrative procedures. As can be seen from the Index[1] published by the World… »
The Relationship Between Virtual and Physical Goods and Services
The development of NFTs, artificial intelligence, and the metaverse has seen many individuals and legal entities start to include virtual goods and services within the scope of their trademarks. Discussions have been widely held about whether virtual goods and services are similar to physical goods and services and under which class these goods and services should be included in the Nice Classification, and the following developments have taken place in this regard. In a… »