Insights
Recent Developments in TURKPATENT's Practice on Recording of Well-known Trademarks
We have previously reported on the Turkish Court of Cassation’s decision concluding that the Turkish Patent and Trademark Office (hereinafter will be referred to as “TURKPATENT” or “the Office”) has no authority to create and maintain a registry for well-known trademarks and discussed possible repercussions of this decision for trademark owners. (Please see https://www.worldtrademarkreview.com/article/court-of-cassation-reopens-debate-recordation-of-well-known-trademarks) The… »
The Revocation Procedure of Trademarks to be Handled by the Turkish Patent and Trademark Office
Until the Industrial Property Law No. 6769 (“IPL”) entered into force on January 10, 2017, procedures regarding trademark rights were carried out with the abolished Decree-Law No. 556 on the Protection of Trademarks (“Decree Law”). The concept of "revocation", one of the cases of termination of a trademark right, regulated in both legislations, was defined under Article 14 of the Decree-Law. However, Article 14 was cancelled by the Constitutional Court with the decision… »
Is Partial Victory a Real Victory?
In 2022, the Ankara Regional Court of Appeal (“the RCA”) rendered a decision for an appeal regarding a cancellation action against the Turkish Patent and Trademark Office’s ( “the Office”) decision. Based on this decision, it is concluded that if an argument is rejected during the opposition proceedings before the Office and no appeal is filed against the non-acceptance of this argument before the Higher Board of the Office (even though the decision is in favour of the… »
A Precedent on 3D Trademarks’ Enforcement
In 2022, the Turkish Court of Cassation (“TCoC”) rendered a decision evaluating that the use of a 3D trademark (shown below) as bag-locks on counterfeit goods infringed the trademark holder’s rights and the accused should have known that this 3D shape is a trademark. The case subject to the precedent decision had started with the 3D trademark owner submitting a criminal complaint by arguing that their 3D trademark was used on counterfeit products. After the case turned into… »
Can The Accused be Acquitted Solely on The Grounds That The Number of Seized Counterfeits Is Very Low?
The acts considered as infringement of trademark rights are regulated under Article 29 of Industrial Property Law no. 6769 (“IPL”) and article 29/1(c) states that “To imitate the trademark upon using the trademark or its indistinguishably similar version without the permission of the holder; to sell, distribute, to trade in any other way, to import, export, keep for commercial purposes the products bearing the trademark used by means of violation…” constitute trademark… »
New Regulation from ICTA on Social Network Providers
The definition of "Social Network Provider" was first introduced in the amendments made to the Law numbered 5651 on the Regulation of Internet Broadcasts and Prevention of Crimes Committed through Such Broadcasts (“Internet Law”) that came into force on October 01, 2020. These amendments introduced several regulations for social network providers. The Information and Communication Technologies Authority ("ICTA") initially decided the scope and application of the regulations… »
Turkish Court of Cassation Rules in CERAN v CERAMO Case
In a recent case, the General Assembly of Civil Chambers of the Turkish Court of Cassation ruled that although the defendant argued that the earlier trade mark CERAN originates from the word “ceramic”, this is not the case and CERAN functions as a trade mark for Turkish consumers. Therefore it can block the latter trade mark CERAMO from being registered for similar goods. History of the dispute The dispute dates back to 2015. Schott opposed the Turkish trade mark application… »
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) and Trademarks
NFTs have been significantly popular in 2022 from a trademark law perspective like many other fields. As many more businesses in various industries have carried their trademarks to Metaverse and launched NFT collections in 2022, the number of trademark applications covering NFTs has significantly and proportionally increased .[1] To satisfy the high demand and urging need caused by this trend, European Union Intellectual Property Office (“EUIPO”) published a guideline that… »
Regulation on Hearings Through Video and Audio Transmission
Introduction Law 7251 on the Amendment of the Civil Procedure Code and Certain Laws entered into force upon publication in the Official Gazette (31199) on 28 July 2020. Article 17 of the Law 7251 amended Article 149 of the Civil Procedure Code (“CPC”) 6100 to allow courts to conduct remote hearings through video and audio transmission either upon the parties' request or ex officio under certain circumstances. The amendment further provided that the principles and procedures… »
A New Era in .Tr Extended Domain Names - and a New Issue Waiting for a Solution
Nic.tr (".tr" Domain Name Management), established under the auspices of Middle East Technical University ("METU"), has been managing ".tr" domain names and dispute resolution processes related to these domain names since 1991. According to Article 35 of the Electronic Communications Law No. 5809 and the Internet Domain Names Regulation, TRABIS (".tr" Network Information System), established by the Information and Communication Technologies Authority ("BTK"), became… »
Decision on Pricing of Human Medicinal Products Amended with New Price Calculation
On 14 March 2023, the Presidential Decree numbered 6932 Amending the Decision on Pricing of Medicinal Products for Human Use (Turkish Language) (Decision) was published in the Official Gazette numbered 32132. The Decision introduces a new calculation for the real source price of products where the source price cannot be determined with the Presidential Decree numbered 6365 Amending the Decree on Pricing of Medicinal Products for Human Use that was introduced in November 2022… »
Medicines and Medical Devices Agency Publishes Guideline on Co-Marketing
On 17 February 2023, the Turkish Medicines and Medical Devices Agency (Agency) made an announcement (Turkish language) on its official website that it had published a Guideline on Human Medicinal Products that are Co-marketed (Guideline). The Guideline came into force on the day of its publication. The Guideline aims to provide guidance on licensing of co-marketed human medicinal products, cancellation or suspension of the main product's marketing authorisation and… »
News and Events
Summer Internship
2017 yılında, 19 yasal stajyer ve 100’den fazla yaz stajyeri büromuzda farklı çalışma gruplarında staj tecrübesi edindi. 2018 yılı staj programları için web sitemizden bilgi edinebilir ve başvuru yapabilirsiniz.
INTA Pre–Annual Meeting co-hosted by Gün + Partners
INTA Pre–Annual Meeting co-hosted by Gün + Partners in İstanbul, Turkey on Feb 16, 2018. Önder Erol Ünsal, founder of "IPR Gezgini" shared his IP Law Blogging experience with regards to trademark law.
Model Court of Justice 2018
Güldeniz Doğan Alkan, partner in our intellectual property practice, was the keynote speaker for the United Kingdom Intellectual Property Enterprise Court during the Model Court of Justice 2018 in Ankara, Turkey on Feb 09, 2018.
Barış Kalaycı spoke in Intellectual Property Rights in Fashion Law Seminar
Barış Kalaycı, partner and co-chair of our intellectual property practice, has spoken on “Intellectual Property Rights in Fashion Law” during the seminar hosted by Hukukçular Derneği (Jurists' Association Turkey) in Istanbul on Mar 10, 2018.
Özge Atılgan Karakulak and Selin Sinem Yalıncaklı spoke on in MIP International Patent Forum 2018
ÖZGE KARAKULAK and Selin Sinem Yalıncaklı ERCİYAS, partners in our Life Sciences and Patent practices respectively, spoke on preliminary injunctions in Turkey in the MIP International Patent Forum 2018 in London on Mar 08, 2018.
Mehmet Gün's new book Turkey’s Middle Democracy Issues and the Way to Solve Them
"TURKEY’S MIDDLE DEMOCRACY ISSUES Judiciary, Accountability, Fair Representationand THE WAY TO SOLVE THEMWe are proud to announce the publication of our founder Mehmet Gün’s new bookYou may download an executive summary in English and in Turkish."
Mehmet Gün and Uğur Aktekin have been listed in IAM Strategy 300 - The World’s Leading IP Strategists
"Congratulations to Mehmet Gün, our founding partner, and Uğur Aktekin, co-chair of our Intellectual Property Practice, for being listed in IAM Strategy 300 – The World’s Leading IP Strategists. http://www.iam-media.com/Search?at=IAM+Strategy+300&qs=g%C3%BCn+%2B+Partners"
Mehmet Gün gave an interview in H+ Magazine
Kurucu Ortağımız Av. Mehmet Gün, Hukuk Akademisi - H+ Dergi söyleşisinde avukatlık mesleği ve yargıdaki sorunlar hakkında düşüncelerini paylaştı ve yeni çıkan kitabı, Türkiye’nin Orta Demokrasi Sorunları ve Çözüm Yolu, hakkında bilgi verdi
Mehmet Gün was moderator at GC Summit Turkey
Mehmet Gün, our founding partner will be moderating the panel on "The In-House Counsel’s Guide to Best Practice for (Alternative) Dispute Resolution in Turkey" at GC Summit Turkey by The Legal 500 (Legalease) in Istanbul on Sep 27, 2018 with the panellists Cem Kalpaklıoğlu from TOROS TARIM and Atike Kökbudak from Kordsa. https://lnkd.in/gkUUV64
Ethics & Reputation Society (TEID) Seminar
Ethics & Reputation Society Seminar co-hosted by Gün + Partners on Oct 19, 2018. Our managing associates Filiz Toprak Esin and Görkem Bilgin shared their experiences on contract management.
Begüm Yavuzdoğan Okumuş Appointed as IAPP KnowledgeNet Chapter Co-Chair
We congratulate Begüm Yavuzdoğan Okumuş, CIPP/E, managing associate in our Corporate and M&A and TMT practices, for becoming KnowledgeNet Chapter co-chair by the IAPP - International Association of Privacy Professionals. https://lnkd.in/ecAkq-V
Contributor Most Read in Turkey Award by Mondaq
"We are proud to announce that we have been awarded by Mondaq as the Contributor Most Read in Turkey in November 2018. Mondaq says that the award recognize which contributing author firms were read the most by its registered business readers. Visit our web site or subscribe to our publications to stay informed about legal developments in Turkey. https://gun.av.tr/insights/ "