Insights
Guidelines on Medical Device Meetings Has Been Updated
On 4 January 2024, the Turkish Medicines and Medical Devices Agency (“Agency”) announced on its official website that the Guidelines on Scientific Meetings and Educational Events to be Held within the Scope of the Regulation on the Sales, Advertisement and Promotion of Medical Devices (“Guidelines”) has been updated. Within the scope of the update, only in the third paragraph of Article 9 of the Guidelines, which came into force on 04 January 2024, the following issues have… »
Alternative Dispute Resolution System for Disputes Arising From ‘.tr’ Extended Domain Names in Türkiye
Overview On 14 September 2022, TRABIS (‘.tr’ Network Information System) took over the management of ‘.tr’ extended domain names with the Regulation coming into force in Türkiye. According to the Regulation, domain names can be allocated as documented or undocumented. Undocumented allocation is carried out within the framework of the ‘first come, first served’ rule. This rule is applied to domain names with the most commonly used extensions such as ‘.com.tr’, ‘.org.tr’… »
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… »