Insights
Turkey's Ongoing Decline In Corruption Perception Index
Transparency International’s annual report 2022 Corruption Perceptions Index (“CPI 2022”), aiming to measure the perceived level of public sector corruption based on various sources with the contributions of businesspeople, NGOs and country experts, was released on January 31, 2023. The index ranks 180 countries/territories by their perceived level of public sector corruption on a scale from 0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean). CPI is regarded as one of the most credible… »
Transfer of Personal Data to Third Parties
Sensitive and non-sensitive personal data may be transferred to third parties if the data subject’s explicit consent is obtained or if one of the additional legal grounds is applicable for such transfer. The Law does not define a third party; therefore, any individual or entity (other than the data controller and the data subject) may be considered a third party. This creates a problem, especially about transfers between data controllers and data processors, as there is no… »
Transfer of Data Abroad
Sensitive and non-sensitive personal data can be transferred abroad if the data subject’s explicit consent is obtained. Furthermore, other legal grounds will also apply to transferring personal data to a foreign country. However, the destination country must have “sufficient protection” to conclude the transfer abroad based on legal grounds (except for having obtained explicit consent). The Board will determine a list of jurisdictions that provide sufficient protection. The… »
Data Breach Notification
The Law requires data controllers to notify the relevant data subject and the Board as soon as possible after becoming aware of a data breach. In its decision dated January 24, 2019, and numbered 2019/9, the Board clarified the rules and procedures applicable to data breach incidents. The Board took the GDPR approach regarding the timing of breach notifications and clarified that “as soon as possible” within the Law must be interpreted as 72 hours from becoming aware of a… »
Turkish DPA Fines Meta and WhatsApp Try 5,3m For Failure to Fulfill Their Registration Obligation to the VERBIS
The Turkish Personal Data Protection Authority (the “Turkish DPA”),concerning the investigation initiated ex officio, into Meta and WhatsApp which processes the personal data of the data subjects in Turkey and is subject to the provisions of the Law on the Protection of Personal Data No. 6698 (“Law”) over imposed an administrative fine of TRY 2,665,000 (approx. EUR 128,560) separately for failure to fulfill their Data Controller’s Registry (VERBIS) registration and… »
Data Controllers’ Registry (VERBIS)
According to Article 16 of the Law, an obligation to register in the Data Controllers Registry (“VERBIS”) has been introduced for data controllers. In 2018, the Board issued decisions granting exemptions from the registration obligation to specific professional groups, associations, and political parties. The Board also granted a general exemption to data controllers residing in Turkey with less than 50 employees and less than TRY 25 million on their balance sheets. Data… »
Consequences of Data Breach
The Law provides for both administrative fines and criminal liability where data breaches have occurred. Regarding criminal penalties, the Law refers to the relevant provisions of the Turkish Criminal Code that details sanctions for the unlawful recording, disclosing, or transferring of personal data. In addition to criminal sanctions, the Law also contains provisions detailing administrative fines applicable in a breach. Four breaches have been defined under the Law: The… »
Judicial Review of Board Decisions
The Law does not include an explicit provision concerning the process for appealing Board decisions that impose administrative fines. However, it is accepted that criminal courts of peace are the authorised courts under Law No. 5326 on Misdemeanours dated 30/3/2005 since the title of Article 18 of the Law is “Misdemeanours,” and administrative fines are issued as per Article 18 of the Law. With this in mind, decisions imposing behavioural sanctions can be appealed before… »
How Does Turkey's Judicial System Fare With Respect to Gender Diversity?
The increasing importance of gender equality and the inclusion of women is a significant indicator of development. One of the goals set out under the Strategic Plan of 2019-2023 issued by the Ministry of Justice is to increase the number of judges, public prosecutors and judicial personnel. The Strategic Plan provides that, as a strategy to achieve this goal, the principle of gender equality in the recruitment of judges, public prosecutors and other personnel will be taken… »
Guidelines on Cookies Applications
The Board prepared the Guidelines on Cookies Applications (“Guidelines”) explaining cookies and practical advice for data controllers who process personal data through cookies. The Guidelines was published on the official website of the DPA on June 20, 2022. Within the Guidelines, cookies in general and their types are regulated. Moreover, the types of cookies are categorised based on their timeframe, intended purpose and parties. The relationship between the Electronic… »
DELPHI v DEPLHI: PTO’s Decision Sheds Light on Interpretation of Bad Faith
Delphi Technologies opposed the registration of DEPLHI in Classes 1, 3 and 4 based on its earlier mark DELPHI The board found that the goods covered by the application were similar and related to the goods/services covered by the earlier mark, as they were all used in the auto spare parts sector ‘Delphi’ has no meaning in Turkish and it was unlikely that this word would have been chosen as a trademark as a coincidence In a recent decision, the Re-examination and Evaluation… »
Turkish DPA Fines Tiktok Try 1.75m For Inadequate Data Security Measures
The Turkish Personal Data Protection Authority (the “Turkish DPA”) published, on 1 March 2023, a summary of its Decision No. 2023/134 concerning the investigation into TikTok over its data protection measures and imposed a fine of TRY 1,750,000 (approximately EUR 87,500) against the company. The decision of the Turkish DPA is very significant especially for service providers also targeting Turkish residents and children in Turkey. Also the Turkish DPA is not the first… »
News and Events
Our "Key Developments and Predictions for Patent Law in Turkey" thought leadership paper launched
Our “Key Developments and Predictions for Patent Law in Turkey” paper discusses the issues surrounding the interpretation and implementation of the key changes introduced by the IP Code. https://gun.av.tr/key-developments-and-predictions-for-patent-law-in-turkey-2019/
Ugur Aktekin made the opening speech of FICPI-Turkey 7th Roundtable Meeting
FICPI - TÜRKİYE 7th Roundtable meeting was held on June 14, 2019. Following the opening speech by Mr. Ugur Aktekin, the President of FICPI – TURKEY, specialized courts and Supreme Court approaches were discussed in terms of trademark similarity, and evaluations were made on different examples of Turkish Patent and Trademark Office. https://lnkd.in/g956W8g
Özge Atılgan Karakulak has been listed in Top 250 Women in IP 2019 by Managing IP
"Congratulations to Özge Atılgan Karakulak, chair of our Life Sciences practice, for being listed in Top 250 Women in IP 2019 by Managing IP. https://www.ipstars.com/articles/managing-ips-top-250-women-in-ip-2019/arwgdwra"
We Are Supporting Turkey's Digital Transformation
We are providing legal support to @TÜSİAD's Digital Industry Program (SD2) to strengthen digital transformation process and technology supplier ecosystem in Turkey. https://tusiadsd2.org/destekciler
Webinar: Trademark Protection in Europe During COVID-19
COVID-19 pandemic spread all around Europe by March 2020 and has been effecting also trademarks and trademark protection in practice. Gün + Partners hosted this webinar to provide a unique opportunity to learn about the impacts of COVID-19 to the practice of trademark law before trademark offices and courts in various European jurisdictions. The difficulties in combating with anticounterfeiting, including customs will also be covered. Join us to learn more about current…
Webinar: The Effects of COVID-19 on Anti-counterfeiting Activities in EMEA Region
The panel came together to discuss the effect of Covid-19 and the respective measures taken in the EMEA region, on the anti-counterfeiting activities. The legal teams at headquarters and local subsidiaries and outside counsels will give an overall perspective based on insights, experiences, threats and opportunities. Moderator: Barış Kalaycı Speakers: Lindsay Sisnett, Hale Büyükbozkurt, Zeynep Seda Alhas Topics: The impacts of COVID-19 to anti-counterfeiting actions in…
Webinar: Legal Impacts of Digitalization in Workplace in Turkey
Filiz Toprak Esin, Begüm Yavuzdoğan Okumuş and Beril Yayla Sapan spoke about legal impacts of digitalization in workplace in Turkey at the webinar co-hosted by Mondaq and Gün + Partners. https://youtu.be/scagFgineho
We Are Proud to Be Ranked in the GDR 100 2021
We are proud to be ranked in the inaugural GDR 100 2021. GDR 100 is the only global ranking that captures the capabilities, track record and market reputation of the leading firms in the field – and the first data law ranking that does not exclusively focus on data protection and privacy. https://globaldatareview.com/survey/gdr-100/2021/article/introducing-the-gdr-100
Uğur Aktekin made the opening speech in FICPI-TÜRKİYE Intellectual Property Seminar
FICPI-TÜRKİYE "Intellectual Property Seminar" held in conjunction with Yaşar University in Izmir. Uğur Aktekin, our partner and president of the FICPI-TÜRKİYE, made the opening speech and on the 2nd panel he shared the stage with Prof. Sevilay Uzunallı and Hüseyin Yılmaz. https://ficpi.org.tr/etkinlikler/
"Turkey's Patent Map" Report by PatentEffect
"Turkey's Patent Map" report, prepared by PatentEffect, makes technological competency assessment of Turkey based on the analysis of local patent data. We are happy to contributing the publication with our insights about key developments and predictions for patent law in Turkey and hope that the report will be useful for development of patent awareness in our country.
Turkey Disputes Summit 2019
Mehmet Gün, our founding partner, made the opening speech and Pelin Baysal, co-chair of our dispute management practice, spoke on the "What should an arbitrator do when counsel fail to fulfil their job?" panel at "Turkey Disputes Summit 2019" organized by Legal500 and ISTA.
Turkey Legal Update November edition published
The November 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 the trends and developments in insurance industry, recent communique on share-based crowdfunding, new regulations with regards to the criminal procedure brought by the judicial reform package, and The New Trademark Examination Guideline recently published by TÜRKPATENT.