Insights
COVID-19’s Impact on Contracts and Relation with Force Majeure
The following statements are intended to help clarify the current legal situation caused by COVID-19 in terms of contracts and are valid for contractual relations subject to Turkish law. If contracting parties choose a law other than Turkish law as the law to be applied to the contract, the following statements may not apply. In such cases, the matter would have to be interpreted according to the law under which the contractual relationship is governed. 1. What is Force… »
COVID-19 and Personal Data Protection
1. Can processing personal data for the purpose of protecting public health within the scope of the struggle and measures taken to prevent the Covid-19 epidemic and its risk be considered as an exception under the Personal Data Protection Law in Turkey? What are the legal reasons for data processing within this scope? Under Article 28 of the Law on the Protection of Personal Data No. 6698 ("Law No. 6698"), cases that may be exempted from the application of the Law are listed.… »
Turkey’s New Data Storage and Transfer Requirements for Banks
Amendments to Turkish Banking Law No. 5411 in February 2020 introduced important provisions regarding how banks handle confidential customer data. Based on these provisions, the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency introduced a secondary regulation that was finalized in March, the Regulation on Banks’ Information Technology and Electronic Banking Services. This regulation contains binding provisions related to data processing and transferring of bank… »
Effects of COVID-19 Pandemic on Grace Periods and Use Obligation Provided for Trademarks in Turkey
Effects of Covid-19 pandemic on trademarks’ use requirement has been discussed globally and it is also a hot topic in Turkey. In order to discuss its effects, the grace periods provided for trademarks in the Turkish Industrial Property Code (“the IPC”) and justified reasons for non-use will be explained first. After giving an outline of the precautions taken against the Covid-19 pandemic in Turkey, we will provide our comments on the matter. General Information Regarding the… »
Terms of Termination Prohibition, Unilateral Unpaid Leave and Short-Time Working Allowance Have Been Extended Again
Introduction Extension of termination prohibition and unilateral unpaid leave Extension of short-time working allowance Introduction Shortly after the publication of Law 7252 on the Establishment of Digital Platforms Commission and Amendment of Certain Laws in the Official Gazette (Number 31199, dated 28 July 2020), two presidential decrees (Numbers 2810 and 2811) were published in the Official Gazette (Number 31202) on 31 July 2020extending the termination prohibition… »
Impacts of COVID-19 on Patent Law
1. Will there be any loss of rights due to the failure to file patent applications or to make other transactions on time because of the COVID-19 pandemic? Pursuant to provisional article 1 of The Law on Amendment of Certain Laws No. 7226 (“Law No. 7226”), which enacted by the Turkish Grand National Assembly (“Assembly”) on 25 March 2020, any and all terms in scope of the acquisition, use or extinction of a right, including the terms for filing lawsuits, enforcement… »
COVID-19’s Impacts on the Judiciary
This Q&A was written in scope of the legal provisions introduced as of 13 March 2020 to combat COVID-19, after the first COVID-19 case in Turkey was announced on 11 March 2020. The restrictions included in the Q&A have been removed as of 15 June 2020. However, considering the highly increasing number of patients as of September 2020, and the fact that certain enforcement offices have been shut down due to COVID-19, we are of the opinion that several measures may be… »
COVID-19’s Impacts on Employment
1. What are the measures to be taken by the employer at the workplace during the COVID-19 outbreak? Under the duty to protect the employee, the employer is obliged to take occupational health and safety measures and to protect the employee’s health, physical and mental integrity. Also as per the Occupational Health and Safety Act, the employer is obliged to ensure the occupational health and safety of the employees. In this scope, it is advised that the employer (if exists… »
COVID-19’s Impacts on Trademark Prosecution
1. Within the context of the measures taken for combating COVID-19, how will Turkish Patent and Trademark Office (TURKPATENT) function?TURKPATENT is open and active. In order to keep the number of physically working personnel of TURKPATENT at minimum, flexible working methods such as remote or shift working will continue to be implemented. However, as TURKPATENT is a paperless office and has a functional e-filing system, the services of TURKPATENT are not interrupted in this… »
What Are the Recent Decisions and Announcements Made by Government Health Institutions?
The outbreak of coronavirus (COVID-19), which has been declared as pandemic by the World Health Organization, has led to widespread measures being taken around the world. The coronavirus, first seen in Wuhan, China, in December 2019, has been detected in almost 28 Million cases in 215 countries as of today, creating a global crisis with a death toll of over 900.000. The number of cases and deaths started to rise rapidly after the announcement of the first case detection in… »
Postponed Articles of the Turkish Code of Obligations Concerning Workplaces Have Entered Into Force
Although the Turkish Code of Obligations No. 6098 ("TCO") entered into force on 1 July 2012; with Article 53 of the Law on Amendment of Certain Laws and Decree Laws dated July 4, 2012 and numbered 6353, enforcement of Articles 323, 325, 331, 340, 342, 343, 344, 346 and 354 of the TCO (“Postponed Articles”) has been postponed for 8 years as of 1 July 2012 for workplace lease agreements where the lessee is a merchant in the scope of the Turkish Commercial Code ("TCC") or a… »
Impacts of Covid-19 on Intellectual Property in Turkey
Impacts of Covid-19 on intellectual property in Turkey Has the intellectual property office/IP Registry of your jurisdiction taken any measures due to Covid-19 and government/state actions to prevent spread of the virus? The Turkish Patent and Trademark Office (TurkPatent) is open and active. According to the Presidential Circular No 2020/4, published in the Repeated Official Gazette dated 22 March 2020 and numbered 31076, it has been decided that the number of personnel… »