Insights
What Does Unfair Price Assessment Board Brings to Turkish Law?
During Covid-19 outbreak some businesses exorbitantly increased the prices of masks, disinfectants, colognes, wet wipes and foodstuff in contrast with the normal functioning of the market. This caused these entities taking unfair advantage because of the negative impact of the coronavirus on consumers and this exorbitant increase of prices started negatively affecting the usual purchasing behavior of the consumers. Unfair Price Assessment Board has recently been established… »
Will COVID-19 Skyrocket Remote Hearings?
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 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. Although the concept of remote hearing is not new to Turkish law, the… »
Who Would Enjoy Broccoli for the Meal?
In its recent decision dated 10th of November 2020 and numbered 2020/1626, the Advertisement Board, confirmed once again, its strict and tight scrutiny conducted over advertisements intended for children. The advertisement and promotions for the brand-new “Cry Babies” dolls as well as the cartoon movie named “Cry Babies Magic Tears” which was based on these baby doll characters were found to be violating the principles for the protection of children by the Advertisement… »
What Does Labour Law Say About COVID-19?
Introduction On 11 March 2020 the Ministry of Health announced that the first case of coronavirus (COVID-19) had been diagnosed in Turkey. At the time of writing, 46 additional cases have been confirmed and the total number has reached up to 47. This pandemic will inevitably affect labour law; as part of employers' duty to protect employees, they must take occupational health and safety measures and protect employees' health and physical and mental integrity. Employers'… »
Does Likelihood of Confusion Exist Based on a Common Weak Element?
The Turkish Court of Cassation (‘CoC’) upheld lower court decisions which ruled in favour of cancelling the Turkish Patent and Trademark Office’s (‘Office’) Re-Examination and Evaluation Board’s (‘Higher Board’) decision for invalidation of the ‘Mazstar’ trademark on the basis of likelihood of confusion with the plaintiff’s trademarks bearing the common element ‘Star’. Dispute Background The defendant filed an application before the Office for ‘MAZSTAR’ in classes 29 and 30.… »
Turkish Court Deals With Indirect Infringement Case
Indirect infringement is not explicitly dealt with in the Turkish IP Law. However, the legislator confers, via Article 86 of the Industrial Property Code (IPC), a right to the patent holder to prevent third parties from supplying essential elements of the invention to unauthorised people, which will eventually lead to the working of the patented invention. In order for this provision to be implemented, third parties must be aware that these elements or instruments are… »
Transfer of Data to Third Party
Sensitive and non-sensitive personal data can be transferred to third parties if the explicit consent of the data subject is obtained, or if one of the additional legal grounds is applicable for such transfer. The Data Protection Law does not provide a definition for 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 in relation to transfers between data… »
Transfer of Data Abroad
Sensitive and non-sensitive personal data can be transferred abroad if the explicit consent of the data subject is obtained. Furthermore, other legal grounds will also apply to the transfer of personal data to the foreign country. However, the destination country must have “sufficient protection” in order to conclude the transfer abroad based on legal grounds (except for having obtained explicit consent). A list of jurisdictions that provide sufficient protection is to be… »
The Restriction on Foreign Currency Denominated or Indexed Contract Prices Continues
With the Presidential Decree numbered 85 and dated 12.09.2018, amendments were made on the Decree on the Protection of the Value of Turkish Lira numbered 32 and it was regulated that, besides the exceptions to be determined by the Ministry of Treasury and Finance, the contract prices and other payment obligations of all kinds of movable and immovable purchase and sale and renting, financial leasing and employment, service and work contracts between the Turkey-resident public… »
Trademarks with High Distinctiveness in Bad Faith Assessment
... 11th Civil Chamber of the Turkish Court of Appeals (“CoA”) has set forth in its decision dated 18.11.2019 (2019/359 E. and 2019/7279 K.) that the later dated trademark application was filed in bad faith by taking into account the high level of recognition as well as the original and distinctive nature of the prior dated trademark which has no meaning. ... CoA has emphasized in its decision dated 18.11.2019 (2019/359 E. and 2019/7279 K.) that the high distinctive character… »
Renewal of EC Certificates After Brexit
On 15 January 2021, the Turkish Medicines and Medical Devices Agency published an announcement (Turkish language) on the deactivation of Product Tracking System registrations of notified bodies located in the UK following the end of the UK-EU transition period. The registrations were deactivated on the date of the publication of the announcement, although affected medical device companies will have a 60-day period to update the system with valid EC certificates (issued by the… »
Product List For Compassionate Use Programme Published
On 31 December 2020, the Medicines and Medical Devices Agency published the 2021 list of the products to be supplied through Compassionate Use Programme (Turkish language). In the published list, products are referred to by the sponsor firm, the firm that supplies the product, required diagnosis, active ingredient of the product and the maximum number of patients to whom the product can be delivered. The updated list can be followed from the website of the Agency. »