Insights
New IP Court Ruling Sets Precedent For The EPC’s Application in Turkey
A recent ruling from a Turkish IP court breaks new ground in the ongoing battle for the European Patent Convention (EPC, 138/3) to be applied to patents in Turkey. The Turkish IP Law prohibits amendments or limitations of claims or patent documents after a patent has been granted. The only exception to this is changes made by the patentee during the national post-grant opposition phase, which was introduced in 2017. In line with the introduction of a post-grant opposition… »
Reverting a Non-Examined Patent to an Examined Patent During Court Proceedings
In a recent case, a Turkish automotive company filed a patent infringement action against a German international automotive company, arguing that a system used in the cars of the German company infringed its non-examined patent granted before the Turkish Patent and Trademark Office (TPTO). In a counter-claim, the German company and its Turkish authorised dealer filed an invalidation action against the non-examined patent in question before the same court. Although at the… »
The Importance of Special Conditions When Coping with Negative Oil Prices and Covid-19
One way in which the Covid-19 pandemic has affected traders and producers is the shock negative pricing rates for crude oil. On 20 April 2020, the price of a barrel of West Texas Intermediate (WTI), the benchmark for pricing US oil, fell as low as minus USD 37.63. Although the situation only lasted for a few hours, its global impact is measured in millions of dollars. As a result of globalisation, individual investors in Turkey profoundly felt the plunge in prices thousands… »
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.… »
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… »
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… »
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… »