Insights
A Comparative Analysis of Content-of-Laws Inquiry and its Importance for International Commercial Arbitration
How is the content of laws determined, and by whom, in international commercial arbitration? This topic mainly concerns an old legal assumption: iura novit curia, the Latin legal maxim for “the court knows the law”. While somewhat reasonable and predictable on the face of it since anyone can reasonably expect the court to know the law, the assumption paves the way for some serious practical consequences: If the court knows the law, parties are mostly expected to furnish the… »
Anti-Corruption & Compliance Enforcement and Legislation Developments in 2019
In this article, we review the developments in 2019 about anti-corruption and compliance matters concerning Turkey from both national and international perspectives. Latest Development in EU-Turkey Relationship The European Commission has published “Turkey 2019 Report” as part of 2019 Communication on EU Enlargement Policy.[1] The shortcomings and recommendations to make progress in the fight against corruption are among the topics underlined in the report. The European… »
Non-Use Defence in Litigation Proceedings before Turkish Courts: Special Emphasis on Pharmaceutical Trademarks!
Both the Industrial Property Code No. 6769 (“the IPC”) and the Regulation on the Implementation of the IPC (“the Regulation”) were published and entered into force in 2017, uniting all IP rights in one Code which were priorly regulated by different decree-laws. Article 25/7 of the IPC regulates invalidation actions and Article 29/2 regulates infringement actions regarding trademarks. Both articles refer in their last paragraphs to Article 19 foreseeing the procedures for the… »
Commercialisation of Healthcare 2021 in Turkey
A Q&A guide to the commercialisation of healthcare in Turkey. This Q&A provides an overview of the regulatory framework for the commercialisation of medical products in Turkey. It covers the key requirements for manufacturing, marketing and advertising medicines, medical devices, biological products and natural health products. Medicines 1.What is the definition of medicine (or equivalent) in your jurisdiction? Under the Law on Pharmaceuticals and Medical Preparations… »
COVID-19’s Impact on Compliance Issues and Internal & External Investigations
COVID-19 outbreak, which was announced to be a pandemic by the World Health Organization on 11 March 2020[1], had inevitable impacts on corporate compliance processes due to the evolving business and workplace practices. In parallel with the increase in remote working, along with the psychological and financial distress on individuals emerging from the crisis, many companies have come up against a changing landscape for fraud with a rising number of fraud cases, as well as… »
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.… »
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. »
Is Digital Service Tax Dead Already? Legal Barriers in the Way of Collecting Digital Service Tax in 2020
New taxes entered into our lives with the Act numbered 7194 which was published in the Official Gazette on 7 December 2019. One of these taxes is Digital Service Tax. The law provides that digital service providers are liable for this tax at a ratio of 7,5% over the revenue they generate from their digital services. The examples of such digital services include games, software, applications, music, video, online advertisement and online market place services. If tax payers… »
Innovator Companies Seek to Protect Themselves Against Generic Companies
In order to contribute to human health, innovative pharmaceutical companies carry out studies that take many years and require huge amounts of investment and research, and as a result, they obtain patent protection for their inventions for a limited period of time. It is very important that the patent rights, which are limited only for a certain period of time, can be used and protected effectively. Applying for abridged marketing authorisation (MA) by referencing the… »
Compensation Claims Arising out of Distribution Agreements under Turkish Law
Introduction As a sui generis agreement under Turkish law, distribution agreement mainly contains the characteristics of a sales and purchase agreement; however, it also differs from the same since the distributor's role is not limited to simply purchasing the products from the supplier/principal and selling them to customers or end-users. Instead, in a distribution agreement, the distributor is incorporated into the distribution chain of the supplier with having the right… »
Compensation Liability for Copyright Infringement
The author or the owner of a work is entitled to claim compensation in the case of violation of economic and moral rights arising from the ownership of the work protected under Law No. 5846, the Intellectual and Artistic Works (the “LIAW”), in addition to other legal remedies. Article 70 of the LIAW regulates compensation that may be claimed based on violation of economic and moral rights, separately. Accordingly, the author whose moral rights have been infringed, is… »
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… »
News and Events
Görkem Bilgin and Yalçın Umut Talay Shared Their Experiences at TOBB University of Economics and Technology
Görkem Bilgin and Yalçın Umut Talay attended a lecture on "Mergers & Acquisitions" in the "Commercial Law" module within the Cooperative Education Program at TOBB University of Economics and Technology and shared their practical knowledge and experience.
Uğur Aktekin Spoke at the IBA (International Bar Association) 2020 - Virtually Together Conference
Uğur Aktekin, co-chair of our intellectual property practice, spoke at the "Around the tables: a taste of hot topics in the Intellectual Property, Communications and Technology Section" session of IBA (International Bar Association) 2020 - Virtually Together Conference on NOV 2, 16:00-18:00 GMT. https://www.int-bar.org/Conferences/1094/ProgrammeSearch/Results/Detail.cfm?FunctionGuid=14062845-C7AB-4BFA-8ABB-3BD6D71E1C42&Search=SearchAllFunctions
TÜSİAD SD² Digital Industry Program 2020 Calls Has Been Published
TÜSİAD (The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey) SD² Digital Industry Program calls, which is Turkey’s first comprehensive and local program on digital transformation in industry and which is intended to create an ecosystem bringing the technology user and provider companies together, has been published. As Gün + Partners which has made the corporate law firm management software GÜNCE available for lawyers’ use and which has recently entered into a…
Webinar: Trademark Protection in Europe During COVID-19 – Asia-Pacific Session
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 for the second time at a more convenient hour for representatives of brand owners and practitioners within Asia-Pacific region. The webinar provided 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…
World Intellectual Property Day
very April 26, World Intellectual Property Day is celebrated worldwide to learn about the role that intellectual property (IP) rights play in encouraging innovation and creativity. Within this scope; we have set the theme for our event as “Women in IP, from Creation to Protection of Rights” to encourage participation of women in IP system in respect of innovation, creativity and protection of rights in Turkey. The event will be opened with a speech of Professor Rana Sanyal…
6th Annual IBA World Life Sciences Conference
This event has passed. This year’s event will feature dynamic roundtable session as well as concurrent sessions covering the hottest topics and the latest developments from across the different sectors of the Life Science Industry.Topics Include: • Recent trends and future of life sciences• State of the art in all aspects of life sciences• Life science is not science fiction; the future of life science is now• The complex net of human activities, relationships and…
7th Annual IBA World Life Sciences Conference
This event has passed. The Life Sciences sector is deeply evolving, with many legal challenges. The Annual IBA WLSC gathers more and more members every year and the 2019 conference will again be the occasion to share views and knowledge, enhance initiatives and contribute to valuing our constantly evolving legal practice on the field. The conference is presented by the IBA Intellectual Property and Entertainment Law Committee. TOPICS INCLUDE: Roundtables covering the…
5th Annual IBA World Life Sciences Conference
Gün + Partners invites you to attend 5th Annual IBA World Life Sciences Conference in San Diego - USA on 16-17 June 2017. Özge Atılgan Karakulak, Secretary of IBA Intellectual Property and Entertainment Law Committee co-chairs the conference. Topics cover the following areas in industry: Recent trends and future of life sciences: the law and ethics of selective procreation Law and IP at the cutting edge of technology: challenges and opportunities Biologics and…
Webinar: World IP Day – Conversation on Impact of COVID-19 on IP
Gün + Partners will once again celebrate the World IP Day. On the occasion of this special day, which is celebrated to remind everyone of the critical role that intellectual property plays in encouraging creativity and innovation, on 27 April 2020, we will discuss the impact of COVID-19 on intellectual property rights. Moderator: Özge Atılgan Karakulak Speakers: Selin Sinem Erciyas and Zeynep Seda Alhas “How to”s with civil, criminal and customs IP proceedings in an…
Biolegis Meeting 2018
We have hosted Biolegis Meeting 2018 in Istanbul on 13-14 Sep 2018 with the attendance of Biolegis member law firms and corporate counsels of life science companies. Our lawyers Ozan Karaduman and Begüm Yavuzdoğan Okumuş with Funda Zeynep Ekincioglu from MSD Türkiye shared their experiences on processing personal health data in life science under the GDPR and Turkish Law on Protection of Personal Data. Biolegis is a pan-European network of law firms with in-depth expertise…
Life Sciences Newsletter, April 2017
Changes in guidelines on named patient programmesDicle Doğan and Merve Çimen, Gun + Partners On 29 March 2017, the Turkish Medicines and Medical Devices Agency amended the Guidelines on the Supply from Abroad and the Use of Pharmaceuticals. The amended guidelines establish a new practice in the Named Patient Programme (NPP) that enables the Social Security Institution to import non-approved or unavailable pharmaceutical products from abroad on a named patient basis. The…
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…