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GSK Succeeds in Bad Faith Case in Turkey

Mutlu Yıldırım Köse and Begüm Soydan report on a case in Turkey concerning the registration of the trade mark Clindoxyl and its use to threaten infringement proceedings against the genuine right holder, in which the  courts protected the rightful owner and invalidated the bad faith registration. Background The dispute concerned the bad faith registration of a trade mark that had previously been registered in Türkiye in the name of Stiefel Laboratoires, Inc., an affiliate of… »

New Legal Provision Addressing Counterfeit and Unauthorized Practices in the Medical Device Industry

The Law No. 7557 on the “Amendments to Certain Laws Related to Health and to the Decree Law No. 663”, which entered into force on 24 July 2025, introduced numerous changes that directly affect the healthcare sector. One of these changes is the Additional Article 20, which was added to the Basic Law on Health Services. This article aims to address critical areas such as the placement of counterfeit medical devices on the market, unauthorized sales and technical service… »

Schrödinger’s Paradox in the Patent World: Can a Marketed Product Fall Outside the Prior Art?

On 2 July 2025, the Enlarged Board of Appeal of the European Patent Office (“EPO”), in its decision G 1/23, clarified whether a product already placed on the market, but whose internal structure cannot be analysed or reproduced by the skilled person, may nevertheless be excluded from the state of the art in the assessment of inventive step. In doing so, the Board added a new dimension to the ongoing debate following decision G 1/92. The dispute giving rise to the decision… »

Turkish Court of Cassation’s Stance on Short Word Trademarks

According to the Trademark Examination Guideline of the Turkish Patent and Trademark Office, which is aligned with the EUIPO guidelines, the comparison of trademarks should be based on the overall impression created by the marks. In this assessment, the length of a trademark can be an important factor. In general, the shorter a sign is, the easier it is for the public to perceive each of its elements. Conversely, in longer signs, differences are less likely to be noticed.… »

Türkiye’s Healthcare System Undergoes Major Legal Reforms

On July 24, 2025, Türkiye introduced the Law Amending Certain Laws Related to Health (“the Law No. 7557), a wide-ranging reform aimed at modernizing and improving its healthcare industry. This legislation comes at a time when rapid social and economic changes, advancing technology, and growing healthcare demands require continuous adaptation and improvement of the healthcare system. Over the years, Türkiye has made significant progress in expanding healthcare access… »

Regulations Regarding Direct Sales Models

With the Regulation on Direct Sales (“Regulation”) published in the Official Gazette dated 8 August 2025 and numbered 32980, direct sale systems have been re-regulated, which are sales systems established by a direct sale company and in which direct sellers (who are not employed by the relevant direct sale company under an employment contract but rather act as independent representatives, distributors, consultants or under similar titles, and engage in return for benefits… »