On February 18 2016, the Turkish Patent Institute (TPI) announced that the Official Trademark Bulletin will now be published twice a month. The bulletin was previously published on the 12th of each month but will now be published on the 12th and 27th of each month or the next working day if either of those days falls at the weekend. This change is expected to require a much stricter follow-up of the bulletin and the legal opposition deadlines in order to avoid the possible…
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In light of the Turkish Prime Minister’s recent visit to Iran, the removal of sanction is opening up new opportunities for Turkey; with other nations following suit.
Upon confirmation from the International Atomic Energy Agency that Iran has completed the necessary preparatory steps to start the implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action on January 16, 2016, both the US and the EU announced that certain economic and financial sanctions had been lifted.
On the…
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Turkey has been among the fastest growing insurance markets of its size in Europe. Along with the rapid growth in its insurance sector, there have been major changes to its legislation in the last few years. New laws have improved the regulatory framework and brought the industry more in to line with international practice. Although its top three insurers are Turkey-based, the market has a high level of foreign investment from Gulf countries, Malaysia and Europe.
The current…
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On February 24 2016 the Turkish Patent Institute (TPI) published its long-awaited draft IP Law proposing amendments to patent rights in Turkey. The government has decided to regulate all IP rights in a single act: Book 4 of the act covers patent rights, while Book 5 covers common clauses for all IP rights (ie, trademarks, geographical indications, designs and patents).
Improvements
The draft appears to be promising, particularly in comparison to the previous proposals to…
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Introduction
On January 8 2016 the Social Security Institution announced details of the application form required to request access to the personal data that it holds. The application form was prepared by the Data Sharing Commission, established as part of the Social Security Institution pursuant to the Guidelines on the Procedures and Principles Relating to the Use, Sharing and Protection of Social Security Institution Data. The Social Security Institution’s announcement…
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On 24 February 2016 the Turkish Ministry of Science, Industry and Technology circulated the draft IP Law on the website of the Turkish Patent Institute (TPI), inviting comments and suggestions.
The draft law seeks to replace the Decree-laws pertaining to the protection of trade marks, patents, geographical indications and designs, all of which date back to 1995, by bringing all those rights together within the ambit of a single Code. It mainly incorporates provisions already…
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On 24 February 2016 Turkey’s Ministry of Science, Industry and Technology circulated a draft IP Law on the website of the Turkish Patent Institute (TPI) as part of a consultation exercise.
The intention of the Turkish government is to replace the current Decree-laws on the protection of trade marks, patents, geographical indications and designs — which date back to 1995 — with a single consolidating and amending Code. The trade mark chapter includes changes which seek to…
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Introduction
Turkey stands out as a target market for foreign companies that want to expand their global reach, due to its geographical location, growing population and economy. Foreign companies investing in Turkey often establish subsidiaries through corporate structures in which officers have dual responsibilities and control over the parent company and the subsidiary. In other cases, companies may choose to run their business organisations with the help of third-party…
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Introduction
The answer to the question of whether invoices can create legally binding contracts is generally no; an invoice does not constitute a contract by itself. However, the issue becomes tricky when the recipient has not objected to the content of an invoice or has recorded it in its accounting books. In that case, the legal presumptions that apply to the evidentiary status of invoices and accounting books can indicate that the invoice and the product or service…
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MARKET GROWTH FORECASTS
The forecasts draw an optimistic picture. The global pharmaceutical market is expected to grow at a 4-6% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) in developed markets and 7-9% CAGR in pharmerging markets by 2019. The market size for Turkey stood at $6.2 billion in 2014 and is expected to grow to $10.9 bn until 2019.
MARKET ACCESS
Article 15 of the Licensing Regulation issued by the Turkish Ministry of Health (MoH), in parallel with the European Directive…
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Introduction
On June 19 2015 the 15th Chamber of the Council of State stayed the execution of the Directive on the Working Principles and Rules of Procedure of the Reimbursement Commission (July 3 2014). However, the Social Security Institute had already repealed the directive approximately two months before the motion to stay its execution was granted and a new directive containing the repealed provisions in their entirety entered into force on April 30 2015.
Accordingly…
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The Turkish Code of Obligations (the “TCO”) stipulates under Article 440, that when an employee dies, the employer is obliged to pay compensation to his/her spouse and minor children, or legal dependants.
An employment contract is deemed to terminate upon an employee’s death and the employer is then obliged to pay compensation equivalent to one month of the deceased employee’s salary. If the employee had worked for the employer for more than five years, the amount of…
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