Red Bull opposed an application for a colour combination mark for goods in Class 32 based on earlier colour/device marks for identical goods
The examiner found, among other things, that there was no risk that the application would take unfair advantage of, or be detrimental to, the distinctiveness or well-known status of Red Bull’s marks
The board disagreed, finding that the application was confusingly similar to Red Bull’s marks and might mislead consumers as to the source…
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Co-published
Regulatory data protection (RDP) terms are dealt with only in the Licensing Regulation of the Ministry of Health (MoH). In principle the provision grants the protection of data for six years following the first marketing authorisation for a drug granted in the European Union. However, there is no mechanism to prevent a generic drug company from using the data before the term expires. The MoH interprets the provisions as granting market exclusivity and allows…
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The justification of court decisions is regarded as a fundamental right and a key element of the right to a fair trial (ie, the right to a reasoned decision). This right is protected by Article 6 of the European Convention of Human Rights, the Turkish Constitution, the Code of Civil Procedure and Supreme Court precedents.
Legislation
The Constitution and the Code of Civil Procedure set out general rules regarding the justification of decisions.
Article 141 of the Constitution…
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The enforcement of trademark infringement crimes is not exofficio in Turkey. In other words, trademark owners have to file a criminal complaint to start criminal IP proceedings for each and every case. Thus trademark owners have to take into consideration beforehand, all possible risks that might occur in a worst case scenario, especially counterclaims which could include damages figures put forward by infringers if no fake products can be seized during an actual raid or even…
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In Turkey, the prosecution of criminal offenses in trademark law depends on a proper complaint filed by the trademark owner. Once the complaint and the evidence is submitted to the local prosecutor’s office, the file is brought before the local Criminal Court. The Criminal Courts, however, become more and more reluctant to issue the decisions recently. Hence, it is now more important than ever for the trademark owners to be well-prepared before filing the complaint, in terms…
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On 1 January 2018 applying to a mediator was made a prerequisite when filing a lawsuit concerning monetary claims by employees or employers arising out of employment contracts, collective labour agreements or reinstatement claims. As a result, parties must now apply for mediation before filing a lawsuit; otherwise, the lawsuit will be rejected due to the absence of a prerequisite.
Mandatory mediation was introduced to accelerate legal proceedings and lower the costs in…
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As a result of a presidential decree aimed at protecting the value of the Turkish lira, residents in Turkey are now prohibited from agreeing to the value of monetary obligations in a foreign currency (or indexed to a foreign currency) in certain types of contracts, including employment contracts.
Presidential Executive Decree 85 was published on September 12, 2018, amending Decree 32 on the Protection of the Value of Turkish Currency and became fully effective on October 13…
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Co-published
It has become common for a plaintiff in an invalidation or determination of non-infringement action to demand a precautionary injunction against a defendant patentee to prevent it from enforcing its patent rights against the plaintiff, although there is no explicit legal provision for this in the Turkish Patent Law or procedural law.
The grounds on which such demands are based are highly questionable, considering that a patent term is limited and the period…
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Headnote
The Turkish Court of first instance held that the liability for damages arising from an unfair preliminary injunction (where no infringement was found in the action on the merits) is a type of strict liability and therefore did not investigate whether the defendant was at fault when ruling that the conditions for compensation were deemed to be fulfilled. The decision given in this case is the first known decision in Turkey for the compensation of damages arising from…
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The Istanbul Court of Intellectual and Industrial Property has ordered a patentee to pay €333,000 to the manufacturer of a generic pharmaceutical, after an injunction was unfairly granted against the manufacturer’s product. However, both parties are appealing the decision – the first in this area.
The IP Court initially granted a precautionary injunction against the manufacturer after a court-appointed expert panel opined that otherwise there would be a risk of patent…
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Turkish Medicines and Medical Devices Agency (“Agency”) recently published draft regulations for consultation in the field of medical devices. The drafts are important in terms of meeting with current market needs and harmonizing with EU legislation.
The first draft regulation is the Regulation on Medical Devices which was drafted in parallel with the EU Medical Device Regulation (EU/2017/745). The significant changes are the explicit regulation of processes for placing on…
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In 2017, 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, uniting all IP rights in one Code which were previously regulated by different decree-laws.
The non-use defence in opposition proceedings was introduced with the IPC. According to the IPC if the trade mark claimed to be similar to the application is registered for more than 5 years as of the application date…
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