Turkey

This article aims to discuss similarity of goods and services in case of an opposition against a trademark application before the Turkish Patent and Trademark Office (the office).

An IP court has accepted the discovery of evidence demand made by an originator company against a generic pharmaceutical company after the court's expert panel confirmed that patent infringement had occurred, but has then rejected the originator's request for a preliminary injunction due to the so-called Bolar exemption.

Artificial intelligence (AI), which does not yet have a solid definition, can generally be described as “the ability of a digital computer or computer controlled robot to perform tasks commonly associated with intelligent beings.” AI systems have started to play a part in our daily life and today they carry out crucial roles for human beings. For instance, BlueDot’s AI system was among the first in the world to identify the emerging risk from COVID-19.

The 11th Civil Chamber of the Turkish Court of Appeals (CoA) has set forth in its decision dated November 18 2019 (2019/359 E. and 2019/7279 K.) that the later dated trademark application was filed in bad faith by taking into account the high level of recognition as well as the original and distinctive nature of the prior dated trademark, which has no meaning.

The COVID-19 pandemic has driven mankind to question sufficiency and sustainability of business models, social and moral norms, and Law-practices, which cannot be separated from society and its needs. Due to the ongoing pandemic basic need of survival and the need to access the means such as ventilation machines, masks, goggles and most importantly pharmaceuticals, is at its climax, as well as the need for an invention is at its most.

In principle, a court order rendered in a country has its legal effects and consequences only within the same country. For a foreign court decision to create legal effects and consequences in Turkey, this decision needs to be legally recognised and enforced by Turkish courts. The regulations regarding the recognition and/or enforcement of foreign court decisions are stipulated between Article 50 and 59 of the International Private and Civil Procedure Code (IPCPC) numbered 5718 which sets the legal conditions for the recognition and enforcement of foreign court decisions.