Turkish Law Videos
Intellectual Property in Turkey – Industrial & Intellectual Rights – Part One
Intellectual Property in Turkey – Industrial & Intellectual Rights
- What is Intellectual Property?
- What are the Fundamentals of Intellectual Property in Turkey?
- What are the Intellectual Property Items Protected under Turkish Law?
- What is the Scope of the Video Series?
- How are Industrial Rights Regulated under Turkish law?
- What is the Regulating Body of Industrial Property Rights in Turkey?
- Are there Specific Legal Bodies to Deal with Disputes Arising Out Of Or In Connection with Intellectual Property?
- Who is Eligible for Protection under The Code of Industrial Property No. 6769?
- Do all Rights Have to be Registered to be Protected?
- How are Trademarks covered under Turkish Law?
- What are the Fundamentals of Trademark under Turkish Law?
- How is an Invention Protected Under Turkish Law?
- How is a Patent Covered under Turkish Law?
- What are the Fundamentals of Patents under Turkish Law?
Intellectual Property in Turkey – Geographical Indication and Traditional Specialty Guaranteed Rights, Designs and Products, Integrated Circuit Topography – Part Two
How are Geographical Indication and Traditional Speciality Guaranteed Rights Covered under Turkish Law?
Geographical Indication and Traditional Speciality Guaranteed Rights are regulated between the 33rd and 54th Articles of the Industrial Property Code. These provisions cover the products within the scope of protection, appellation of origin, designation of origin, and traditional speciality guaranteed, names that shall not be registered, right of application, application conditions, examination and the publication of the application, applications originating from foreign countries, objection and examination, registration and amendment requests, scope of right, use and control, relation with trademarks, control of use, termination of right, invalidity, infringement of a right and its consequences.
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What are the Fundamentals of Geographical Indication and Traditional Speciality Guaranteed Rights Covered under Turkish Law?
Food, agricultural, mining, handicraft and industrial products resulting from the unification of natural and human factors, which comply with the provisions in Code No. 6769, shall be entitled to geographical indication or traditional speciality guaranteed protection provided that they are registered.
In this context, the geographical indication is the sign indicating a product associated with a locality, area, region or country where it originates due to an apparent characteristic, reputation or other features. They are registered as the appellation of origin or designation of origin.
Producer groups, public institutions and professional organizations, associations, foundations and cooperatives operating for public interest concerning the product and the relevant producer, if the product is produced only by a single producer, have the right to apply for registration.
The Office shall examine the application eligible under Article 38, which shall be published in the Bulletin or rejected. The applicant may reject this decision in two months and third persons in three months. If an application is not rejected by any party or rejected and the Board dismisses the rejection, then is it registered upon the payment of the registration fee.
The registrant of the geographical indication may demand the prevention of third parties’ commercial or misleading, deceptive use or the imitation of the geographical indication or the emblem, use of false or misleading explanation or indications about the origin and the natural or essential qualities of the product. Please note that registered geographical indication shall not confer exclusive rights to the registrant. Registered geographical indications and traditional specialities guaranteed shall be used by those operating in producing or marketing products that comply with the specifications provided in the registration. These persons shall inform the registrant concerning the production and marketing activities of their product subject to the geographical indication and the traditional speciality guaranteed.
We should note that, after the geographical indication registration, a trademark application filed to be used for the goods or services related to the geographical indication shall be refused. But if it has been registered, it may be invalidated through a legal proceeding.
A third parties commercial use of a registered geographical sign to exploit its reputation of it, any deceptive use, replicas or any associative use about the place of origin or the translation of the geographical sign; any use of false or misleading indication or description about the origin or properties of the product shall be considered as an infringement. The applicant is entitled to start legal procedures for a civil law case in this situation.
How are Designs and Products Covered under Turkish Law?
Designs and products are regulated between the 55th and 81st Articles of the Industrial Property Code. These provisions cover the design right and its scope, novelty and individual character, disclosure, the scope of protection, rights arising from previous use, application requirements, classification and multiple application, priority right claim, examination, registration and publication, opposition to registration, term of protection and renewal, right ownership and disseize, employees’ designs, license, termination of the right, infringement of design right and its consequences.
What are the fundamentals of Designs and Products under Turkish Law?
A design is the appearance of the whole or a part of a product resulting from the features of the line, contour, colour, shape, material or texture of the product itself or its ornamentation. A product means any industrial or handicraft item, including parts intended to be assembled into a complex product, products like packaging, presentations of more than one object perceived together, graphic symbols and typographic typefaces, excluding computer programs.
A design shall be protected as a registered design in case it is registered under the Code, and a design shall be protected as a non-registered design in case it is presented to the public for the first time in Turkey.
In principle, a design is protected by the Code if it is new and has an individual character. The design owner may use his rights arising from the Code against designs with no individual character compared to his own design.
A design shall confer on its holder the exclusive right to use it. Third parties, without the consent of the design right holder, cannot produce, put on the market, sell, import, use for commercial purposes or keep in stock for those purposes the product in which the design is incorporated or to which it is applied, or cannot make a recommendation for the contract.
Upon application, the office examines the application’s compliance with conditions specified in the Code. If no deficiency is determined and it is not rejected on other grounds, it is finalized and recorded in the registry as a registered design and published in the Bulletin. At this stage, the applicant may request the postponing of the publication for thirty months.
The applicant may object to the Office’s decision for examination two months from the date of notification and for third persons three months from the publication date against the registration. The Board examines oppositions.
The term of protection of registered designs is five years from the filing date. This period may be prolonged up to twenty-five years by renewing every five years.
A design right belongs to the designer or his successors and may be transferred; it may also be subject to an exclusive or non-exclusive license agreement. A design right shall terminate if the duration of protection expires, registration shall not be renewed in time, and the right owner relinquishes his right.
Some acts shall be deemed as an infringement of a design right as: (a) to produce, put on the market, sell, offer for contracting, import, use for commercial purposes or stock for those purposes an identical or similar product without the consent of the right holder; (b) to broaden the rights granted by the design owner through licensing or to transfer these rights to third parties without consent; c) to disseize the right of a design. The registrant is entitled to start legal procedures for a civil law case in this situation.
How is Integrated Circuit Topography Covered under Turkish Law?
Integrated Circuit Topographies are regulated by the Integrated Circuit Topography Protection Act, dated 22.04.2004, No. 5147. This Act covers principles, rules and conditions for the protection of registered integrated circuit topographies. The protection provided by this Act does not prevent right owners from benefiting from the protection provided by other legal mechanisms.
This Act covers beneficiaries of protection, subject, conditions and term of protection, right ownership, authorities of right owner and limitation of protection, conditions for application and registration, transfer, transfer by inheritance, pledge, seizure and license, conditions of nullity, expiry of rights and competent authorities, violations, provisional injunctions and time limitation, general conditions and termination of compulsory license, penalties and right of complaint.
What are the Fundamentals of Integrated Circuit Topography under Turkish Law?
An integrated circuit is defined in the Act as a product in its intermediary or final form which is designed to fulfill an electronic function or other similar functions, has at least one active component and a part, or all of the interconnections are combined in and/or on the part of the material.
Integrated circuit topography is defined in the Act as the series of images fixed in any format, which demonstrate the three-dimensional sequence of the layers constituting the integrated circuit and are prepared for production and the image of all or a part of the surface of the integrated circuit in any phase of production. The protection provided by the Act applies to Turkish citizens, residents and those operating on an industrial or commercial basis within the borders of Turkey and those who are eligible to file applications within the scope of international treaties.
Original integrated circuit topographies are protected under a registration certificate. Protection is not applicable for the content, operating process, system or technique on which the integrated circuit topography is based or information fixed on the topography other than the topography.
The start of protection provided for the integrated circuit topography is the date when it is launched on the market or application for registration. The term of protection is ten years from the start date. The right of protection belongs to the respective designer or his/her legal successors. If multiple persons design it, it is used jointly unless otherwise agreed. Kindly note that the right of protection designed by officers, personnel and employees while serving their duties belongs to the employer.
The right owner has exclusive rights to prevent the inclusion of the protected integrated circuit topography in an integrated circuit or prevent importation, sales or commercial reproduction, including the protected integrated circuit topography. The registrant is entitled to start legal procedures for civil and criminal law cases in case of infringement against third parties.
The Office is authorized to the registration of integrated circuit topographies. Upon application, Office examines the application’s compliance with conditions specified in the Act. If no deficiency is determined and it is not rejected on other grounds, it is finalized and recorded in the registry without examining the accuracy of the information and published in the Bulletin.
Right of protection may be transferred and subject to an exclusive or non-exclusive license agreement. The integrated circuit topography protection right shall expire upon expiration of the protection period or waiver of the integrated circuit topography right owner from the respective right.
We should note that both the applicant and the third parties have the right to object to the decisions TÜRKPATENT in IP Court later on.
Intellectual Property in Turkey – Intellectual Rights – Copyright – Part Three
Intellectual Property in Turkey – Intellectual Rights – Copyright – Part Three
How are Intellectual Rights Regulated under Turkish Law?
When we talk about Intellectual Property Rights, we are talking about copyrights. The Code on Intellectual and Artistic Works No. 5846 dated 1951 is the fundamental legal regulation in this field. This Code has been amended several times to reflect current global application. It encompasses types of artistic and intellectual works, adaptations, collections, published works, authorship, rights of author, limitations, disposal inter vivos, renunciation, attachment and pledge, inheritance, civil and criminal actions, related rights and prevention of infringement, unfair competition, pictures, portraits and conflict of laws.
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What are the Fundamentals of Intellectual Rights under Turkish Law?
Unlike industrial rights, intellectual rights do not have to be registered or confirmed by an authority to be protected under the law. The protection starts with creating and publishing the work to the public as a general rule. In the current exercise, registration or confirmation of such rights is generally used to prove the ownership, especially for the creation of date rather than a legal obligation for protection.
The Code covers the moral and economic rights of authors who create intellectual and artistic works and performers who perform or interpret such works. These phonogram producers make the first fixation of sounds, producers that make the first fixation of films and radio-television organizations, the rules and procedures regarding transactions on such rights, ways of legal recourse and sanctions.
Original pieces of work, which carry the characteristics and originality of the author, are protected if they fall under the scope of the specified categories under the Code. Works which are under of protection of the Code include science and literature, music, fine art and cinema. Each category of work has a separate sub-category under the Code.
The author of a work is the person who created it. The author of an adaptation or collection is the person who adapted, provided that the original author’s rights are reserved. As for cinematographic works, the director, composer of original music, scriptwriter and dialogue writer are all joint authors of the work. For cinematographic works produced with the animation technique, the animator is also among the joint authors of the work. An author’s economic and moral interests in their intellectual and artistic works are protected under the Code.
The moral rights of the author are:
- The Authority to Disclose the Work to the Public,
- The Authority to Designate the Name,
- The Prohibition of Modification and
- The Rights of the Author against Persons Who Own or Possess a Work.
- The Right of Adaptation,
- The Right of Reproduction,
- The Right of Distribution,
- The Right of Performance and
- The Right to Communicate a Work to the Public by Devices Enabling the Transmission of Signs, Sounds or Images.
Personal Data Protection in Turkey
Personal Data Protection in Turkey
- What is Personal Data?
- Why is Personal Data Protected?
- How is Personal Data Protected?
- What is the Scope of the Code on the Protection of Personal Data No. 6698?
- What are the Fundamental Concepts of Data Protection?
- Personal Data
- Processing of Personal Data
- Data Controller
- Explicit Consent
- What are the General Principles of Processing Personal Data?
- Lawfulness and fairness
- Being accurate and kept up to date where necessary.
- Being processed for specified, explicit and legitimate purposes.
- Being relevant, limited and proportionate to the purposes for which they are processed.
- Being stored for the period laid down by relevant legislation or the period required for the purpose for which the personal data are processed.
- What are the Conditions for Processing Personal Data
- If the laws expressly provides for it.
- It is necessary to protect the life or physical integrity of the person himself/herself or any other person who cannot explain his/her consent due to the physical disability or whose consent is not considered legally valid.
- If the processing of personal data of the parties of a contract is necessary if it is directly related to the establishment or performance of the contract.
- If it is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation to which the data controller is subject.
- If personal data have been made public by the data subject himself/herself.
- If the data processing is necessary for the establishment, exercise or protection of any right.
- If the data processing is necessary for the legitimate interests pursued by the data controller and this processing does not violate the fundamental rights and freedoms of the data subject, then explicit consent is not sought.
- What are the Rights of the Data Subjects?
- To learn whether his/her personal data are processed,
- To demand information about if his/her personal data have been processed,
- To learn the purpose of the processing of his/her personal data and whether these personal data comply with the purpose,
- To know the third parties to whom his personal data are transferred in-country or abroad,
- To request the rectification of the incomplete or inaccurate data, if any,
- To request the erasure or destruction of his/her personal data,
- To object to a result against the person himself/herself by analyzing the data processed solely through automated systems,
- To claim compensation for the damage arising from the unlawful processing of his/her personal data.
- What are the Sanctions Against Data Controllers Who Act Against the Code?
- Article 135 of the Turkish Penal Code imposes a sentence of 1 to 3 years in prison for those who illegally record personal data.
- Article 136 of the Turkish Penal Code imposes a sentence of 2 to 4 years in prison for those who illegally obtain or transfer personal data.
- Article 138 of the Turkish Penal Code imposes a sentence of 1 to 2 years in prison for those who do not destroy personal data under the Code following its expiry.
- Not fulfilling the obligation to inform,
- Not fulfilling the obligations related to data security,
- Not fulfilling the decisions issued by the Board,
- Acting contrary to the obligations for registry with the Data Controllers’ Registry.
- What is the Personal Data Protection Law Compliance Process?