The new period for all OTT service providers, which provide interpersonal electronic communications services within the scope of audio, visual, written communications provided to the end users or subscribers having internet access, independently from the operators and internet services, through a publicly available software, has started on October 18, 2022.

Authorization Obligation is on the Horizon for OTT Services

Begüm Yavuzdoğan Okumuş has been with the firm since 2007 and became a partner in 2021. Her practice focuses on data protection and privacy, corporate and M&amp;A, life sciences, and competition.Begüm deals with all aspects of data protection and privacy, including supervising and conducting data privacy compliance projects, advising multinational clients in their activities on a day to day basis as well as in their specific projects. She has sector specific knowledge in regulated sectors and advises clients on newly developed devices/apps to ensure compliance. Begüm advises clients on international data transfer of personal data and represents clients before the Turkish DPA. She assists clients in data breach notifications and investigations, provides appeal strategies to object to Turkish DPA decisions rendered against our clients. Begüm represents multinational companies operating in various industries including pharmaceutical, medical device, telecoms, banking and automotive industry. She holds Certified Information Privacy Professional Europe (CIPP/E) designation from the International Association of Privacy Professionals and she is one of the former co-chairs of IAPP Knowledgenet Istanbul Chapter, and founding member of Data Protection Association in Istanbul.Begüm led several M&amp;A projects including due diligence processes and assisted various local and foreign companies during incorporation of their partnership in special projects which also include transfer of technology, know-how and thus needs protection in this respect. She drafted and negotiated several joint-venture agreements, shareholders agreement, share pledge and voting agreements. In addition to her corporate law expertise, she has experience in competition law related matters and provides full service to clients in their corporate law related matters. Apart from providing consultancy services and trainings, she is also representing clients before the TCA about notifications and investigations.Having wide range of experience in the pharmaceutical and medical device industry, Begum advised and represented several multinational pharmaceutical and medical device companies on their commercial deals and needs, including advising on their new investments in Turkey, marketing authorization and asset transfers, corporate restructuring projects, negotiating distributorship agreements and termination of these agreements, and advising on localization projects. Practice Areas &amp; Work DepartmentData Protection and PrivacyCorporate and M&amp;ALife SciencesCompetitionTechnology, Media and Telecom LanguagesEnglishTurkish MembershipsInternational Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP), Former Istanbul KnowledgeNet Co-chairInternational Technology Law Association (ITECHLAW), Data Protection CommitteeEuroCloud, Cloud Privacy Check

Gün + Partners was founded in 1986 and is one of the largest law firms in Turkey with 13 partners and over 70 lawyers. The firm is based in Istanbul and provides transactional, advisory, and dispute management services to local and international companies throughout Turkey and assists clients worldwide through its established network of correspondents and contacts.The firm's core areas of expertise are corporate and commercial, dispute management, and intellectual property. It represents clients in numerous industry sectors with a particular focus on life sciences, insurance and reinsurance, energy, construction and real estate, logistics, technology, media and telecoms, automotive, FMCG, chemicals and the defence industries.

Gün + Partners

Partner

Practice Areas &amp; Work DepartmentCorporate and M&amp;AData Protection and PrivacyTechnology, Media and Telecom LanguagesEnglishTurkish MembershipsIstanbul Bar Association

Managing Associate

&lt;ul style="list-style-type: square;">&lt;li style="margin-left: 20px; text-align: justify;">&lt;span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Cumulative protection is no longer available in light of a recent Court of Cassation decision&lt;/span>&lt;/li>&lt;li style="margin-left: 20px; text-align: justify;">&lt;span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Trademarks are protected under the IP Code, but “name[s], title[s] or trademark[s]” are not covered by the unfair competition provisions under the new Commercial Code&lt;/span>&lt;/li>&lt;li style="margin-left: 20px; text-align: justify;">&lt;span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">The decision will have a serious impact on pending cases&lt;/span>&lt;/li>&lt;/ul>&lt;p style="text-align: justify;">&lt;span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">In a recent decision that challenges longstanding precedents, the Court of Cassation has ruled that, in cases where trademark infringement has been found, it is no longer possible to accept that the same infringing act also creates unfair competition.&lt;/span>&lt;/p>&lt;p style="text-align: justify;">&lt;span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">&lt;strong>Background&lt;/strong>&lt;/span>&lt;/p>&lt;p style="text-align: justify;">&lt;span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">In a civil court action involving pharmaceutical companies, the plaintiff argued that the defendant used a mark that was confusingly similar to its registered trademarks for the same or similar goods in Class 5. The plaintiff requested:&lt;/span>&lt;/p>&lt;ul style="list-style-type: square;">&lt;li style="margin-left: 20px; text-align: justify;">&lt;span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">a determination of trademark infringement and unfair competition;&lt;/span>&lt;/li>&lt;li style="margin-left: 20px; text-align: justify;">&lt;span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">the prevention and cessation of the defendant’s infringing use; and&lt;/span>&lt;/li>&lt;li style="margin-left: 20px; text-align: justify;">&lt;span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">a preliminary injunction order to prevent the defendant from using the infringing mark until the finalisation of the case.&lt;/span>&lt;/li>&lt;/ul>&lt;p style="text-align: justify;">&lt;span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">The first-instance court accepted the plaintiff’s requests and issued a preliminary injunction order at the beginning of the case to prevent the defendant’s infringing use. The court then decided to uphold the trademark infringement claims, but dismissed the unfair competition claims on the grounds that the plaintiff should not benefit from the protection afforded by the unfair competition provisions in addition to that afforded by the trademark infringement provisions.&lt;/span>&lt;/p>&lt;p style="text-align: justify;">&lt;span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Both parties appealed the decision before the Regional Court of Appeals. The Regional Court of Appeals decided to accept the plaintiff’s appeal on the ground that the defendant’s acts created unfair competition, because the defendant continued to use the infringing mark despite the refusal of its application for registration of that mark by the Turkish Patent and Trademark Office. The refusal was based on the ground that the defendant’s trademark application was similar to the plaintiff’s registered trademarks to the extent that it created a likelihood of confusion, and was incompatible with the good-faith principle under the Turkish Commercial Code. The defendant appealed to the Court of Cassation.&lt;/span>&lt;/p>&lt;p style="text-align: justify;">&lt;span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">&lt;strong>Court of Cassation Decision&lt;/strong>&lt;/span>&lt;/p>&lt;p style="text-align: justify;">&lt;span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">&lt;span style="font-size: 14px;">In a decision dated 14 March 2022 (No 2019/5189 E 2022/1852 K), the Court of Cassation overruled the decision of the Regional Court of Appeals on the ground that, as trademarks are protected under the Intellectual Property Code (No 6769) (and the former Decree Law No 556 on the Protection of Trademarks), the trademark infringement acts were protected cumulatively under the relevant articles of the Commercial Code No 6762; the relevant article of the Commercial Code No 6102 (‘&lt;/span>&lt;strong>new Commercial Code&lt;/strong>&lt;span style="font-size: 14px;">’) states that acts that lead to confusion with the goods, work products, activities or businesses of others creates unfair competition, but does not include the protection of a “name, title or trademark” on purpose, as trademarks are already protected by the trademark infringement provisions of the IP Code. Therefore, it is not necessary to also protect trademarks under the unfair competition provisions under the new Commercial Code.&lt;/span>&lt;/span>&lt;/p>&lt;p style="text-align: justify;">&lt;span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Following the decision of the Court of Cassation, the case file was returned to the Regional Court of Appeals. The latter decided to comply with the decision of the Court of Cassation, upheld the case only in terms of the trademark infringement claims and dismissed the unfair competition claims. The parties did not appeal the decision and the case was recently finalised.&lt;/span>&lt;/p>&lt;p style="text-align: justify;">&lt;span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">&lt;strong>Comment&lt;/strong>&lt;/span>&lt;/p>&lt;p style="text-align: justify;">&lt;span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">The fact that the Court of Cassation changed its longstanding precedents has come as a surprise to practitioners: the court stated that it is no longer possible to maintain its previous precedents on the cumulative protection afforded by the trademark infringement and unfair competition provisions, as trademarks are protected under the IP Code (and the former Decree Law) and “name[s], title[s] or trademark[s]” are not covered by the scope of the unfair competition provisions under the new Commercial Code. It is noteworthy that the new code entered into force in 2012; however, until recently the Court of Cassation had upheld all decisions where such cumulative protection had been accepted in similar cases. In addition, there has been no recent change in the legislation that would explain the Court of Cassation’s decision.&lt;/span>&lt;/p>&lt;p style="text-align: justify;">&lt;span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">The finalised decision will have a serious impact on pending cases. Some courts have already started to dismiss unfair competition claims in similar infringement actions on the ground that cumulative protection is no longer available in light of the Court of Cassation’s decision. Arguably, this decision cannot be considered as a precedent in all cases where trademark infringement and unfair competition claims are brought together, and there needs to be a distinction between these cases - even though the Court of Cassation did not make one in its reasoning.&lt;/span>&lt;/p>&lt;p style="text-align: justify;">&lt;span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">For instance, if there is infringing use of a registered trademark on a product, but the product packaging is not similar to the rights owner’s products, then the infringing use should be prevented under the IP Code. It is thus sufficient to bring only trademark infringement claims; otherwise, the courts will likely dismiss the unfair competition claims in light of the Court of Cassation’s recent decision.&lt;/span>&lt;/p>&lt;p style="text-align: justify;">&lt;span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">However, in cases where the defendant is using a similar trade dress, or discrediting or making false statements/publications about the plaintiff or its products, activities or business, the protection afforded by the unfair competition provisions should still be available, in addition to that afforded by the trademark infringement provisions, because such acts would fall within the scope of the unfair competition provisions under the Commercial Code.&lt;/span>&lt;/p>&lt;p style="text-align: justify;">&lt;span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">In light of the above, before initiating a civil court action based on trademark infringement and unfair competition, the possible existence of additional factor(s) that may be considered as acts of unfair competition which do not fall within the scope of the IP Code should be assessed carefully.&lt;/span>&lt;/p>&lt;hr>&lt;p style="text-align: justify;">&lt;span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">&lt;em>First published by WTR in 17.03.2023.&lt;/em>&lt;/span>&lt;/p>

In a recent decision that challenges longstanding precedents, the Court of Cassation has ruled that, in cases where trademark infringement has been found, it is no longer possible to accept that the same infringing act also creates unfair competition.

Court of Cassation Overturns Longstanding Precedents on Cumulative Protection Afforded by Trademark Infringement and Unfair Competition Provisions

&lt;p style="text-align: justify;">&lt;span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">&lt;span style="font-size: 14px;">Pharmaceutical prices in Turkey have always been one of the most controversial issues. The prices of medicines that are to be marketed are set under the Decision on Pricing of Human Medicinal Products (“&lt;/span>&lt;strong style="font-size: 14px;">Decision&lt;/strong>&lt;span style="font-size: 14px;">&lt;span style="font-size: 14px;">”) and the Communiqué on the Pricing of Human Medicinal Products (“&lt;/span>&lt;strong>Communiqué&lt;/strong>&lt;span style="font-size: 14px;">”) of September 29, 2017, issued by the Ministry, which is vested with the competencies to regulate this area.&lt;/span>&lt;/span>&lt;/span>&lt;/p>&lt;p style="text-align: justify;">&lt;span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">&lt;span style="font-size: 14px;">&lt;span style="font-size: 14px;">The Decision provides a reference pricing system, whereby the least-expensive ex-factory price in one of the listed EU countries for the relevant product is taken as the ex-factory price in Turkey. The currency is then converted into Turkish liras; however, this transaction is done at a fixed value every year so that it is not affected by fluctuations in the exchange rates. Thus, the exchange rate applied to the reference price taken from the respective EU country is fixed for one year, and the price reached is considerably lower than the current exchange rate.&lt;/span>&lt;/span>&lt;/span>&lt;/p>&lt;p style="text-align: justify;">&lt;span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">&lt;span style="font-size: 14px;">&lt;span style="font-size: 14px;">With the Decision entered into force in 2017, the rate was determined as 60% of the average euro value of the previous year. Accordingly, the main rule is that the Price Evaluation Commission gathers in the first 45 days of each year and announces the value of euro 1 based on a calculation of 60% of the average value in the previous year.&lt;/span>&lt;/span>&lt;/span>&lt;/p>&lt;p style="text-align: justify;">&lt;span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">&lt;span style="font-size: 14px;">&lt;span style="font-size: 14px;">According to this rule, on February 14, 2022, the exchange rate to be used in the pricing of medicines was set as TL 6.2925. However, due to the rapid change in the exchange rate in 2022, with the provisional article added to the Decision, on July 8, 2022, the value of 1 Euro was increased by 25%, and the new exchange rate was set as TRY 7.8656. Subsequently, on December 14, 2022, the value of 1 Euro in Turkish Lira to be used in the pricing of pharmaceutical products for human use was increased by 36.77% to TL 10.7577 in December 2022.&lt;/span>&lt;/span>&lt;/span>&lt;/p>&lt;p style="text-align: justify;">&lt;span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">&lt;span style="font-size: 14px;">&lt;span style="font-size: 14px;">For 2023, it was stated that this last amount would continue to be applied and that the Price Evaluation Commission would not announce a new value in the first 45 days of the year. However, although it has not been regulated in the legislation yet, one can expect an increase to be made again in 2023 due to the fluctuations in the current exchange rate.&lt;/span>&lt;/span>&lt;/span>&lt;/p>

Pharmaceutical prices in Turkey have always been one of the most controversial issues. The prices of medicines that are to be marketed are set under the Decision on Pricing of Human Medicinal Products and the Communiqué on the Pricing of Human Medicinal Products of September 29, 2017, issued by the Ministry, which is vested with the competencies to regulate this area.

Pricing of Pharmaceuticals and the Fixed Exchange Rate

&lt;p style="text-align: justify;">&lt;span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">The grounds for the invalidation of a patent within the scope of Industrial Property Law No. 6769 are listed per the numerus clausus principle. The concept of plausibility – which has been the subject of numerous evaluations, especially by the European Patent Office (“EPO”) and frequently debated in academic circles in recent years – has not yet found a place within the scope of any legal regulation in Turkey. Moreover, there is no consensus on the Turkish wording that meets this concept as a legal term.&lt;/span>&lt;/p>&lt;p style="text-align: justify;">&lt;span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">However, the concept of plausibility has started to be argued by the plaintiffs in Turkish invalidity proceedings and has been the subject of important conclusions by the EPO Enlarged Board of Appeal within the scope of application No. G 2/21, so the place of the concept of plausibility in Turkish legal practice must be scrutinized.&lt;/span>&lt;/p>&lt;p style="text-align: justify;">&lt;span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">&lt;span style="font-size: 14px;">Plausibility can be defined as the ability to demonstrate the technical effect claimed by the invention credibly and convincingly with appropriate evidence to be submitted or to deduce this situation from the state of the art or common general knowledge to avoid speculative patents that can be produced at the desk (&lt;/span>&lt;em>Türk Patent Hukuku, Uğur Çolak, Adalet Yayınevi, Ankara, 2022;&nbsp;A Practitioner’s Guide to European Patent Law, Paul England, Hart Publishing, London, 2019&lt;/em>&lt;span style="font-size: 14px;">).&lt;/span>&lt;/span>&lt;/p>&lt;p style="text-align: justify;">&lt;span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">The requirement of plausibility, which is not defined as one of the invalidation grounds in the law, is particularly an issue concerning pharmaceutical patents. However, not all the test data of clinical studies may be obtained by the patent application date due to the long duration of efficacy tests and their complicated processes.&lt;/span>&lt;/p>&lt;p style="text-align: justify;">&lt;span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Therefore, considering the necessity of making a patent application as soon as possible to avoid any loss of rights, there are issues around how much data indicating that the invention is applicable and working should be included in the patent application and to what extent post-published evidence can be used.&lt;/span>&lt;/p>&lt;p style="text-align: justify;">&lt;span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">In other words, the concept of plausibility can be regarded primarily as a prohibition of speculative patent applications which do not disclose a technical effect of a chemical substance and/or disclose a technical effect which is not normally expected.&lt;/span>&lt;/p>&lt;p style="text-align: justify;">&lt;span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Although the lack of this requirement is not one of the invalidation grounds stipulated in Turkish legislation, in the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights or the European Patent Convention, to which Turkey is a party, it can be alleged in invalidation actions by asserting in the context of “sufficiency of disclosure” or “lack of inventive step”.&lt;/span>&lt;/p>&lt;p style="text-align: justify;">&lt;span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Indeed, where the concept of plausibility has been used as an invalidation ground before the intellectual and industrial rights law courts, the allegations on this issue were included under both headings.&lt;/span>&lt;/p>&lt;p style="text-align: justify;">&lt;span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">&lt;strong>EPO Case Law on Plausibility&lt;/strong>&lt;/span>&lt;/p>&lt;p style="text-align: justify;">&lt;span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">The issue of plausibility is also associated with inventive step and sufficiency of disclosure in the case law created before the EPO. Although given that the word “credible” was used instead of “plausible” in Case T 939/92 (AgrEvo), there are opinions claiming that this decision, which concluded that a technical effect should be reasonably predictable and credible, was the first to use the threshold of plausibility.&lt;/span>&lt;/p>&lt;p style="text-align: justify;">&lt;span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">However, according to the contrary views, Case T 1329/04 (John Hopkins) was the first to establish the plausibility threshold in explaining that it was at least made plausible that the claimed invention could be carried out.&lt;/span>&lt;/p>&lt;p style="text-align: justify;">&lt;span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">In contrast to these cases, Case T 609/02 (Salk) concerned the plausibility threshold about the sufficiency of disclosure, and it was concluded that there was a requirement to make the existence of a cause-and-effect relationship plausible.&lt;/span>&lt;/p>&lt;p style="text-align: justify;">&lt;span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Finally, in a more recent case, T 488/16 (Dasatinib/BRISTOL-MYERS SQUIBB), the EPO Enlarged Board of Appeal clarified that even though there is not always a requirement to have experimental data in an application, the technical problem must at least shown to be plausibly solved at the filing date.&lt;/span>&lt;/p>&lt;p style="text-align: justify;">&lt;span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">The plausibility issue also raises a discussion regarding filing post-published documents. It is seen that there are many decisions of EPO Technical Boards of Appeal (see, in particular, T 578/06) addressing the plausibility issue together with evidence published after the date of filing. The majority of the decisions stress that post-published evidence can be considered on the condition that a certain effect was plausible at the filing date of the patent application. In that situation, post-published documents can be accepted.&lt;/span>&lt;/p>&lt;p style="text-align: justify;">&lt;span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">&lt;strong>Case Law of Turkish Courts Regarding Plausibility Principle&lt;/strong>&lt;/span>&lt;/p>&lt;p style="text-align: justify;">&lt;span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Given that the concept of plausibility is only just gaining currency in Turkish law and that it has not been put forward as a sound argument by plaintiff parties, it has not yet been included in any high court case law and has not been evaluated in any decision by a court of first instance.&lt;/span>&lt;/p>&lt;p style="text-align: justify;">&lt;span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Indeed, the plaintiff claimed in a recent patent invalidation action that the subject patent was not plausible in the context of insufficient disclosure. However, the plausibility requirement was erroneously defined because of the presence of all the evidence in the patent document that directly and undoubtedly proved that the technical problem had been resolved. However, according to the EPO’s practices, for example, the submission of in vitro test results may be sufficient to make the solution to the technical problem foreseen in the patent plausible. In this respect, since the plaintiff could not prove its claim in accordance with the general principles of the law of proof, the court of first instance concluded that the invention was entirely and sufficiently disclosed to allow the implementation of the invention by the technical expert. No evaluation was made regarding the plaintiff’s plausibility argument; therefore, no steps were taken to form case law on plausibility.&lt;/span>&lt;/p>&lt;p style="text-align: justify;">&lt;span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">&lt;strong>Unifying EPO Case Law Will Be Instructive to Turkish Courts&lt;/strong>&lt;/span>&lt;/p>&lt;p style="text-align: justify;">&lt;span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">At the point reached in the practice of intellectual property law today, it is not possible to talk about advanced plausibility arguments having been put forward or argue that case law can be used as a criterion in the plausibility evaluations to be made by the courts has been established.&lt;/span>&lt;/p>&lt;p style="text-align: justify;">&lt;span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">However, the decision to be issued regarding the G 2/21 application by the EPO Enlarged Board of Appeal following the oral hearing held on November 24 2022, is expected to bring about essential standards regarding the requirement of plausibility and addresses important questions about whether post-published documents should be taken into account in the examination of plausibility, and will have significant repercussions in the patent world. It would not be wrong to say that the effects of this decision will be seen in Turkey as well.&lt;/span>&lt;/p>&lt;p style="text-align: justify;">&lt;span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">While no case law can be taken as a precedent in national legal practice given that Turkey is a party to the European Patent Convention, in our opinion, the G 2/21 decision will help to establish a uniform approach to applications by constituting a direct precedent for Turkish patent law.&lt;/span>&lt;/p>&lt;p style="text-align: justify;">&lt;span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">The industry is very excited to see the written decision of the EPO Enlarged Board of Appeal, which will bring enlightenment to pending disputes in different types of jurisdictions.&lt;/span>&lt;/p>

The concept of plausibility – which has been the subject of numerous evaluations, especially by the European Patent Office (“EPO”) and frequently debated in academic circles in recent years – has not yet found a place within the scope of any legal regulation in Turkey.

“Plausibility” in Turkish Patent Law and Its Impact on Invalidation Proceedings

&lt;p style="text-align: justify;">&lt;span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">For an extended period, the pharmaceutical industry needed a unique model of reimbursement where its conditions could be set together through negotiation with the SSI, and the regular price and reimbursement rules did not apply to innovative products.&lt;/span>&lt;/p>&lt;p style="text-align: justify;">&lt;span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">With the enactment of the Social Security and General Health Insurance Law numbered 6552 in September 2014, alternative reimbursement models also became an essential topic in the Turkish healthcare industry. The complementary provisions introduced with the Regulation on the Alternative Reimbursement of Pharmaceuticals, published in February 2016, allowed companies and the SSI to benefit from discussing the terms and conditions of an alternative reimbursement model for particular products. It was expected that alternative reimbursement models, in which the SSI will enter a direct contractual relationship with pharmaceutical companies, will ultimately allow patients to access innovative pharmaceuticals faster. However, nowadays, these models also appear to control pharmaceutical prices.&lt;/span>&lt;/p>&lt;p style="text-align: justify;">&lt;span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">In addition, with the conclusion of one of the actions filed against specific provisions of the Regulation on the Alternative Reimbursement of Pharmaceuticals, some articles were annulled on the grounds of procedural deficiency, as the SSI issued the regulation without receiving the opinion of the Ministry. Since the entire text is not the subject of the action, only some of the provisions were brought before the court, and essentially the entire Regulation is still in force, including the article of the law on which the alternative reimbursement models are based.&lt;/span>&lt;/p>&lt;p style="text-align: justify;">&lt;span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Following the annulment decision, the SSI was expected to update the Regulation on the Alternative Reimbursement of Pharmaceuticals by duly re-publishing the annulled articles. Instead, the SSI published the new Regulation on the Reimbursement of Pharmaceuticals, including the articles that will update the principle of confidentiality of the discount rates applied in these alternative models. In this context, the rule regarding confidentiality, implemented with the Alternative Reimbursement Regulation, has been re-introduced with the amendment made in the Pharmaceutical Reimbursement Regulation. However, it is unclear whether the Alternative Reimbursement Commission will be convened or the pharmaceutical companies will make new reimbursement agreements with the SSI with confidential and special discounted prices. It is thought that the elections, to be held in 2023, also play a role in how the implementation will continue in this issue, which is highly critical for the country’s economy and companies.&lt;/span>&lt;/p>

For an extended period, the pharmaceutical industry needed a unique model of reimbursement where its conditions could be set together through negotiation with the SSI, and the regular price and reimbursement rules did not apply to innovative products.

Market Access - Alternative Reimbursement Models

&lt;p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; font-size: 14px;">&lt;span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Although there is no explicit provision in Turkish Law for the acceptance of the ongoing opposition or appeal proceedings before the European Patent Office (“EPO”) as a “pending issue” due to the principle of procedural economy, in practice, pending issue decisions may be given by the Civil Courts of Intellectual and Industrial Property Rights according to the particular circumstances. As Turkey is one of the signatory countries to the European Patent Convention, upon the issuance of a revocation decision regarding a European patent, the patent’s validation before TÜRKPATENT is also revoked. Therefore, the revocation decisions rendered by the EPO are binding for Turkey. In addition, based on the principle of procedural economy set out in Article 30 of the Code of Civil Procedure (“CCP”), which governs the proceedings, and taking into account that EPO decisions are also binding and the EPO may revoke the patent, it may be decided to postpone the proceedings before the national court to avoid unnecessary examination and workload. Since there is no specific provision in Turkish Law on the obligation to hold the EPO proceedings as a pending issue, the courts decide on whether to hold the EPO proceedings as a pending issue by considering the stage of the EPO proceedings, the type of the action, and the balance of interests among the parties.&lt;/span>&lt;/p>&lt;p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; font-size: 14px;">&lt;span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">However, considering the length of the EPO proceedings, it is necessary to consider the balance of interests among the parties in this process. In this context, especially considering that the patent protection period is limited to 20 years and there is no regulation extending this period in Turkish Law, if there is a request from the parties, it is essential to decide on provisional legal protection measures to prevent the damages that may arise due to the duration of the proceedings.&lt;/span>&lt;/p>&lt;p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; font-size: 14px;">&lt;span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Indeed, the Regional Court of Appeal issued a precedent-setting decision emphasizing this importance. In an infringement and counter-invalidation action, the court of first instance decided to wait for the outcome of the EPO appeal process because the opposition process regarding the EPO patent has been concluded, but the appeal proceedings are still ongoing. The court rejected the preliminary injunction request filed by the patentee to compensate for the loss of rights during the waiting period of the EPO process because the EPO appeal and objection processes directly concern the infringement action, and the infringement action will affect the decision of the court. The patentee appealed this decision which was found unfair and unlawful on the grounds that the EPO appeal proceedings were concluded in favor of the patentee, the experts appointed by the court determined the patent infringement, the patent protection period is limited, and cannot be extended. There is no need to wait for this process to issue an injunction.&lt;/span>&lt;/p>&lt;p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; font-size: 14px;">&lt;span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">The District Court, deeming the plaintiff’s requests appropriate, ruled that&nbsp;&lt;em style="box-sizing: border-box;">“Although it is understood that the request for a preliminary injunction was rejected due to the pending EPO appeal proceedings,&lt;/em>&nbsp;&lt;em style="box-sizing: border-box;">holding the process a pending matter does not constitute an obstacle for the evaluation of the request for a preliminary injunction.”&lt;/em>&nbsp;Accordingly, the District Court, by noting that the request for a preliminary injunction should be evaluated while waiting for the conclusion of the EPO appeal proceedings to protect the balance of interests among the parties at this stage of the case, revoked the decision of the court of first instance that rejected the request for a preliminary injunction.&lt;/span>&lt;/p>&lt;p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; font-size: 14px;">&lt;span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">This decision has once again emphasized the purpose of the preliminary injunction to prevent the emergence of damages that occurred during the trial that are difficult or impossible to compensate for later on. Furthermore, this decision makes it clear that the requests for a preliminary injunction should be decided on a priority basis to protect the patent rights of patentees in an effective and timely manner; holding the EPO process a pending issue should not be an obstacle to the consideration of preliminary injunction requests. This decision sets an example for cases where the EPO opposition and appeal process is awaited to be finalized to prevent the parties from losing their rights for years in prolonged cases due to the pending issue.&lt;/span>&lt;/p>

Although there is no explicit provision in Turkish Law for the acceptance of the ongoing opposition or appeal proceedings before the European Patent Office as a “pending issue” due to the principle of procedural economy, in practice, pending issue decisions may be given by the Civil Courts of Intellectual and Industrial Property Rights according to the particular circumstances.

The Need for an Injunction in Cases Where the EPO Proceeding is held as a Pending Issue

With the “Law Amending the Press Law” published in the Official Gazette dated October 18, 2022 and numbered 31987, various regulations were made within the scope of combating disinformation, especially internet new sites and press cards.

Recent Developments on Press Law

&lt;p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; line-height: 1.5; font-size: 14px;">&lt;span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; color: rgb(19, 18, 18);">Son zamanlarda sık sık reklamlarda, tanıtımı yapılan ürünlerin veya hizmetlerin “eko”, “çevre dostu”, “doğa dostu” “yeşil” ve “geri dönüştürülebilir” olduğu konusunda reklam veren şirket tarafından ikna edilmeye mi çalışılıyorsunuz? Bir ürünün çevre dostu olması, ürünü satın alma ve kullanma tercihlerinizde etkili oluyor mu? Artık aslında yeterince “yeşil” olmayan ancak “yeşil” olduğu belirtilen ürünlere ilişkin reklamlara ayrılan sürenin sonuna mı geldik?&lt;/span>&lt;/p>&lt;p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; line-height: 1.5; font-size: 14px;">&lt;span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; color: rgb(19, 18, 18);">Bize tüm bu soruları sorduran “yeşil reklam” furyası, farklı sektörlerde faaliyet gösteren pek çok şirketin pazarlama ve reklam stratejisini “yeşil dönüşüm” temeli üzerine kurmuş olmasından kaynaklanıyor. Dünyamıza sahip çıkabilmek için son dönemeçte olabileceğimiz gerçeği karşısında şirketler tarafından bu çevreci motivasyonla atılan tüm adımların desteklenmesi gerekmekle beraber bu çevreci tutumun ticari reklamlara yansıması kimi zaman tüketicilerin çevre konusundaki duyarlılığının ya da bu alandaki olası bilgi eksikliğinin istismar edilmesi sonucunu doğurabilmektedir. Bu tür yeşil beyanlar kimi zaman bir ürünün üzerinde veya ambalajında, bazen bir mal veya hizmetin reklamında bazense sadece bir firmanın internet sitesinde genel olarak tüm ürün ve hizmetlerini ve şirketin sürdürülebilirlik vizyonunu kapsayacak şekilde karşımıza çıkmaktadır. Bu noktada çevreye ilişkin beyanlar içeren reklam ve tanıtımlar ile şirketlerin sürdürülebilirlik vizyonları altında çevresel beyanlarının hukuka uygun olup olmadığının ayırt edilmesi önem taşımaktadır.&lt;/span>&lt;/p>&lt;p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; line-height: 1.5; font-size: 14px;">&lt;span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; color: rgb(19, 18, 18);">Bu kapsamda Reklam Kurulu tarafından 6502 sayılı Tüketicinin Korunması Hakkında Kanun'a ve Ticari Reklam ve Haksız Ticari Uygulamalar Yönetmeliğine dayanarak Çevreye İlişkin Beyanlar İçeren Reklamlar Hakkında Kılavuz (“Kılavuz”) hazırlandı ve yayınlandı. Yazımızın devamında tüketicilerin fiilen en çok karşılaştıkları çevresel beyanlarla ilgili Kılavuz’un özel düzenlemelerinin bir kısmını bulabilirsiniz.&lt;/span>&lt;/p>&lt;p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; line-height: 1.5; font-size: 14px;">&lt;span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; color: rgb(19, 18, 18);">“Çevresel beyan”ın ne anlama geldiği konusunda Kılavuz kapsamında özel bir tanımlama yapıldı. Buna göre; ticari reklam veya ticari uygulama kapsamında bir mal veya hizmetin bileşen, üretimi, piyasaya arz süreci, kullanımı veya bertaraf edilme süreci ile ilgili olarak çevresel fayda sağladığına veya çevreye olumsuz bir etkisinin bulunmadığına ilişkin ibare veya görsel olarak tanımlanmıştır. Bu tanımda genel olarak çevreye etkiye ilişkin her türlü beyan ve uygulamanın çevresel beyan olduğu değerlendirilebilir. Kılavuz, özellikle çevresel beyan içeren reklam ve tanıtımların tüketicinin çevreyle ilgili hassasiyetlerini suistimal etmemesi ve sunulan ürün ve hizmetlerin çevreye etkileri konusunda tüketiciyi yanıltmaması için önemli kurallar getirmiştir.&lt;/span>&lt;/p>&lt;p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; line-height: 1.5; font-size: 14px;">&lt;span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; color: rgb(19, 18, 18);">Reklamlarda en çok karşılaşılan çevresel beyanların “yeşil”, “sürdürülebilir”, “eko”, “çevre dostu”, “sıfır atık”, “karbon nötr”, “yeşil enerji” gibi ifadeler olduğunu sanıyoruz hepimiz gözlemlemekteyiz. Bu tür kavramların hiçbir açıklama yapılmadan ya da tanıtıma konu mal ve hizmetlerin çevreye etkileri bakımından belirsizliğe neden olacak şekilde kullanılmaması gerekmektedir. Çevresel beyanların ne ile ilgili olduğu, ne için ve nasıl kullanıldığı, ürünün yaşam döngüsünün tümüne mi yoksa bir bölümüne mi yönelik olduğuna ilişkin bilgilere reklamlarda yer verilmelidir.&nbsp; Özetle, “yeşil” olduğu iddia edilen bir ürün ya da hizmetin hangi yönüyle “yeşil” olduğu reklamdan anlaşılamıyorsa o reklam sizi aldatıyor olabilir. Ek olarak bir malın “biyolojik olarak bozunabilir”, “çözünebilir” veya “geri dönüştürülebilir” olduğuna ilişkin beyanların, malın ambalajı da dahil olmak üzere ürünün tamamıyla mı yoksa bir kısmıyla mı ilgili olduğu tüketiciye açıkça bildirilmelidir. Eğer bir malın yalnızca bir bölümü geri dönüştürülebilir nitelikteyse o halde sanki ürünün tamamı geri dönüştürülebilirmiş gibi reklam yapmak uygun olmayabilecektir. Örneğin bir içeceğe ait pet şişenin ambalajında “geri dönüştürülebilir” ifadesine ve bu ifadeyi destekleyecek görsele yer verilmişse ancak şişe tamamen geri dönüştürülebilir malzemeden yapılmışken şişe kapağı öyle değilse o halde sanki şişenin tamamı geri dönüştürülebilirmiş gibi yapılan bir reklam, mevzuata aykırı olabilecektir. Tüketiciler bir malın veya ambalajın üretiminde yenilenebilir enerjinin kullanıldığı konusunda yanıltılmamalıdır.&nbsp; Örneğin, bir reklam veren tarafından markaya ait tekstil ürünlerinin reklamında “rüzgar enerjisi ile üretilmiştir” şeklinde ibareye verilmişse ancak, firma, tekstil ürünlerinin üretim sürecinde kullanılan enerjinin sadece %50’sini rüzgar enerjisinden sağlamaktaysa o halde bu tanıtım tüketicileri eksik bilgilendirici nitelikte olması sebebiyle reklam hukukuna aykırı olabilecektir. Benzer şekilde reklamlarda yer verilen çevresel beyanların o mal veya hizmetin hangi bölüm, parça veya sürecine ilişkin olduğu açıkça belirtilmelidir. Örneğin, “sıfır emisyon” ibaresinin veya görselinin bir mal veya hizmetin tüketiciye sunulmadan önceki üretim aşamasına mı yoksa tüketicinin kullanımına sunulduktan sonraki sürece mi ilişkin olduğu açıkça belirtilmelidir.&lt;/span>&lt;/p>&lt;p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; line-height: 1.5; font-size: 14px;">&lt;span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; color: rgb(19, 18, 18);">Bir diğer önemli nokta bir mal veya hizmetin ilgili mevzuatı gereği uyması gereken yasal süreçler ve sağlaması gereken standartlara veya hâlihazırda kullanılmayan süreçlerin veya bileşenlerin kullanılmamasına ilişkin çevresel beyanların, o mal veya hizmetin, sürecin veya firmaların rakiplerinden farklı ya da daha üstün olduğu algısı oluşturacak biçimde kullanılamayacak olmasıdır. Örneğin, bir deterjan markasına ait reklamlarda ve ürün ambalajında “denizlerimizi korumak için fosfat kullanımını azaltıyoruz” şeklinde bir ibareye yer verilmesi ilgili mevzuata aykırı olabilecektir çünkü hâlihazırda ilgili mevzuat gereği deterjan üretiminde fosfat kullanımında zaten önemli kısıtlamalar bulunmaktadır. Dolayısıyla piyasada var olan diğer markalar için de uyulması zorunlu olan sınırlamanın sadece o ürün için geçerli olduğu yönünde izlenim oluşturmak tüketiciler için yanıltıcı olabilir.&lt;/span>&lt;/p>&lt;p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; line-height: 1.5; font-size: 14px;">&lt;span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; color: rgb(19, 18, 18);">Öte yandan bir şirketin tanıtımını yaptığı mal veya hizmetin gelecekte hedeflenen çevresel etkilerine ilişkin beyanları reklamlarda kullanabilmesi, ancak bu hedeflere kamuya açık ve doğrulanabilir bir strateji belgesinde yer vermesi halinde mümkündür. Diğer bir deyişle reklam veren şirketin bu kriterlere uygun hazırlanmış bir strateji belgesi bulunmuyorsa, örneğin “2030’a kadar karbon emisyonumuzu %80 azaltıyoruz!”, “Yıl sonunda tamamen karbon nötr olacağız!” gibi ifadeleri reklamlarda kullanmaması gerektiği değerlendirilebilir.&lt;/span>&lt;/p>&lt;p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; line-height: 1.5; font-size: 14px;">&lt;span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; color: rgb(19, 18, 18);">Karşılaştırma şeklinde çevresel beyanlar içeren reklamlarda tüketici, karşılaştırmanın reklam verenin kendi markaları ve önceki ürünleriyle mi yoksa reklam verenin rakiplerinin ürünleriyle mi yapıldığı noktasında tereddüt etmemelidir. Örneğin bir pet şişenin ambalajında yer verilen “%20 daha fazla geri dönüştürülmüş içerik” ifadesi, ilgili ürünün hem reklam verenin önceki ürünlerine kıyasla %20 daha fazla geri dönüştürülmüş içeriğe sahip olduğu hem de reklam verenin rakiplerinin ürünlerine kıyasla %20 daha fazla geri dönüştürülmüş içeriğe sahip olduğu şeklinde yorumlanabilir. Dolayısıyla bu yönde bir ibarenin reklamlarda gerekli aydınlatma yapılmadan kullanılmaması gerekir.&lt;/span>&lt;/p>&lt;p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; line-height: 1.5; font-size: 14px;">&lt;span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; color: rgb(19, 18, 18);">Reklam Kurulu Kılavuz yayınlamadan önce de çevreye ilişkin beyanlar içeren reklamlar bakımından oldukça titiz davranmakta ve ihlal tespit ettiği hallerde reklam durdurma cezası ve idari para cezası uygulanmasına karar vermekteydi. Kılavuz’un yayınlanmasıyla birlikte istikrarlı bir uygulama oluşturulacağı, reklam verenlerin çevreye ilişkin beyanlar içeren reklamlarda nelere dikkat edilmesi gerektiğini ön görebileceği ve tüketicilerin çevresel hassasiyetlerini suistimal eden ve ürünlerin çevresel etkileri konusunda tüketicileri aldatan reklamlara izin verilmeyeceği değerlendirilmektedir.&lt;/span>&lt;/p>&lt;hr>&lt;p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; line-height: 1.5; font-size: 14px;">&lt;em style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; color: rgb(19, 18, 18);">Ayçıl Altınok’a katkılarından dolayı teşekkür ederiz.&lt;/em>&lt;/p>

Son zamanlarda sık sık reklamlarda, tanıtımı yapılan ürünlerin veya hizmetlerin “eko”, “çevre dostu”, “doğa dostu” “yeşil” ve “geri dönüştürülebilir” olduğu konusunda reklam veren şirket tarafından ikna edilmeye mi çalışılıyorsunuz? Bir ürünün çevre dostu olması, ürünü satın alma ve kullanma tercihlerinizde etkili oluyor mu? Artık aslında yeterince “yeşil” olmayan ancak “yeşil” olduğu belirtilen ürünlere ilişkin reklamlara ayrılan sürenin sonuna mı geldik?

Çevre Dostu Ürünler, Yeşil Reklamlar!

&lt;p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.5;">&lt;span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; color: rgb(4, 4, 4);">When you watch the commercials, do you often feel like advertising companies are working hard to convince you that their products or services are “eco”, “environmentally friendly”, “nature friendly”, “green” and “recyclable”? Does environmentally-friendly feature of a product have any impact on your preference to purchase or use it? In fact, are we yet at the end of an era of advertising products that are not “green” enough but promoted to be “green”?&lt;/span>&lt;/p>&lt;p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.5;">&lt;span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; color: rgb(4, 4, 4);">The “green advertising” hype, which is the reason of all these question marks in our minds, is escalating due to the fact that many companies carrying out activities in various industries have based their marketing and advertising strategies off on “green transformation” pillar. Although we are of the opinion that these steps taken in the business side with an environmentally cautious motivation should be supported considering that we are running out of time to save our planet, it should not be ignored that this environmentally friendly approach followed in advertisements might result in abuse of consumers’ sensitivity for environment or possible lack of their knowledge in this field. This type of green statements are sometimes placed on the surface of a product or on its packaging or included in the advertisements or published on the advertising company’s website in a manner to cover all of the products or services offered by the company or to refer company’s sustainability vision. Accordingly, it is important to determine whether advertisements and promotions containing environmental claims and environmental claims purported as a part of companies’ sustainability visions are in compliance with law.&lt;/span>&lt;/p>&lt;p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.5;">&lt;span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; color: rgb(4, 4, 4);">In this respect, the Guideline for Environmental Claims in Advertising (“Guideline”) has been enacted by the Advertisement Board pursuant to the Law on Consumer Protection no. 6502 and the Regulation on Commercial Advertisement and Unfair Commercial Practices. We have included below some of the special provisions from the Guideline which address the environmental claims that consumers are mostly exposed to.&lt;/span>&lt;/p>&lt;p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.5;">&lt;span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; color: rgb(4, 4, 4);">“Environmental claim” is defined under the Guideline as statement or visual relating to environmental benefits or not having harmful environmental effects about the components, manufacturing method, supply process, use or destroy of the advertised products or services. As this is a broad definition, it is fair to argue that any kind of statement and practice related to environmental impact could be evaluated as environmental claim. The Guideline has introduced important rules in order to prevent advertisements and promotions containing environmental claims from abusing consumer’s sensitivity for environment and misleading consumers about the environmental impacts of the offered products and services.&lt;/span>&lt;/p>&lt;p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.5;">&lt;span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; color: rgb(4, 4, 4);">We observe that most common environmental claims included in advertisements are “green”, “sustainable”, “eco”, “environmental friendly”, “zero waste”, “carbon neutral”, “green energy”. These claims should not be used without further explanation or in a manner that cause ambiguity in the part of consumers regarding the environmental impacts of the promoted products and services. Advertisements should contain detailed information pertaining to what the environmental claim is about, for what and how it is used, whether it wholly or partially pertains to the life cycle of the product. Briefly, if you cannot understand from the advertisement what aspect of a product or service claimed to be "green" is "green", that advertisement may be deceiving you. Additionally, consumers must explicitly be informed about whether environmental claims regarding “biodegradable”, “soluble” or “recyclable” features of goods are related to the whole product including its packing or just a part of it&lt;em style="box-sizing: border-box;">.&lt;/em>&nbsp;If only a part of the product is recyclable, then it is not proper to advertise it as if the whole product is recyclable. For instance, in the case that packaging of a drink contains the phrase “recyclable” along with a visual supporting this claim, if the bottle cap is not recyclable, then the advertisement presenting the whole bottle as a recyclable product would be contrary to the law even if the bottle itself is entirely consisted of recyclable components. Consumers must not be misled about use of renewable energy in manufacturing of a product or its packaging. For example, an advertisement made by a textile company promoting its textile products using the phrase “manufactured with wind power”, while indeed only 50% of the total energy used for manufacturing was wind power, then such advertisement would be against the law for failing to fully inform consumers. Similarly, advertisements must clearly indicate to which section, part or process of a product or service the mentioned environmental claim refers. For instance, it must be explicitly mentioned whether “zero emission” or a visual supporting this claim refers to before sales or after sales portion of the manufacturing process of the promoted product.&lt;/span>&lt;/p>&lt;p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.5;">&lt;span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; color: rgb(4, 4, 4);">Another important point is that environmental claims pertaining to the legal procedures and standards with which goods or services or advertisers must legally comply or procedures and components that should not normally be used, cannot be communicated in a manner that would cause the impression that the mentioned products or service, procedure or the company is different than or superior to its rivals or equivalents. For example, it would be unlawful to state “We reduce phosphate usage” in advertising of a detergent product and its packaging since phosphate usage for detergent manufacturing is already subject to strict limitations under the law. Therefore, it might be misleading to create an impression as if compulsory limitations which must be obeyed by all brands in the market are only followed by the advertising brand.&lt;/span>&lt;/p>&lt;p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.5;">&lt;span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; color: rgb(4, 4, 4);">On the other hand, environmental claims related to targeted future environmental impacts of products or services may be used in advertisements only if such claims are included in a strategy plan that is publicly available and verifiable. In other words, advertising companies should not make statements such as “We are reducing our carbon emission by 80% by 2030!” “We will become entirely carbon neutral by the end of the year!” unless they have a strategy plan that satisfies the criteria mentioned above.&lt;/span>&lt;/p>&lt;p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.5;">&lt;span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; color: rgb(4, 4, 4);">Also, the content of the comparison made through comparative environmental claims contained in advertisements, particularly whether the advertiser compare the mentioned product with its own previous products under the same brand or with products of its rivals, must explicitly be communicated to customer. For example, the statement “20% more recycled components” might be confusing since consumers might interpret in two ways. It is hard to understand whether the comparison is made between advertising companies’ new and old products or between advertising companies’ products and its rivals’ products. Therefore, such a claim should not be included in advertisements unless accompanied by further explanatory note.&lt;/span>&lt;/p>&lt;p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.5;">&lt;span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; color: rgb(4, 4, 4);">The Advertisement Board was thoroughly examining advertisements containing environmental claims and was imposing cease of advertisement sanctions and monetary fines even prior to publication of the Guideline. Upon the Guideline, we evaluate that the Guideline will help establishing a uniform practice with respect to advertisements containing environmental claims and preventing publication of advertisements that might abuse consumers’ environmental sensitivity and mislead them regarding environmental impacts of products.&lt;/span>&lt;/p>&lt;hr>&lt;p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; font-size: 14px;">&lt;em style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; color: rgb(4, 4, 4);">Special thanks to Ayçıl Altınok for her contributions.&lt;/em>&lt;/p>

When you watch the commercials, do you often feel like advertising companies are working hard to convince you that their products or services are “eco”, “environmentally friendly”, “nature friendly”, “green” and “recyclable”? Does environmentally-friendly feature of a product have any impact on your preference to purchase or use it? In fact, are we yet at the end of an era of advertising products that are not “green” enough but promoted to be “green”?

Eco-Friendly Advertisements!

&lt;p style="text-align: justify;">&lt;span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">&lt;strong>1. General Information on
Broadcast Media Advertising &amp; Online Advertising&lt;/strong>&lt;/span>&lt;/p>&lt;p style="text-align: justify;">&lt;span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">&lt;span style="font-size: 14px;">The main pieces of legislation governing broadcast media
advertising are the &lt;/span>&lt;strong>Law no. 6112 on "Establishment of Radio and Television
Enterprises and their Media Services"&lt;/strong>&lt;span style="font-size: 14px;"> (“Media Law”)&nbsp;and the Advertisement
Regulation of Radio and Television Authority of Türkiye.&lt;/span>&lt;/span>&lt;/p>&lt;p style="text-align: justify;">&lt;span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">&lt;span style="font-size: 14px;">&lt;span style="font-size: 14px;">As per Media Law, advertisements and tele-shopping in
television and radio broadcasting services have to be&nbsp;broadcast&nbsp;in a
manner that is easily distinguishable from the rest of the elements of the
broadcasting&nbsp;programme services, by way of the use of audio or visual
warnings. Broadcast media advertisements are also within the scope of
Regulation on &lt;/span>&lt;strong>“Commercial Advertisements and Unfair Practices“&lt;/strong>&lt;span style="font-size: 14px;">, thus
advertisements and tele-shopping must be made in compliance with this
regulation.&lt;/span>&lt;/span>&lt;/span>&lt;/p>&lt;p style="text-align: justify;">&lt;span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">&lt;span style="font-size: 14px;">&lt;span style="font-size: 14px;">&lt;span style="font-size: 14px;">Online advertising is subject to &lt;/span>&lt;strong style="font-size: 14px;">“Consumer Protection
Law”&lt;/strong>&lt;span style="font-size: 14px;">&lt;span style="font-size: 14px;"> and &lt;/span>&lt;strong style="font-size: 14px;">“Commercial Advertisement Regulation”&lt;/strong>&lt;span style="font-size: 14px;">&lt;span style="font-size: 14px;">,&nbsp;which are the
main&nbsp;legislation&nbsp;with respect to advertisement rules. The
Advertisement Board regulates the compliance of advertisements in all media,
except for specific broadcasting rules that are governed under Media Law. In
addition, all online broadcasts in Türkiye are subject to the Law No. 5651 on &lt;/span>&lt;strong>“Regulating
Broadcasting in the Internet and Fighting against Crimes Committed through
Internet Broadcasting”&lt;/strong>&lt;span style="font-size: 14px;">.&nbsp;If&nbsp;the content of an online broadcast,
including online advertising, constitutes specific crimes that are listed in
this law,&nbsp;access&nbsp;to&nbsp;this website could either be banned by the
Information Technology and Communication Authority or by the court,&nbsp;depending
on the type of case and urgency.&lt;/span>&lt;/span>&lt;/span>&lt;/span>&lt;/span>&lt;/span>&lt;/p>&lt;p style="text-align: justify;">&lt;span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">&lt;span style="font-size: 14px;">&lt;span style="font-size: 14px;">&lt;span style="font-size: 14px;">&lt;span style="font-size: 14px;">&lt;span style="font-size: 14px;">&lt;br>&lt;/span>&lt;/span>&lt;/span>&lt;/span>&lt;/span>&lt;/span>&lt;/p>&lt;p style="text-align: justify;">&lt;span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">&lt;span style="font-size: 14px;">&lt;span style="font-size: 14px;">&lt;span style="font-size: 14px;">&lt;span style="font-size: 14px;">&lt;span style="font-size: 14px;">&lt;strong>2. Limitations Regarding
Maximum Advertising Time, the Advertising of Alcoholic Beverages, Crypto
Exchange, On-Line Sport Betting&lt;/strong>&lt;/span>&lt;/span>&lt;/span>&lt;/span>&lt;/span>&lt;/span>&lt;/p>&lt;p style="text-align: justify;">&lt;span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">&lt;span style="font-size: 14px;">&lt;span style="font-size: 14px;">&lt;span style="font-size: 14px;">&lt;span style="font-size: 14px;">&lt;span style="font-size: 14px;">&lt;span style="font-size: 14px;">The Regulation on &lt;/span>&lt;strong style="font-size: 14px;">“Audit of Commercial Communication Revenues Received by Media Service Provider
Organizations and Regarding the Declaration and Payment of the Shares of the
Supreme Council to be Paid on These Revenues And Procedures”&lt;/strong>&lt;span style="font-size: 14px;">&lt;span style="font-size: 14px;"> defines media
service providers, radio and television advertisements, programme support,
teleshopping and product placement, including any natural or legal person in an
economic activity, product, service, or image, designed to promote, directly or
indirectly, a fee or tone or silent images with a similar response, with or
placed into a programme or a programme for the purpose of self-promotion in
exchange for the issuance of commercial communication income as revenues over
the cost of specified commercial communications. Media service providers
collect their commercial communication revenues in each calendar month must be
declared by the last day of the following month. &lt;/span>&lt;u>1.5% of the monthly gross
commercial communication revenues should be paid as the share of the RTÜK.&lt;/u>&lt;/span>&lt;/span>&lt;/span>&lt;/span>&lt;/span>&lt;/span>&lt;/span>&lt;/p>&lt;p style="text-align: justify;">&lt;span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">&lt;span style="font-size: 14px;">&lt;span style="font-size: 14px;">&lt;span style="font-size: 14px;">&lt;span style="font-size: 14px;">&lt;span style="font-size: 14px;">&lt;span style="font-size: 14px;">&lt;u>The proportion of all
kinds of advertising broadcasts, except for tele-shopping broadcasts, cannot
exceed 20% (twenty percent) within the broadcast from the beginning of one (1)
hour to the beginning of the next hour.&lt;/u>&lt;span style="font-size: 14px;"> Regardless of this time, with an audible
and visual warning by stating clearly, tele-shopping broadcast can be made for
at least fifteen minutes without interruption. The duration of this broadcast
cannot exceed a total of one (1) hour in one day.&lt;/span>&lt;/span>&lt;/span>&lt;/span>&lt;/span>&lt;/span>&lt;/span>&lt;/span>&lt;/p>&lt;p style="text-align: justify;">&lt;span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">&lt;span style="font-size: 14px;">&lt;span style="font-size: 14px;">&lt;span style="font-size: 14px;">&lt;span style="font-size: 14px;">&lt;span style="font-size: 14px;">&lt;span style="font-size: 14px;">Public service
announcements that are broadcast free of charge and recommended by the RTÜK are
not included in the advertising periods. Also, advertising and tele-shopping
broadcasts cannot be placed in the religious ceremony broadcast in any way.&lt;/span>&lt;/span>&lt;/span>&lt;/span>&lt;/span>&lt;/span>&lt;/span>&lt;/p>&lt;p style="text-align: justify;">&lt;span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">&lt;span style="font-size: 14px;">&lt;span style="font-size: 14px;">&lt;span style="font-size: 14px;">&lt;span style="font-size: 14px;">&lt;span style="font-size: 14px;">&lt;span style="font-size: 14px;">&lt;span style="font-size: 14px;">&lt;span style="font-size: 14px;">&lt;u>Commercial
communication for alcoholic beverages and tobacco products is not allowed in
any way it cannot be given.&lt;/u>&lt;/span> &lt;/span>&lt;span style="font-size: 14px;">&lt;span style="font-size: 14px;">The&lt;span style="font-size: 14px;"> Law no 4207 on &lt;/span>&lt;/span>&lt;strong style="font-size: 14px;">“Prevention and Control of Damages of Tobacco
Products“&lt;/strong>&lt;span style="font-size: 14px;"> prohibited the use of tobacco products in music videos,
advertisements and promotional films, and works shown in cinemas and theaters,
and also the display of their images for advertising purposes in television
programmes, movies, serials, music for commercial purposes or on the internet,
social media or similar media that are open to the public. Broadcasters on any
platform and level should commit to showing the necessary sensitivity in the
fight against all types of addiction, especially alcohol, tobacco products,
narcotic substances, and gambling.&lt;/span>&lt;/span>&lt;/span>&lt;/span>&lt;/span>&lt;/span>&lt;/span>&lt;/span>&lt;/span>&lt;/p>&lt;p style="text-align: justify;">&lt;span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">&lt;span style="font-size: 14px;">&lt;span style="font-size: 14px;">&lt;span style="font-size: 14px;">&lt;span style="font-size: 14px;">&lt;span style="font-size: 14px;">&lt;span style="font-size: 14px;">&lt;span style="font-size: 14px;">According to the Law
no 7258 on &lt;/span>&lt;strong>“Football and Other Sports Competitions,&nbsp; Organization of Betting and Games of Chance”&lt;/strong>&lt;span style="font-size: 14px;">,
it is a crime to play fixed odds and joint betting, or games of chance based on
sports events without the necessary permission and licenses. According to the
relevant law, fixed odds or joint bets or luck based on sports events and
advertising illegal bets, those who encourage them to play their games are
punished with imprisonment from one year to three years and a judicial fine of
up to three thousand (3.000) days. As a result, advertisements cannot be made
for those who offer online betting and gambling services, except for a limited
number of legal betting channels which are İddaa, Nesine and Misli.&lt;/span>&lt;/span>&lt;/span>&lt;/span>&lt;/span>&lt;/span>&lt;/span>&lt;/span>&lt;/p>&lt;p style="text-align: justify;">&lt;span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">&lt;span style="font-size: 14px;">&lt;span style="font-size: 14px;">&lt;span style="font-size: 14px;">&lt;span style="font-size: 14px;">&lt;span style="font-size: 14px;">&lt;span style="font-size: 14px;">&lt;span style="font-size: 14px;">There is no
limitations and relevant regulation for crypto exchange advertising yet.&lt;/span>&lt;/span>&lt;/span>&lt;/span>&lt;/span>&lt;/span>&lt;/span>&lt;/span>&lt;/p>&lt;p style="text-align: justify;">&lt;span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">&lt;span style="font-size: 14px;">&lt;span style="font-size: 14px;">&lt;span style="font-size: 14px;">&lt;span style="font-size: 14px;">&lt;span style="font-size: 14px;">&lt;span style="font-size: 14px;">&lt;span style="font-size: 14px;">Among the broadcasts
made by broadcasting organizations residing abroad and transmitted by satellite
and cable operators in Türkiye, advertisements and teleshopping broadcasts of
products that can be broadcast according to the legislation of the country in
which the organization broadcasting abroad are located but prohibited by the
Law and this Regulation cannot be broadcast.&lt;/span>&lt;/span>&lt;/span>&lt;/span>&lt;/span>&lt;/span>&lt;/span>&lt;/span>&lt;/p>

The main pieces of legislation governing broadcast media advertising are the Law no. 6112 on "Establishment of Radio and Television Enterprises and their Media Services" (“Media Law”) and the Advertisement Regulation of Radio and Television Authority of Türkiye. As per Media Law, advertisements and tele-shopping in television and radio broadcasting services have to be broadcast in a manner that is easily distinguishable from the rest of the elements of the broadcasting programme services, by way of the use of audio or visual warnings. Broadcast media advertisements are also within the scope of Regulation on “Commercial Advertisements and Unfair Practices“, thus advertisements and tele-shopping must be made in compliance with this regulation.

Advertising on TV Broadcasting Under Turkish Law

“Broadcasting License” means the certificate of permission issued separately for each broadcasting type, technique and network by RTÜK to media service providers to allow them to broadcast using any kind of technology via cable, satellite, terrestrial and similar networks. There are different licenses to be obtained in order to establish an online broadcasting platform and broadcast transmission for on-demand broadcasting services in Turkey.

Authorization Obligation is on the Horizon for OTT Services

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