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Devin Law & IP — Publications

Insights

Articles and commentary from our team on intellectual property, media, data protection and regulatory developments — practical analysis of the decisions, legislation and market practice shaping Turkish and international law.

Data Protection · 18 June 2026

Workplace CCTV Systems: The Authority's Public Announcement of 8 June 2026

In its Public Announcement of 8 June 2026 the Personal Data Protection Authority drew a clear line between camera use for security purposes and surveillance directed at employee performance, efficiency or conduct. Assessed alongside Board decisions, Council of State case law and European data protection standards, the announcement operates as a compliance guide requiring data controllers to reassess existing systems.

Uğurcan Tekin · İnci Özçilsal · Beyza ErdemirDevin Law & IP
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Data Protection · 16 June 2026

The Constitutional Court’s Viennalife Judgment: Publicly Disclosed Personal Data and the Principle of Legality

The Constitutional Court did not rule on whether the Data Protection Board’s “intention to disclose” doctrine is right or wrong as a matter of data protection law. It held something narrower and far more consequential: a criterion that does not appear in the statute cannot, through interpretation alone, be turned into the basis of an administrative fine.

Uğurcan Tekin · İnci ÖzçilsalDevin Law & IP
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Regulatory · 14 June 2026

Türkiye’s First Climate Law Adopted by the Grand National Assembly

Türkiye has enacted its inaugural Climate Law — a major legislative achievement in the pursuit of environmental sustainability and reduced carbon emissions. The Law restructures existing environmental and energy policy, establishes the Climate Change Presidency as a central coordinating body, assigns substantial responsibilities to municipal authorities, and introduces an Emission Trading System together with a Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism.

Uğurcan Tekin · İnci ÖzçilsalDevin Law & IP
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Data Protection · 31 March 2026

Sharing Data With Third Parties and the Rules Governing Debt Payment Processes

Debt information is not merely economic data; it discloses an individual’s financial position and is therefore private information requiring legal protection. Being a spouse, parent, sibling or friend does not alter third-party status before a data controller — and a third party’s right to pay a debt is not a right to learn its amount.

Uğurcan Tekin · İnci ÖzçilsalDevin Law & IP
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Corporate · 26 March 2026

Expulsion of a Shareholder in Two-Shareholder Limited Companies After the Constitutional Court's Judgment of 17 March 2026

The Constitutional Court annulled, in respect of two-shareholder limited companies, the provisions making an application for expulsion dependent on a general assembly resolution taken by an aggravated quorum — restoring an effective remedy where the decision-making mechanism was structurally deadlocked.

Uğurcan Tekin · İnci Özçilsal · Beyza ErdemirDevin Law & IP
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Data Protection · 24 March 2026

Cybersecurity Law No. 7545: Centralised Governance, Audit and Sanctions Regime

Cybersecurity Law No. 7545 abandons a recommendation-based approach and establishes a centralised governance structure with a high-deterrence sanctions regime. Assessed alongside the EU Cybersecurity Act and the Cyber Resilience Act, the Law brings cyber risk management from the IT department to the board agenda.

Uğurcan Tekin · İnci ÖzçilsalDevin Law & IP
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Data Protection · 19 March 2026

Generative Artificial Intelligence in the Workplace: Risks, Responsibilities and Compliance Strategies

Data entered into generative AI tools generally constitutes personal data processing and frequently a cross-border transfer. Prohibition-led policies push employees toward 'Shadow AI'; the Authority's guidance favours clear boundaries, technical and administrative measures, human oversight and training.

Uğurcan Tekin · İnci Özçilsal · Beyza ErdemirDevin Law & IP
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Media & Advertising · 12 March 2026

Advertising Board Decisions — Meeting No. 365: Sectoral and Thematic Assessment

A sectoral analysis of the decisions taken at the meeting of the Advertising Board of the Ministry of Trade dated 13 January 2026 and numbered 365 — covering communication services, consumer durables and technology, food and food supplements, and a broad range of other goods and services.

Uğurcan Tekin · İnci Özçilsal · Beyza ErdemirDevin Law & IP
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Trademark · 26 February 2026

New Rules on the Classification of Goods and Services in Trademark Applications

TÜRKPATENT Communiqué No. 2026/2, published in the Official Gazette of 26 February 2026, repeals the 2024 Communiqué and reassigns a series of goods between classes. The amendments directly affect filing strategy in the optical, textile, automotive, sanitary-ware and technology sectors.

Uğurcan Tekin · Alican Tekin · Mehmet Kerem KüçükDevin Law & IP
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Regulatory · 16 February 2026

Amendment on Fees Chargeable to Consumers in Food and Beverage Services

The Regulation Amending the Price Tag Regulation, published in the Official Gazette of 30 January 2026, expressly prohibits service charges, table charges, cover charges and similar items in restaurants, cafés and comparable establishments — and the Ministry has already begun sanctioning indirect circumvention.

Uğurcan Tekin · Beyza Erdemir · Sıla UçarDevin Law & IP
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Trademark · 14 February 2026

Opinions and Criticisms on the Practical Application of Article 6/3 of the Industrial Property Code

Article 6/3 of the Industrial Property Code is a narrow but vital exception to the registration principle, protecting the genuine right holder who has actually used an unregistered sign in trade. In practice, however, court-appointed experts increasingly extend that protection far beyond the classes in which the sign has ever been used — effectively legislating from the expert report and eroding the legal certainty of registered proprietors.

Uğurcan Tekin · Alican Tekin · İnci ÖzçilsalDevin Law & IP
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Data Protection · 14 February 2026

The Turkish Data Protection Board’s Ex Officio and On-Site Inspection Powers

The Turkish Data Protection Board does not depend on complaints. Drawing on its own findings, press reports, notifications and social media, it opens investigations of its own motion — and, where written submissions fall short, it goes on site. This article maps both powers through the Board’s published decisions and sets out what data controllers should have ready before an inspection begins.

Uğurcan Tekin · İnci ÖzçilsalDevin Law & IP
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Copyright · 14 February 2026

Protection of Unregistered Copyright Against Trademark Applications

Copyright arises the moment a work is created — registration is a means of proof, not a condition of the right. Yet in opposition proceedings a registration certificate is still routinely demanded. The Ankara Regional Court of Appeal’s finalised TOSPİK judgment breaks with that formalism and opens the way for creators without certificates to defend their characters against opportunistic trademark filings.

Uğurcan Tekin · Alican Tekin · Beyza ErdemirDevin Law & IP
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E-Commerce & IP · 14 February 2026

Intellectual and Industrial Property Infringements on E-Commerce Platforms

The forty-eight-hour takedown mechanism introduced by the E-Commerce Law and its implementing Regulation gives right holders speed that litigation cannot match. It also hands competitors a weapon: an intermediary service provider that is not equipped to adjudicate a trademark dispute may nevertheless be obliged to remove a listing on the strength of a certificate alone.

Uğurcan Tekin · Alican Tekin · Beyza ErdemirDevin Law & IP
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Unfair Competition · 14 February 2026

Misleading Statements and Unfair Competition Based on Non-Finalized TÜRKPATENT Decisions

A decision of the Turkish Patent and Trademark Office being final is not the same as its being conclusive. Statements, filings and commercial claims built on a decision that has not yet become conclusive can distort competition, mislead consumers and expose the maker to civil and criminal liability for unfair competition under the Turkish Commercial Code.

Uğurcan Tekin · Beyza ErdemirDevin Law & IP
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Trademark · 14 February 2026

Trademark Infringement Through Internet Domain Names and the Litigation Process

A domain name is the most visible use a trademark makes of the digital environment. This article sets out the cumulative conditions under which use of a sign in a domain name amounts to trademark infringement, the loss of rights through acquiescence, and the full range of interim, civil and criminal remedies available to the proprietor before the Turkish courts.

Uğurcan Tekin · Beyza ErdemirDevin Law & IP
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Trademark · 14 February 2026

The Court of Cassation’s Approach to Trademark Registrations with a High Degree of Genericness

The Court of Cassation’s RUBY judgment restates a principle that practice too often forgets: so long as a mark remains on the register, it confers absolute and exclusive protection — even where the shared element is said to have become generic. Yet the Office continues to treat weakly distinctive registrations as though they did not exist, and the resulting contradiction is driving a steady rise in annulment actions.

Uğurcan Tekin · Alican Tekin · Beyza ErdemirDevin Law & IP
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Data Protection · 12 February 2026

Push Notifications in Mobile Applications Under the Personal Data Protection Law

Bundling an order-tracking notification together with a marketing notification behind a single consent box does not produce valid explicit consent. Following the Board’s Principle Decision No. 2025/1072, granular consent is no longer a design preference for mobile application providers — it is a legal obligation.

Uğurcan Tekin · İnci ÖzçilsalDevin Law & IP
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Data Protection · 6 February 2026

Establishing an Internal Personal Data Protection Board Within the Company

Written policies alone no longer demonstrate compliance. An internal Personal Data Protection Board that meets on a defined cycle, records its decisions in minutes and reports to management turns accountability from a stated principle into documented evidence — and, in an investigation, into a defensible position.

Uğurcan Tekin · İnci ÖzçilsalDevin Law & IP
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Media & Advertising · 4 February 2026

Advertising Board Decisions — Meeting No. 364: Current Legal Assessments

A sectoral and thematic analysis of the decisions published in respect of the Advertising Board's meeting of 11 December 2025 and numbered 364 — covering the healthcare sector, tourism, and the automotive, e-commerce, platform services and digital interface sectors.

Uğurcan Tekin · İnci Özçilsal · Beyza ErdemirDevin Law & IP
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