Decree-Law No. 551 Pertaining to the Protection of Patent Rights and Decree-Law No. 554 Pertaining to the Protection of Industrial Designs have been amended effective as of 10 June 2010. Some infringement acts have been removed from the articles of the said decree-laws and accordingly, such acts are no longer deemed as infringements of patent rights.

Furthermore, there have been various minor amendments to the relevant articles of "The Implementing Regulation under Decree-Law No. 544" and "The Implementing Regulation under Decree-Law No. 554" outlining the required documents for various applications.

The Implementing Regulation under Decree-Law No. 555 Pertaining to the Protection of Geographical Indications was amended on 21 April 2009. Following the amendments, the required documents list for geographical indications registration applications has been extended.

See also:

No crime or punishment without law

The 7th Criminal Chamber of the Court of Appeals, in its judgment dated 11 February 2009 No. 2006/16811 E., 2009/2220 K., highlights the prominence of the principle of law "no crime or punishment without law" by abolishing the provisions of Decree-Law No. 556 that define crimes in relation to trademarks on the basis of the said principle. Thereby, this judgment creates a gap in the law due to the provisions of the Turkish Commercial Code (Law No. 6762) in relation to the crime of unfair competition formerly repealed upon the coming into effect of the previously abolished regulation on trademarks.

The Law on the Amendment of the Decree Law Regarding the Protection of Trademarks (Law No. 5833) was enacted on 28 January 2009. According to this amendment, the trademark proprietor is now entitled to prevent a person without the right or legal grounds from using any sign which is identical to the proprietor's registered trademark in the internet environment as a domain name, router code, keyword or similar in any way that constitutes a commercial effect. Furthermore, new provisions with respect to the acts considered to be an infringement of a trademark are indicated within the Law, along with other amendments to penalties and fines.