NSN Law Firm > Istanbul, Turkey > Firm Profile

NSN Law Firm Offices

NSN Law Firm
BURHANIYE MAH ATILLA SOK
NO 6 ALTUNIZADE
34676 ISTANBUL
Turkey
Visit website 90 216 321 4747 90 216 321 4767

NSN Law Firm > The Legal 500 Rankings

Turkey > Intellectual property Tier 1

NSN Law Firm provides comprehensive IP law services in both contentious and non-contentious matters, including complex regulations, licensing, technology transfers, freedom-to-operate issues and data exclusivity. The practice is experienced in conducting litigation proceedings for infringement, invalidity, unfair competition and negative clearance actions. Selma Ünlü co-heads the team and has expertise in the life sciences sector, while Bilge Derinbay is well-versed in copyright matters. Other co-heads include trademark expert, Gülay Göksu, and Simge Şahin  who represents clients from industries such as cosmetics, perfumery, food and beverage.

Practice head(s):

Selma Ünlü; Gülay Göksu Anul; Simge Şahin; Bilge Derinbay

Testimonials

‘They are commercially savvy and responsive.’

‘Selma Ünlü and Gülay Göksu Anul are committed to the client’s cases and focused on getting the best results.’

‘Responsive and straightforward advice, with clear billing and a collaborative approach – looking to work as a partner rather than a focus on billable hours.’

‘The team at NSN excel at providing advice which is pragmatic while containing the right amount of legal analysis to enable us to effectively advise our end clients, and our clients to make the best decisions concerning their trademark portfolios.’

‘Selma Ünlü inspires confidence and always makes herself available to discuss high level and urgent matters. She is always happy to join calls with us and the in-house lawyers at the client to advise directly, which helps save time and cost.’

‘The team are superb at handling TM oppositions and appeals. They are also excellent at trade-mark clearance searching and related advice.’

‘Selma Unlu is a truly exceptionally talented trade mark attorney. Selma has trained a highly capable junior partner, Simge Şahin, who is a pleasure to work with.’

Key clients

Societe De Produits Nestle SA

Borusan

Vodafone

J Barbour & Sons Ltd

Sky International AG

Work highlights

  • Supported Societe Des Produits Nestle SA through an infringement and unfair competition dispute regarding their “QUALITY STREET” trademarks.
  • Provided consultancy to Borusan Holding A.Ş. on drafting an advertising agreement with well-known actor considering the copyright and influencer marketing aspects of the relationship.

Turkey > Media and entertainment Tier 1

The advertising, media and entertainment team at NSN Law Firm provides consultancy services to a range of international clients including advertising agencies, television radio broadcasters and social media platforms. The practice provides advertisement clearance and compliance advice in addition to regulatory IT work and litigation. Active litigator, Nazli Selek, co-heads the team with Bilge Derinbay  who represents publishing companies in copyright infringement matters.

Practice head(s):

Nazli Selek; Bilge Derinbay

Testimonials

‘NSN Law Firm provides a holistic consultancy to our company in the field of advertising. They enlightened us with very fast and understandable answers during the consultancy processes.’

‘We believe that each solution they proposed is created upon a comprehensive result by examining all the possible risks that we could face. Their communication with us included trust and sincerity. At each step, they provided us with enlightening information and possible scenarios that could occur in the process.’

‘NSN makes every effort to make its client feel safe. They made a unique effort not only to solve legal problems, but also to minimize our concerns in the process.’

‘In addition, NSN is a law firm that attaches great importance to equality and diversity. The team led by Bilge Derinbay, who supports us, attaches importance to the equality, number and visibility of women lawyers. During our lawyer-client relationship process, we had the opportunity to meet many qualified female lawyers.’

‘Bilge Derinbay’s team consists of highly competent and compliant lawyers. The harmony between them creates an environment of trust for the clients. This wonderful working environment is a reflection of Bilge Derinbay’s positivity.’

‘Bilge Derinbay is a highly experienced lawyer with strong communication skills. In our client-attorney relationship, she has found solutions to our problems with a dedication beyond even her own promises. Her high communication skills and unchallengeable knowledge have given us confidence in the processes. Even though she is too busy as a partner of the law firm, she personally follows the whole business. She gives you a very detailed roadmap for every possible outcome.’

‘NSN Law Firm examines each legal case & questions in detail. They are competent and knowledgeable about the fields of law in which they practice. Besides, they provide advice on a rapid response basis.’

‘Good communication and grasp of the legal problem.’

Key clients

Beşiktaş Kultur Merkezi A.Ş. (BKM)

BKM Mutfak

Sikorski Music Publishing (A concord company)

Promo Veritas

Borusan Holdings A.Ş.

Borusan Sanat

Borusan Contemporary

Calling Mag

Borusan Otomotiv Ithalat Ve Dagitim Anonim Sirketi

A.O. Smith Incorporation

Colgate-Palmolive Temizlik Urunleri Sanayi Ve Ticaret A.Ş.

Zey Medya REK. ORG. Ins Turz Gida San Ve Tic Ltd STI

Moskitos Films

Ali Sunal

Maca Film

Big Bloom Film Yapim A.Ş.

Muud Medya Dijital Yayincilik Anonim Sirketi

Belcim Bilgin

Ezo Sunal

Yilmaz Erdogan

Kontak Film

Just Production Film Ticaret Limited Sirketi

Tolga Cevik

Demetakbag

Sabah Duru

Duru Filmcilik Sinema Ve Dis TIC. LTD. STI

Digiflame

Bloomberg LP

Work highlights

  • Provided consultancy to its long–term client Ezo Sunal regarding the NFT project to be created in memory of her father.
  • Assisted Borusan Sanat in drafting a contract to establish a co-operation with a production company to lend the artistic works of the Borusan Contemporary Art Collection for exhibition purposes under the solidarity between art institutions.
  • Advised Besiktas Kultur Merkezi A.Ş. (BKM) on production of the original Disney series “the Hunter” and the movie named as “Bursa Bülbülü” which will be broadcast on Disney +.

Turkey > Transport Tier 2

NSN Law Firm has substantive experience in resolving major collisions at sea, groundings, environmental pollutions arising out of casualties, cargo claims and salvage disputes. The team also assists with structuring of ship financing and purchase agreements relating to motorised vessels and yachts. Mehmet Nedret Ünlü focuses on maritime law, air and land transportation. He co-heads the team with Sevilay Kuru who practices maritime law and is involved in structuring standard contracts. Other co-head, Nazli Selek, is involved in handling major casualties.

Practice head(s):

Mehmet Nedret Ünlü; Sevilay Kuru; Nazlı Selek

Testimonials

‘A growing and leading law firm in Turkey which is classified among the best.’

‘Nazli Selek is professional and friendly.’

‘I have been working with NSN LAW for a long time. They have always been careful, professional, give good advice, represent our right and represent us very well. It is very important that they are always accessible and that they treat all files with the same care. They are protective and attentive like a family.’

‘Both corporate and professional with an experienced team that can go down to the level of the unit.’

‘NSN Law Office has very extensive knowledge about maritime law, with all the aspects of its implementation before courts, execution offices and relevant administrative authorities. The law office has a very pragmatic and creative approach in problem-solving, with a team that is always available to reply with complete and accurate answers to client’s queries in very short deadlines.’

‘Attorney Sevilay Kuru is the partner of the firm with a vast experience in maritime law handling various topic including general average, salvage and other maritime law related disputes, with a high level of professionalism and efficiency.’

‘They have in depth knowledge on shipping related matters and handling distressed situations. The staffs’ personal involvement and continues work is remarkable.’

‘They are hard workers with a very rebuttable name in the shipping community that is an asset in problem solving. Very ethical people with in-depth knowledge of the local and international law.’

Key clients

Standard P&I Club

Ince Shipping

Besiktas Shipping

Arifkalkavanoglullari Shipping

Akbasoglu Shipping

Statu Shipping

Omur Marine Ltd

Metropole Maritime and Trading Ltd Co

North of England P&I

British Marine Ltd

Turk P&I

GN Group Corporation

Borusan Logistics

Karinca Logistics

Work highlights

  • Represented Saba Marine Ltd. on the sale and purchase process of the private yacht MAVI.
  • Represented Mr. Trond Fredrik Solhaug on the sale and purchase process of the private yacht CUT.

Turkey > Commercial, corporate and M&A

The pharmaceutical sector is a standout strength of the commercial law practice at NSN Law Firm, which acts in the full spectrum of commercial matters, from legal consultancy to litigation.

Turkey > Compliance

NSN Law Firm has a focus on the life sciences and pharmaceutical sectors, assisting with all relevant issues of regulatory compliance therein.

NSN Law Firm > Firm Profile

The firm: NSN Law Firm was set up in 2000 by senior partners Nedret Ünlü, Sevilay Kuru and Nazlı Selek, who were mainly active in commercial, maritime and transportation litigation. In 2010, senior partner Selma Ünlü (responsible for IP and life sciences) joined the firm with her team. Since then, NSN Law Firm has become one of the largest law firms in Turkey, consisting of fourteen partners, a counsel and 38 associates.

NSN Law Firm is a well-established eminent full service law firm offering a comprehensive range of services to our clients of utmost quality, with the core strength being commercial, corporate, intellectual and industrial property, life sciences, advertising, media and entertainment, regulatory, maritime, insurance, transport, IT, telecommunications and technology law.

Located in Istanbul, NSN is also in cooperation with associate offices in İzmir, Antalya and Ankara allowing us to provide legal services throughout Turkey. Additionally, our firm enjoys long-standing relationships with law offices worldwide, enabling us to assist our clients in handling international disputes in different jurisdictions.

We always act in accordance with our core values for providing our services competently, efficiently and creatively with an international business-mind. These values are the foundation and the driving force of our success. We take pride in always aiming for the highest standards to ensure a consistently excellent service for our clients.

NSN Law Firm also conducts pro bono work. Our firm established NSN Academy which provides training to law students or junior lawyers in the area of IP law. We also have a collaboration with Beykent University Law Faculty where we regularly provide training lessons for students with respect to practice of IP Law.

Areas of practice
Transportation, maritime and admiralty: NSN Law Firm is one of the leading firms in handling all kinds of transportation issues, whether domestic or international in scope. The firm has experience resolving major causality claims, cargo claims, salvage and towage disputes, as well as yachting, shipbuilding and personal injury claims.

Commercial and corporate: We provide our clients with comprehensive legal advice and support on daily corporate secretarial work, company establishment procedures, share transfers, asset transfers, mergers and acquisitions, and sale and purchase transactions. NSN Law Firm is able to provide legal services diversifying from counseling clients on highly regulated sectors to dispute resolution. The team also has special expertise in counseling clients in covering commercial and corporate law formalities, drafting complex corporate agreements, preparation of corporate documents and representing them before administrative and judicial authorities.

Intellectual property: NSN Law Firm is a leading IP firm in Turkey, covering trademark, copyright and patent protection. The firm provides an all-in-one IP service, from investigation and registration to litigation and enforcement. One of the main distinctions among other IP firms is that our firm does not only provide legal services limited to trademark law; our firm is actively counselling in all areas of IP as well as other IP related law matters. Our firm’s IP department consists of three practice groups namely; copyright practice group; trademark and design practice group; and patent and life sciences practice group. We are also assisting clients in regulatory matters in which we have extensive experience.

Advertisement, media and entertainment: The firm provides services for advertising agencies, national telecommunication network operators, television and radio broadcasters, social network operators, online retailers, film and television producers, consumer electronics manufacturers, computer games companies and intermediary firms. NSN Law Firm represents clients holding 40% of the ticketing and box office incomes from entertainment and media business in Turkey, and houses a strong copyright enforcement team. We also represent our clients in resolving their disputes either with private sector parties or with respect to the decision taken by governmental authorities.

Life sciences: NSN Law Firm advises a number of multinational life sciences companies and prestigious associations on a wide range of matters, including licensing agreements, pricing, regulations, reimbursement regulations, marketing authorization procedures, clinical trial and observational study projects, and promotion practices. With our qualified life sciences practice group, we are following the sector very closely so that we are capable of providing a comprehensive strategy in considering legal aspects of the matter as well for our clients.

Information technologies: NSN Law Firm gives legal support to its clients in domain name disputes, data protection, online gaming and gambling, computer software, social networks and online retailers, the team has a wide range of experience in IT Law including drafting software contracts, corporate legal policies and standard operating policies for IT companies.

Employment and labor: Our firm works closely with the human resources departments of our clients and delivers clear, practical and results-oriented legal advice on all aspects of employment and labor law including, but not limited to, the legal compliance issues, contract drafting, preparation and implementation of workplace regulations, management and follow-up of work permit processes for the foreign personnel, organization and restructuring of employment standards for eliminating deficiencies and avoiding misconduct during employment practices.

Dispute resolution: NSN Law Firm’s strong litigation team works across all practice areas, and its expertise is accredited by both national and international clients. The firm is actively involved in litigation, arbitration and mediation on shipping, transport and aviation corporate and commercial, employment and labor issues, as well as the enforcement of foreign arbitration awards and IP litigation.

Main Contacts

Department Name Email Telephone
Shipping, Transportation, Aviation Nazli Selek
Shipping, Transportation, Aviation Sevilay Kuru
Intellectual Property Selma Ünlü
Intellectual Property Gülay Göksu
Intellectual Property Simge Şahin
Media and Entertainment Nazli Selek
Media and Entertainment Bilge Derinbay
Information Technologies/Telecommunications Nazli Selek
Information Technologies/Telecommunications Bilge Derinbay
Commercial and Corporate Şebnem Işık
Commercial and Corporate Bilge Derinbay
Dispute Resolution Mehmet Nedret Ünlü
Dispute Resolution Erdal Gökçe
Pharmaceuticals and Life Sciences Selma Ünlü
Pharmaceuticals and Life Sciences Aylin Aydoğmuş
Insurance Mehmet Nedret Ünlü
Insurance Erdal Gökçe
Labor Mehmet Nedret Ünlü
Labor Erdal Gökçe
Product Liability and Consumer Protection Selma Ünlü
Product Liability and Consumer Protection Bilge Derinbay
Anti-Corruption Compliance Selma Ünlü

Staff Figures

Number of Lawyers : 45
Woman Lawyer Rate : 72%
Woman Partner Rate : 82%

Languages

English
French
German

Memberships

Istanbul Bar Association
International Bar Association
WISTA
Turkish Maritime Law Association
Union IP
MARQUES
ECTA
PTMG
INTA - International Trademark Association
AIPPI (Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property)
Chartered Institute of Trade Mark Attorneys (CITMA)
Transparency International Turkey
MIP
MLI
ITechLaw
Adlaw

Other

Other Office : Ankara

Diversity/Community


Integrity

NSN Law Firm is a family with more than 30 members who have different backgrounds representing assorted life styles, preferences, ethnicities and identities from every corner of Turkey. Every member with its unique life experiences makes a great contribution to our corporal culture with their sincerity and intense willingness. This colored integrity is the main explanation of how NSN provides the best domestic and international legal services each and every day.

Care for Environment

NSN Family believes that the most essential care should be given to nature  to provide a bright future for the humankind. We carry out various projects with non-governmental organizations in order to reduce the negative effects of human settlements to the species in nature and protect the diversity balance in the planet earth as well as each of us putting the best effort to maintain and develop the environmental circumstances to get better every day.

Strong Women, Confident Services

NSN Law Firm believes gender equality from its heart, thus we have been working for years to create a business model in Turkey encouraging women to have an equal position in every level of business life. We also believe that every change begins with self and in accordance with this philosophy, we are one of the large corporal law firms in Turkey having its majority of management and employment among women. NSN Family is very pleased to be a symbol for gender equality and strong women in business life by successful and great services these women provide.

Client testimonials


CLIENT: Attn. Berrin YURDAKUL
COMPANY/FIRM: BORUSAN HOLDİNG A.Ş.
TESTIMONIAL: NSN Law Firm has been providing legal services to our firm Borusan Holding A.Ş. for years in our daily commercial issues and matters with regards to copyrights and intellectual property rights. Working with NSN has always been a pleasure for our company as we trust their knowledge on Media & Entertainment sector and experience on every aspects of Copyright Law. Also, they have comprehensive knowledge on the promotion mechanisms and advertising regulations. Whenever we consult to NSN Law Firm, they have presented the best legal option for each case through their solution oriented approach. Also, their team is always punctual and easy to connect with.

CLIENT: Attn. Canan Arslan Girsault
COMPANY/FIRM: GENSENTA İLAÇ SANAYİ VE TİCARET ANONİM ŞİRKETİ
TESTIMONIAL: NSN Law Firm is giving legal services to Gensenta for long and we believe NSN is one of the most qualified law firms in Turkey. Considering the special and complicated nature of the business of the pharmaceutical sector, NSN professionally handles drafting and negotiating our complex contracts and providing detailed legal advice on pharmaceutical regulations. We are pleased to be working with NSN since their standard of services consistently satisfies and demonstrates their capacity in every kind of dispute that a business would face. NSN is one of the major ‘guidance’ of our firm which enables us trading in the pharmaceutical sector safely with a holistic perspective.

CLIENT: Attn. Ümit ÇAKIR
COMPANY/FIRM: SANDOZ İLAÇ SAN. VE TİC. A.Ş.
TESTIMONIAL: Having close relationship with NSN Law Firm, we believe that the NSN’s professionals give us the best legal service in Turkey. NSN is always ready to demonstrate their skills in handling regulatory compliance disputes in pharmaceuticals, medical devices, dietary supplements and foods. We appreciate their legal opinions based on their extensive knowledge on regulations of Ministry of Health and their strong connections in Ankara. They are well versed in giving promotion and advertising clearance before the publication and also creating solutions for promotion and advertising problems issued before the administrative authorities. They confidentially operate the contractual negotiations and provide the required legal protection for Sandoz. Also, NSN provides a consultancy service to Sandoz by conducting both prosecution and litigation processes related to our firm’s IP portfolios.

CLIENT: Can YAYLALI
COMPANY/FIRM: BESTWAY GLOBAL HOLDING INC.
TESTIMONIAL: Bestway has been consulting by NSN Law Firm for couple of years. NSN has successfully found a legal way to solve our problems with their both international perspective of business operating and full knowledge on the local regulations. They have been offering consultancy that provides best solution to customs and other commercial issues of our company excellently. Besides, we are impressed by their experience with administrative bodies and connections in The Ministry of Customs and Trade.

CLIENT: Aslı Üzel
COMPANY/FIRM: ALTRA OPTİK SANAYİ VE TİCARET ANONİM ŞİRKETİ
TESTIMONIAL: NSN Law Firm has been providing transparent, professional and high-quality service for years when it is required by Altra Optik for our every kind of legal matters. The competent lawyers of NSN reviews and negotiate our contracts, render consultancy on our daily commercial, corporal and employment issues. Also they provide litigation services when it is needed such as defencing Altra Optik in life sciences related product liability lawsuits. Their team is exceptional in product liability defencing with their experience, strategy skills and unique point of view. We are very glad to work with them as they are easy to communicate with. It is possible to contact the team whenever an urgent matter appears and they procure the solutions as promptly as practicable.

CLIENT: Efrat Eldan Schechter
COMPANY/FIRM: SHAMIR OPTICAL INDUSTRY LTD.
TESTIMONIAL: NSN Law Firm provides legal services to Shamir Optical Industry Ltd. for our operations in Turkey. In appearance of any legal need, NSN has demonstrated great efforts and they have always been punctual and disciplined. We consult them for our legal matters regarding local regulations in commercial and corporate law, labor law and product liability law. They assist us in relation to our corporate matters by considering our large organization covering multiple jurisdictions. We trust their work since their team is very well at combining their experience in business law in Turkey with their know-how in the local medical device sector and regulations.

CLIENT: Ender Uslu
COMPANY/FIRM: INFRONT SPORTİF PAZARLAMA ANONİM ŞİRKETİ
TESTIMONIAL: Infront Turkey receives legal services from NSN Law Firm from the very first day of our operations in Turkey as they assisted us during our incorporation and are still doing so in relation to our daily corporate matters. NSN strongly supports us with their entertainment and advertisement law expertise. NSN is very experienced in contracts of the entertainment sector as they regularly negotiate very crucial and complex agreements for our commercial operations in sports marketing industry.

Interviews

Bilge Derinbay, Partner

Partner Bilge Derinbay describes the firm’s current vision and core values by touching the effects of the technological developments on legal services sector.

What do you see as the main points that differentiate NSN LAW Firm from your competitors?

Beyond a doubt, our ability to seize the client’s needs considering the business objectives and incentives. By the virtue of our business oriented mind, we constantly conduct industry analyses and evaluate new trends and developments as per our clients’ business activities, including monitoring the legal aspects of commercial operations. The legal advice we provide is not a solely concerning with outlining the potential legal options available, but also encompassing practical evaluations and resolutions that are tailored to the sector specific, easily comprehensible, and aim to share the risk involved.

We attach a great importance to consult with a team-based approach. In this way, the lawyers with a different seniority are assigned to a given task and the delegation of responsibilities is promptly determined by our legal professionals, each of whom possesses expertise in their respective fields. This operational principle empowers us to take a multi-faceted approach towards the tasks understanding from various angle. While a partner is involved in the process of preparing any kind of legal advice to a client, we take necessary management actions to provide a cost-effective service with our efficient time management skills.

I am also proud to say that NSN attaches great importance to supports development of the lawyers, leading them to work in a healthy and productive environment. In particular, NSN paves the way for an academic development of its qualified lawyers throughout their working life.

Which practices do you see growing in the next 12 months? What are the drivers behind that?

Developments in technology, which have an impact on the legal domain, compel us to keep pace with these developments and even lead the way in certain instances. Thus, we see that fields such as artificial intelligence, information technology, blockchain, e-commerce and so on are changing rapidly and revealing radical regulations with endless discussions. As a matter of fact, technological developments lead to the expansion of areas within the law, and even the creation of new areas of law.

I personally predict that the use of artificial intelligence would cause increasing of the violations by the ease of copyright infringement facilitated by advancing technology. For instance, the widespread use of artificial intelligence systems such as ChatGPT is bringing with many discussions and unclear areas in legal regulations. For another example, due to the unique character of blockchain system, the infringers cannot be identified for the anonymous NFTs. I would also say that the Product Liability conflicts between the artificial intelligence and consumers are still a grey area due to the difficulty to determine a ‘liable person’.

Additionally, considering the tendency of the companies and the conjuncture in the world on sustainability will also lead to an increase in studies in the legal area. Within this scope, new regulations may be introduced to companies or legislation may emerge to protect the environment. Also, it would not be surprising to discover new regulations in the rapidly growing E-Commerce sector.

What’s the main change you’ve made in the firm that will benefit clients?

We have carried into effect a proactive remote working model, which enables us to promptly organize meetings with our clients who are located overseas and effectively handle our international projects.

We have established an automatic information system to notify our clients legal and sectoral developments collected from administrative authorities’ publications, decisions and Official Gazette notifications. Through these materials, we strive to prevent information overload and categorize pertinent data based on the working areas of our clients. Furthermore, we frequently organize in-house presentations on various legal fields and support their participation in academic webinars and seminars.

We believe that accessing to quality legal services should be accessible to all members of society. In this regard, we have significantly increased our pro bono cases. We strive to contribute to social solidarity, especially in the aftermath of the earthquake, by providing assistance by pro bono cases.

Is technology changing the way you interact with your clients, and the services you can provide them?

Since technology allows us to communicate quickly, we have developed ways to communicate effectively with our clients. Within this scope, we now digitize and transmit the materials we send to our clients, so that they are accessible at any time. As a result, the number of followers of our industry reports is increasing day by day.

Can you give us a practical example of how you have helped a client to add value to their business?

We provided legal support to a globally known social network provider in Turkey. Situations where global social media platforms seek opinions can present challenging processes, encompassing areas such as data protection, advertising law, copyright, crypto assets, and other disciplines. Thanks to the specialized expertise of the lawyers in our team, we could provide support to global social media platforms by efficiently and expeditiously organizing solutions, even across different fields. There were also projects requires meeting with the bureaucrats in the government authorities while adhering to confidentiality requirements regarding our clients’ projects, and work towards achieving a consensus between these authorities and the client.
During the pandemic period, we provided end-to-end support for a global healthcare company’s commercial procedures related to the Covid-19 treatment. By virtue of focusing on creating a fast and accurate solution to the urgent needs of the client, I was not only a legal representative, but also have an administrative role in a specific part of the corporation. We immediately organized under the pressure of public health concern by providing the services from company establishment in order to enter into the Turkish market to employment and data protection procedures.

Are clients looking for stability and strategic direction from their law firms – where do you see the firm in three years’ time?

I believe that the clients expectation from the firm is taking an ownership and carry out their work as if the firm was a part of their own team. By taking this consciousness, we are dedicated to provide our clients direct solutions on how to resolve unclear situations and conflicts, rather than just presenting legal opinions explaining the concrete situation. Our goal is to make accurate and up-to-date assessments in the sectors our clients operate in, so that we can help them gain a competitive advantage over other firms. We believe that our clients want to see the law firms they work with as a comfort zone. For this reason, we believe that trust and open communication are very important in our dealings with our clients.

We are committed to expand our services and add new departments to our firm by the result of development of the technology. I personally assume that while new legal areas are currently conducted by collective departments, it will require establishment of new departments focusing on a settled legal fields. Also, by virtue of increasing remote working system, we will rapidly expand our client network with our lawyers located in different cities in Turkey or abroad.

Press Releases

PHARMA & BIOTECH PATENT LITIGATION IN EUROPE

12th May 2023 Our senior partner Selma Unlu participated in the virtual conference PHARMA & BIOTECH PATENT LITIGATION IN EUROPE as a speaker.

Our partner Bilge Derinbay has participated in the virtual conference #TPN2022 as a speaker on March 9-10

12th May 2023 Our partner Bilge Derinbay was delighted to speak at the virtual conference #TPN2022 on March 9-10, 2022!

The Regulation on Digital Banking and Banking as a Service (BaaS) is Published

12th May 2023 The Regulation on Operating Principles of Digital Banks and Banking as a Service (“Regulation”) was published in the Official Gazette dated 29.12.2021 numbered 31704 and became effective as of 01.01.2022.

How do NFTs work under Turkish Copyright Law? 17.05.2022

12th May 2023 As we addressed in a previous article, Non-Fungible Tokens (“NFTs”) are unique assets that have emerged following the rapid development of digitalization and they have attracted the world’s attention,

Termination of the Employment by Getting WhatsApp Correspondence is a Violation of Private Life

12th May 2023 With the decision (“Decision”) published by the Turkish Constitutional Court on 11.02.2022, it was ruled that the employer's termination of the employee's employment contract on the grounds of WhatsApp correspondence has violated the employee's "Right to Freedom of Communication” and “Respect for Private Life".

Legislative Proposal for Social Media Complaints and Cyber Crimes

12th May 2023 The legislative proposal dated February 02, 2022 which envisages amendments to the Turkish Penal Code (“TPC”) and the Code No. 5651 on Regulation of Broadcasts via Internet and Prevention of Crimes Committed through Such Broadcast was published on the website of the Turkish Grand National Assembly (“TBMM”).

The Decision of the Constitutional Court on Shift Tracking with Fingerprint Recording System

12th May 2023 With the decision (“Decision”) dated 10.03.2022 and application numbered 2018/11988, published in the Official Gazette dated 19.04.2022 and numbered 31814, in the case of the employee is tracked by using the fingerprint recording system, the Turkish Constitutional Court has evaluated whether the use of fingerprint complies with legal regulations and has reached a conclusion that the right to request the protection of personal data within the scope of respect for private life, which is guaranteed in Article 20 of the Turkish Constitution, has been violated.

The Decision of the Constitutional Court on Overtime Pay and the Right to Property

12th May 2023 With the Decision (“Decision”) dated 22.02.2022 and application numbered 2019/1450, published in the Official Gazette dated 05.04.2022 and numbered 31800, in the case of non-payment of overtime pay of an employee, the Turkish Constitutional Court has reached a conclusion according to whether the overtime has been worked in accordance with the legal regulations, that the right to property has been violated.

New Era // Digital Markets Act:

12th May 2023

What is it and what will happen for Big Tech?

The draft of a new Digital Markets Act has been proposed to European Parliament and Council on 15.12.2020. Although it is not yet published in the Official Journal of European Parliament, Parliament and Council negotiators agreed new EU rules to limit the market power of big online platforms on 24.03.2022 after a session that has lasted 8 hours. After the legal text is finalized at technical level and checked by lawyer-linguists, it will need to be approved by both Parliament and Council. Once this process is completed, it will come into force 20 days after its publication in the EU Official Journal and the rules will apply six months after. However, it is already understood that we are facing new legislation that will directly affect the activities of the BTO’s in the IT sector. It seems that the platforms defined as “Gatekeepers” will require a special and intense piece of legal counselling in order to properly understand the scope of the DMA and fully comply with it. Therefore, it will be both hard to be understood by the reader and will probably remain a futile effort to attempt to analyses such a complex issue comprehensively in a single article. Instead, we will try to summarize the very essence of the DMA by explaining the concerns with which the European Parliament carries out such legislation, and we will try to explain some of the changes that will be experienced in the lives of corporate or end-users by this law.

What Does European Parliament Try to Accomplish with the DMA?

In the introductory section of the draft submitted to the European Parliament titled "Explanatory Memorandum", the substantial development of online platforms in recent years has been explained. According to the statistics of 2019, Digital Economy’s share in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in European Countries is estimated at 4.5% to 15,5% with a growing trend. In this huge economy, one of the key roles is played in where the corporate user and the end consumer meet, “the Gates”, as the DMA puts it, and the platforms (Facebook, Youtube, Instagram, etc.) that hold those gates. The European Parliament defined the platforms that meet certain conditions in terms of the number of users and economic capacity as "Gatekeepers" and prepared the proposal in discussion with the intention to limit their activities to the point that does not harm the parties of the commercial relationship that takes place on those gates. As a matter of fact, the parliament openly expresses its opinion in the memo that these powerful platforms make corporate users dependent on them and sometimes expose them to malicious actions through their solid position and huge influence in digital markets. Furthermore, it is also mentioned that these unfair practices and lack of competition have consequences to the detriment of European population by ultimately reducing service quality, raising prices and reducing options. That's why the Parliament tries to prevent the unfair activities of the Gatekeepers by imposing certain obligations and sanctions in addition to the unfair competition practices in effect.

Who is Called a “Gatekeeper”?

The DMA specifies the fields in which the platforms, which will be discussed whether to be defined as Gatekeeper or not within the scope of the law, should operate. According to the European Parliament, platforms that provide (i) online intermediation services (incl. for example marketplaces, app stores and online intermediation services in other sectors like mobility, transport or energy) (ii) online search engines, (iii) social networking (iv) video-sharing platform services, (v) number independent interpersonal electronic communication services, (vi) operating systems, (vii) cloud services and (viii) advertising services, including advertising networks, advertising exchanges and any other advertising intermediation services, where these advertising services are being related to one or more of the other core platform services can be defined as Gatekeeper. According to DMA, a platform operating in these areas must also meet many other conditions in various categories in order to be defined as "Gatekeeper". In the definition of a Gatekeeper made by the DMA, three elements are sorted: (1) it must have a significant influence in the domestic market (influence factor), (2) it must operates a core platform service which serves as an important gateway for business users to reach end-users (gateway factor), and (3) it must enjoy an entrenched and durable position in its operations or it is foreseeable that it will enjoy such a position in the near future (permanence factor). So, how will it be understood whether these elements are provided or not? According to the European Parliament, for a platform to qualify as a Gatekeeper, it must operate in at least three member states, have an annual turnover of 6.5 million Euros in the last three years, or have a total market value of 65 billion Euros. In addition to these financial conditions, it is determined that the platform will be called "Gatekeeper" if the platform reaches 45 million monthly active end consumers or more than 10 thousand corporate users operating in the European Union in the last financial year. The European Parliament requires platforms that meet the conditions mentioned above to notify the European Parliament of their situation within 3 months. Even if the platforms do not notify the commission despite meeting the relevant conditions, they still can be classified as a "Gatekeeper" by the commission after through an ex officio investigation. In any case, it will be periodically examined in every 2 years whether the platform still meets the conditions after once they are defined as Gatekeepers.

Some Obligations Introduced to Protect End and Corporate Users from Gatekeepers:

Certain obligations brought to Gatekeepers are regulated in the 5th and 6th Articles of the DMA. For those Gatekeepers who do not comply and fulfill related obligations, The European Parliament has also imposed a number of sanctions, such as penalty fines up to 10% of its annual turnover. As an example to it; Gatekeeper shall refrain from combining personal data sourced from these core platform services with personal data from any other services offered by the gatekeeper or with personal data from third-party services, and from signing in end-users to other services of the gatekeeper in order to combine personal data. For example, an holding that owns different social media platforms cannot transfer information about the user's shopping interests between these channels in order to bring a related advertisement or promotion on the other platform as well. In another paragraph of the article, it is also banned that corporate or end-users cannot be forced to sign in or log in to another platform in order to benefit from a core platform service. Another remarkable regulation is that the gatekeeper shall allow business users to promote offers to end-users acquired via the core platform service, and to conclude contracts with these end-users regardless of whether for that purpose they use the core platform services of the gatekeeper or not, and allow end-users to access and use, through the core platform services of the gatekeeper, content, subscriptions, features or other items by using the software application of a business user, where these items have been acquired by the end-users from the relevant business user without using the core platform services of the gatekeeper. Platforms described as Gatekeeper have been imposed a number of obligations other than those listed above. E.g; Gatekeepers cannot prevent or restrict business users from raising issues with any relevant public authority relating to any practice of gatekeepers or, a gatekeeper cannot use the confidential information of the end-user obtained via activities of the business user in order to compete with the business user on his own behalf or, the corporate or end-user's switching to another software while using any software cannot be prevented by technical measures.

Conclusion:

As in every period of history, technological developments make it much easier to carry out economic activities today. Currently, delivering a good or service to the final consumer requires much fewer logistics, technical and economic resources than previous. Therefore, the market becomes more competitive, the costs decrease and attempts to disrupt natural consumer behavior and choices are more challenging to implement. Goods or service providers are quickly rewarded or punished by consumers in accordance with the quality or price of the service they provide or their approach to the consumer. Therefore, a fairer trade is made possible as a result. Concordantly to the developing opportunities, new unfair practices that the usual scope of protection of competition law has difficulty in responding to is also flourishing and developing. In this respect, the European Parliament has taken a significant step in the field of law to protect the European community from these new unfair practices. We will keep following the developments excitedly on whether this step will be embraced by the member states or the big-time operators, similar legislations will come into power in our country, and mostly, how the law will keep marching with the time.
To see our other articles, you may follow the NSN Bulletin via the link.
Authors: Bilge Derinbay, Hande Ülker Pehlivan, Metin Sezgin Contact: bilge.derinbay@nsn-law.com

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