The enactment of the Commercial Advertisements and Unfair Commercial Practices Regulation – which removes the ban on comparative advertising and includes a provision allowing the use of the goods, trademarks, trade names and services of competitors in ads – has been postponed until the end of 2016.(1)
The regulation was expected to enter into force on January 10 2016, but an amendment published in the Official Gazette on December 25 2015 deferred its enactment until December 31 2016.
The Ministry of Customs and Trade issued the new regulation, which replaced the previous 2003 regulation, at the beginning of 2015. The new regulation heralded the end of the ban on comparative advertising in Turkey. However, its entry into force has been postponed for the second time, just 16 days before it was expected to come into effect.
Comparative advertising is expected to be legal in Turkey by the end of 2016 if no further amendments are made to the regulation. Advertisers are advised to shelve their marketing plans for the comparative marketing era until 2017.
For further information on this topic please contact Gönenç Gürkaynak or Ilay Yilmaz at ELIG, Attorneys at Law by telephone (+90 212 327 17 24) or email ([email protected] or [email protected]). The ELIG, Attorneys at Law website can be accessed at www.elig.com.
Endnotes
(1) For further information please see "Comparative advertising gets green light".
This article was first published by the International Law Office, a premium online legal update service for major companies and law firms worldwide. Register for a free subscription.
