Türkiye: a comprehensive guide to patent protection

In summary

This article offers a detailed overview of the patent prosecution process under Turkish Industrial Property Law. It provides key insights into the patent process in Türkiye, covering various procedural aspects, including filing options and the different types of applications available. The article also touches on critical strategies and practices, ending with a section on Freedom to Operate Search. While it does not delve into every facet of Türkiye’s intellectual property system, it aims to provide a thorough understanding of its foundational elements, helping applicants navigate the process of securing patent protection effectively.

Discussion points

Eligibility criteria in Türkiye
Search and examination processes
Ways of expediting the search and examination processes
Ways of getting patent/utility model protection in Türkiye
Maintenance information and remedies
FTO search

Referenced in this article

Patentability criteria in Türkiye

In Türkiye, the criteria for patentability are based on the three elements of novelty, inventive step and industrial applicability. These criteria are defined under articles 82 and 83 of the Turkish Industrial Property Law No. 6769 (IPL): https://www.wipo.int/wipolex/en/legislation/details/16609

Exceptions to patentability

The entities listed below will not be considered as inventions. If the application for a patent or the patent itself are involved in the subjects or activities mentioned below, the subject or activity itself will not be patentable:

discoveries, scientific theories and mathematical methods;
mental acts, business activities or game related plans, rules and methods;
computer programs;
products with aesthetical creations, belles-lettres, artworks and treatise; and
presentation of the information.

The following inventions will not be granted a patent:

inventions violating public order or morality;
microbiological processes or products obtained as the result of such processes;
treatment modalities;
discoveries related to the human body; and
human cloning processes.

Another form of protection in Türkiye is the utility model, which grants protection for a period of 10 years from the date of application. The following subjects cannot be protected by a utility model:

inventions related to chemical and biological substances or chemical and biological methods or products obtained through these methods;
inventions related to pharmaceutical-related substances or pharmaceutical-related methods or products obtained through these methods; and
biotechnological inventions or inventions relating to products obtained through these methods.

Grace period and non-affecting disclosures in Türkiye

Although there is no specific regulation under the term ‘grace period’ in Türkiye, disclosures made by the inventor within 12 months before the filing date or, if a priority right is claimed, within 12 months before the priority date, will not affect the grant of a patent or utility model if the disclosure occurs under the following conditions:

it is made by the inventor;
it is made by an authority to which a patent application has been submitted; and
it is made by a third party who has obtained the information directly or indirectly from the inventor.

The 12-month period refers to the time between the disclosure made by the inventor or with their permission and the filing date of the patent application. This period is distinct from disclosures made by third parties without permission and starts from the date of disclosures made by the inventor or with their consent.

Formal examination process

A formal examination is carried out for patent or utility model applications submitted to the TÜRKPATENT, where the application elements are either complete or have been completed. Should any deficiencies be identified during the formal examination, the applicant will be notified and given an opportunity to address these deficiencies. A period of two months from the date of notification is provided for the applicant to rectify the issues. Failure to resolve the deficiencies within the stipulated timeframe, or if the corrections are not accepted by the TÜRKPATENT, will result in the rejection of the application.

Novelty search process

Following a formal examination, the next stage is the novelty search process. The legal deadlines for submitting a novelty search request to TÜRKPATENT differ for patent and utility model applications. For patent applications, the search request must be submitted within 12 months from the application date, either together with the application or without any need for further notification. For utility model applications, the search request must be submitted within two months from the notification that the application is compliant with formal requirements or that deficiencies have been remedied within the prescribed period, either together with the application or without the need for additional notification.

Expedited search request

The option for requesting an expedited search report was introduced in April 2024 in Türkiye. A request for the preparation of an expedited search report may be made either with the search report request or later. Upon such a request, the search report will be issued within no later than six months from the date of the request for patent applications with no formal deficiencies, or from the date the deficiencies are remedied in applications with formal deficiencies.

While the preparation of search reports following a standard search request generally takes nearly a year or more, with an expedited search request the search report can be received in a significantly shorter time, for example, around two months.

If the decision is made to proceed with the patent application after the search report has been issued, the applicant must request the preparation of the examination report within three months from the notification of the search report.

For utility model applications, the applicant may file an objection to the content of the search report, along with the relevant documents, within three months from the publication of the search report. Third parties may also submit their opinions during this period.

Examination process

The examination stage is the process in which it is determined whether the invention described in the application is patentable. During this stage, the invention is assessed against the patentability criteria (ie, novelty, inventive step and industrial applicability).

If the examination result is negative – meaning that the claims do not meet the patentability requirements in whole or in part, or if there are deficiencies – the applicant is requested to respond to the notification within three months from the date of notification. The number of such notifications cannot exceed three. Failure to respond to the notifications or to make the required amendments will be considered as a withdrawal of the application.

If, after notifications have been issued and responded to, it is determined that the application and the invention still do not comply with the provisions of the Turkish patent law, an examination report explaining the reasons for the refusal will be prepared. The application will be rejected, and the decision will be communicated to the applicant and published in the bulletin.

Patent Prosecution Highway

A way of expediting the examination process is the Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) programme. PPH speeds up the examination process for corresponding applications filed in participating intellectual property offices on the basis of bilateral office agreements.

The PPH is a framework in which an application whose claims have been determined to be patentable in the Office of First Filing (OFF) is eligible to go through an accelerated examination in the Office of Second Filing (OSF) with a simple procedure upon an applicant’s request.

TÜRKPATENT’s bilateral agreements

TÜRKPATENT has bilateral PPH pilot programmes with the countries listed in the table below, where guidelines for PPH request procedures and forms are also available:

	Guidelines for PPH request procedures and forms (TÜRKPATENT)	Guidelines for PPH request procedures and forms (other offices)	PPH effective from date
Spanish Patent and Trademark Office (SPTO)	SPTO to TÜRKPATENT PPH guidelines	TÜRKPATENT to SPTO PPH guidelines	15 January 2017
Spanish Patent and Trademark Office (SPTO)	SPTO to TÜRKPATENT PPH request form	TÜRKPATENT to SPTO PPH request form	15 January 2017
Japan Patent Office (JPO)	JPO to TURKPATENT PPH guidelines	TÜRKPATENT to JPO PPH guidelines	1 June 2018
Japan Patent Office (JPO)	JTO to TÜRKPATENT PPH request form	TÜRKPATENT to JPO PPH request form	1 June 2018

The guidelines and forms for PPH request procedures can be accessed through the following link: https://www.turkpatent.gov.tr/en/patent-and-utility-model

TÜRKPATENT as an International Searching Authority

Türkiye is recognised as an International Searching Authority (ISA) by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). This means that Türkiye has the authority to conduct searches for international patent applications under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT).

As an ISA, TÜRKPATENT can perform technical and legal assessments of PCT applications, evaluating criteria such as novelty, inventive step and industrial applicability. This enhances Türkiye’s capacity to contribute to international patent processes and provides more opportunities for Turkish inventors and entrepreneurs in the global market.

As an affiliated organisation, TÜRKPATENT continues its efforts to enhance the industrial property capacity of Türkiye, while simultaneously gaining the competence to provide services at an international level. Since 2017, TÜRKPATENT has been operating as one of the 24 international search and examination authorities under the auspices of WIPO. In this context, as mentioned in the World Intellectual Property Indicators 2023 report, in 2022 TÜRKPATENT ranked among the top 10 institutions globally by issuing 1,463 international search reports.

National filing

National filing in Türkiye refers to the process of submitting patent applications directly to TÜRKPATENT. This process is governed by the Turkish Industrial Property Law and is designed for inventors and companies seeking protection for their inventions within Türkiye.

Key aspects of national filing in Türkiye include:

application submission;
examination process;
publication;
granting of patent; and
rights and enforcement.

Türkiye is a party to the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, which enhances the alignment of its intellectual property system with international standards.

A priority national application can be submitted in Türkiye by utilising the priority right of a patent or utility model application filed in a country that is a member of the Paris Convention and the WTO. In this case, the priority document must be submitted to TÜRKPATENT within three months from the application date.

PCT national phase

To enter the national phase in Türkiye through PCT, the applicant must file the PCT application with TÜRKPATENT within 30 months from the priority date. It is also possible to file a PCT national phase application in Türkiye within the 33rd month, subject to an additional cost.

For a PCT national phase application in Türkiye, the set of documents provided to the TÜRKPATENT may be submitted in Turkish or in the official language of countries that are parties to the Paris Convention or the World Trade Organization Agreement, or in the official language of countries that apply the principle of reciprocity. However, the Turkish translation of the set of documents must be submitted to TÜRKPATENT within two months from the date of the PCT national phase application.

European Patent validations

The main advantage of the European Patent Convention (EPC) is that it allows patent rights to be obtained in any one or more of the EPC contracting states by making a single European patent application to the European Patent Office. Currently there are 39 contracting states of EPC, one of which is Türkiye.

After publication of the grant of a European Patent (EP), the patent must be validated in each of the designated states within three months to retain its protective effect and be enforceable against infringers. For validation in Türkiye, the three-month period is valid and non-extendable. Re-establishment of rights cannot be applied for the missed due date. Other requirements for filing EP validation in Türkiye are explained below.

Applicants without residence or principal place of business in Türkiye must appoint an agent, a registered Turkish patent attorney. However, filing a power of attorney is not compulsory.

A full translation of the specification, claims, drawings and sequence listing (if any) into Turkish must be filed with the validation request. For filing the translation an extension of three months is available with payment of the official fee. Translations make up most of the work for the EP validations. The translation that is filed is regarded as the authentic text for determining infringement by a third party, if the text of the translation of the patent that is filed is narrower in scope than the text of the patent in the language of proceedings before the EPO. It is therefore important to use high-quality translations when filing national validation requests.

After filing of a successful validation, TÜRKPATENT publishes the EP validation in the bulletin and the patent is protected in Türkiye as a Turkish national patent as long as the annuities are paid.

Annuities

The annual fees required for the patent application or the protection of the patent must be paid in advance every year throughout the patent protection period, starting from the third year from the application date. The due date is the month and day corresponding to the application date.

If the annual fees are not paid within the specified period, they may be paid together with an additional fee within six months following the due date. If the annual fees are not paid within this period, the patent right expires as of the due date of the fee and a notification is made regarding the expiry of the patent right and published in the bulletin. If the compensation fee is paid within two months from the date of notification regarding the expiration of the patent right, the patent right becomes valid again as of the payment date and is published in the bulletin. The notification regarding the expiration of the patent right is made until the end of the one-year period starting from the due date of the patent right at the latest.

Use/non-use of patents and compulsory licence

Per Law No. 6769, the patent owner is obliged to use the patent in three consecutive years as of the publication of the grant of the patent in the Official Patents Bulletin or four years from the patent application date. The date that ends later will be applied. The same applies to cases where no use of a patent has been made for more than three years without a justified reason.

If the owner of the patent is using the invention, then the owner must only submit a form including usage statement. At this stage, there is no need to submit all evidence to show usage in Türkiye.

If the owner of the patent cannot use the invention, then the owner must submit the legal excuse for non-use.

If the owner of the patent does not use the invention or has a legal excuse for non-use, then the owner should file a licence offer.

There may be cases when the market conditions will be taken into consideration in the assessment of use. If the patent owner cannot use the patent in the Turkish market due to technical, economical or administrative reasons such as authorisation, standardisation and research and development processes lasting for more than three years, then claimed inability may be accepted as a legitimate excuse in the competent courts initiating future court cases.

As mentioned above, the owner of the patent who does not use the patent and does not have a legal excuse may apply to TÜRKPATENT and submit a licence offer for the patent to any interested third party.

In the absence of submission of the declaration of use, non-use or licence offer within the prescribed time, the patent becomes vulnerable against compulsory licence requests before the competent court. Patents that have not been used within this period will be published in the official bulletin.

Since a declaration of use/non-use may only be used as an indication of the intention to use/non-use the invention, the applicant needs to prove usage in Türkiye against a request for a compulsory licence before the court.

The presence of the declaration of use in the records of TÜRKPATENT could be very useful to deter third parties from filing a legal action.

Further processing

According to article 107(1) of the IPL, an applicant who does not comply with the timeframes of the processes of patent application can request, on payment of a fee, for the processes to be continued within two months as of the date of the notification of outcome of non-compliance. Failing this will lead to refusal of the request. If the request is approved, the legal consequences of non-compliance with the timeframe will be discarded.

However, there are some exceptions to this remedy that are listed in the related article of the IPL.

Re-establishment of rights

One of the novelties put into force for patents in Türkiye together with the IPL is the re-establishment of rights. Re-establishment of rights is a process that may be requested for maintenance and protection of patent rights when:

failure in compliance with a timing condition leads to rejection of a patent registration application;
the patent application is deemed withdrawn;
the patent is invalidated upon and as per third-party oppositions; or
any other loss of right.

Ultimate attention is paid as required by circumstances in the course of patent proceedings, pursuant to article 107(2) of the IPL.

According to article 107(2) of the IPL, a request is required to be filed, together with payment of the fee, within two months after disappearance of the cause of failure in compliance with the timing condition, up to a maximum of one year following the end of the breached period; otherwise the request is rejected. If the request is accepted, the legal consequences of non-compliance with the time limit will be deemed not to have occurred.

Freedom to operate searches in Türkiye

In Türkiye, a freedom to operate (FTO) search involves reviewing granted patents and pending applications published by the TÜRKPATENT, as well as relevant international patents that could have an impact within the Turkish jurisdiction, particularly those filed through the European Patent Convention (EPC) or Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) designating Türkiye.

AI-Related Inventions in Türkiye

TÜRKPATENT allows for the protection of AI-related inventions, provided they meet the general patentability requirements – novelty, inventive step and industrial applicability.

Like many jurisdictions, Türkiye follows the guidelines laid out by EPC patent frameworks, meaning that abstract ideas, mathematical methods, or algorithms as such are not patentable. However, if an AI invention provides a ‘technical solution’ to a specific problem or involves a technical effect beyond just performing a calculation or processing data, it can be patented. This could include AI inventions related to image recognition, autonomous systems or optimisation processes applied in industrial sectors.

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