Frequently Asked Questions

TURKEY has been a signatory of the PARIS CONVENTION, (1934) London Text until the decision of the Council of Ministers dated July 29, 1994 and published in the Official Gazette of September 23, 1994 with which TURKEY has become a signatory of the (1967) Stockholm Text which fully applies with effect as from February 1, 1995. Therefore, the priority term of 12 months applies for patents and utility models.
TURKEY has become a signatory and party to the PATENT COOPERATION TREATY on July 7, 1995 as signed in Washington on June 19, 1970 and as amended on October 2, 1979 and on February 3, 1984. PCT has started being applied for Turkey as from January 1, 1996.

TURKEY also has become a signatory of the Budapest Treaty on the International Recognition of the Deposit of Microorganisms as of August 22, 1997.
As from the publication on January 29, 2000 in the Official Gazette of the Law No. 4504 dated January 27, 2000 TURKEY has become a signatory and party to the European Patent Convention.
TURKEY being presently a signatory of GATT, the provisions of the TRIPS AGREEMENT apply to this country.
Turkey has availed itself to Articles 65 and 70/8 of the GATT/TRIPS Agreement in that under Transitional Article 4 of the Decree-Law No. 551, patent protection in respect of inventions pertaining to pharmaceutical and veterinary products per se and their process of manufacturing has effect as from January 1, 1999. However, Turkey has started accepting since January 1995 the filing of such black-box applications which were prosecuted along similar procedural phases applying to other applications for patent filed in this country. The only difference being that all such black-box applications having reached the stage of grant were upheld until January 1, 1999, the date after which the Letter’s Patent were issued in Turkey.

The current law is Decree-Law no. 551 in force as from June 27, 1995 pertaining to the protection of patents and utility models in Turkey. The transitional Article 1 provides that the patent application filed prior to the entry into force of the new Decree-Law will be prosecuted according to the provisions of the former Patent Act in Turkey.The Implementing Regulation for this Decree-Law came into force on November 5, 1995 in Turkey and amended on December 6, 1998 following their publication in the Official Journal of same dates 

a. Discoveries, scientific theories, mathematical methods;
b. Plans, methods, schemes/rules for performing mental acts, for conducting business/trading activity, and for playing games.
c. Literary and artistic works, scientific works, creations having an esthetic characteristic, computer programs.
d. Methods involving no technical aspect, for collecting, arranging, offering/presenting and transmitting information/data.
e. Methods of diagnosis, therapy and surgery applying to human or animal body.
The provision under the paragraph 1, subparagraph (e) of this present Article, shall apply neither to the products and compositions (per se) used in connection with these methods nor to their process of manufacturing.
Patent shall not be granted for inventions in respect of following subject matter.
a. Inventions whose subject matter is contrary to the public order or to morality as is generally accepted.
b. Plant and animal varieties/species or processes for breeding/plant or animal varieties/species, based mainly on biological grounds. (Article 6 of the Decree-Law no. 551)

There are three types of protection namely:
A patent without (substantive) examination for a period of 7 years from the filing date of the application in Turkey.
A patent with (substantive) examination for a period of 20 years from the filing date of the application in Turkey.
A utility model of 10 years from the filing date of the application in Turkey.
It is possible to convert a patent, irrespective of its term of protection, into a utility model and vice-versa. Processes and products obtained by said processes as well as chemical products cannot be subject of utility model protection according to article 155 of the Turkish Decree-Law no. 551 pertaining to the protection of Turkish Patents and Turkish Utility Models. 

The protection in Turkey is available to natural and legal persons who are domiciled or who have industrial or commercial establishments within the territory of the Republic of Turkey, or to the persons entitled to file applications, under the provisions of the Paris Convention.
Natural or legal persons other than those referred to in the first paragraph of this Article, who are nationals of states which accord legal or de facto protection to the nationals of the Republic of Turkey shall enjoy, according to the reciprocity principle, Turkish patent and/or utility model protection in Turkey. (Article 2 of the Decree-Law no. 551).

Yes, provided that the unity of the invention does not suffer. In the negative, the Turkish Patent Institute (T.P.I.) will request the filing of divisional application(s) for each subject matter ,according to the Turkish patent law in Turkey.

The Turkish Decree-Law No. 551 provides for the Secret Patents under Part VIII - Articles 125 to 128.
According to Article 125, paragraph 1, of the  Decree-Law No. 551 pertaining to the protection of Turkish Patents and Utility Models“The contents of a patent application shall be kept secret for a period of two months as from the date of filing of the application unless the Turkish Patent Institute decides to disclose same earlier.”
According to Article 125, paragraph 2, of the  Decree-Law No. 551 pertaining to the protection of Turkish Patents and Utility Models“The Turkish Patent Institute may extend the period during which the application for a Turkish patent is kept under secrecy up to five months as from the date of filing of the application in Turkey if it comes to consider that the invention, subject-matter of the application is of importance for national defense”.
According to paragraph 4, of Article 125 of the Decree Law No. 551 pertaining to the protection of Turkish Utility Models and Turkish Patents  No. 551, “When national defense interests are of question the Ministry of National Defense, by request made (in writing) before the expiry of the said period of 5 months, may ask the Turkish Patent Institute that the patent application be prosecuted under secrecy and the applicant be kept informed of such situation”.
According to paragraph 3, of Article 125 of the Decree Law No. 551 pertaining to the protection of Turkish Utility Models and Turkish Patents, “The Ministry of Defense has authority to examine, beforehand, all applications under the condition to respect the obligation to secrecy.”
According to paragraph 6 and last of Article 125 of the Decree Law No. 551 pertaining to the protection of Turkish Utility Models and Turkish Patents, “The Ministry of National Defense, upon the request of the applicant or the patentee may allow that the subject of the application or of the patent be used in part or in whole under the conditions to be laid down by the Ministry of National Defense”.

Maintenance fees are paid yearly for Turkish patent applications and patents starting from the first anniversary of the patent application in Turkey. The due dates for the payment of maintenance fees in Turkey are calculated as of the application date.
With regard to the annuities of Turkish national phase applications under PCT Chapter I or II, annuities are paid yearly by the anniversary of the international filing date and the 2nd annuities are paid during national phase entry as accumulated annuities to the Turkish Patent Institute.
As to EPC (European Patent Convention) applications designating Turkey, annuities are paid  to the Turkish Patent Institute on the anniversary of date of filing.  A 6 months grace period is available from due date.

The description and claim(s) may be filed in English, French and German simultaneously with the application of a Turkish  national patent application in Turkey or a Turkish national phase of PCT in Turkey. A term of one month and a further period of 3 months shall be given for translating national and PCT application descriptions into Turkish and filing the Turkish translation before the Turkish Patent Institute or an authority designated by it without the need to extend (to the applicant) any further notice to this effect. For the filing of the corresponding Turkish translation, the fee set forth in the Regulation shall be paid to the Turkish Patent Institute.

According to Article 5, paragraph 4 of the amended Implementing Regulations dated December 6, 1998, after expiration of the 20- or 30-month periods for entering the national phase in Turkey, 3-months extension period is provided with a 50% fine of the official filing fee. 

Priority should be claimed either at the time of filing or within two months as from the date of filing of the patent application in Turkey.Priority should be claimed either at the time of filing or within two months as from the date of filing of the patent application in Turkey.

The priority shall be deemed not to have been claimed if the priority document (attesting same) is not submitted to the Turkish Patent Institute within three months as from the date of filing of the application (in Turkey) . This deadline cannot be extended in Turkey. 

No, a Power of Attnorney is not required for filing patent/utility model applications in Turkey.

The documents/information needed to support a patent application in Turkey are indicated in  Deris Patents and Trademarks Agency’s  web site  under INFORMATIVE DOCUMENTS/PATENT REQUIREMENT LISTING

In order to validate a European patent in Turkey, the Turkish translation of the European Patent Specification must be filed  with the Turkish Patent Institute within 3 months after the date on which the mention of the grant or the decision to maintain the patent as amended is published in the European Patent Bulletin. Bibliographical data of the published European patent as well as the complete Turkish translation of the European Patent are required for a national validation in Turkey. Power of attorney is not a requirement in Turkey.

Yes, it is possible to obtain provisional protection in Turkey for a published European patent by filing the Turkish translation of the claims and by paying a special fee to the Turkish Patent Institute. The provisional protection in Turkey starts when the Turkish translation of the claims is made available to the public via the Official  Turkish Patent Bulletin of the Turkish Patent Institute.
The bibliographical data of the publication of the European patent application as well as the Turkish translation of claims, abstract and a set of the drawings are required in Turkey Power of attorney is not a requirement in Turkey.

No, the obligation to file the complete Turkish translation of the European patent for the EP validation in Turkey remains. 

It is not possible to extend the validation term of a European Patent in Turkey, however it is possible to obtain extension of 3 months for submission of the Turkish translation of the European patent to the Turkish Patent Institute by paying a surcharge in case the request for  the extension for a validation of a European Patent in Turkey is made within the validation term. 

Irrespective of the term of Turkish patent protection of 7 or 20 years, the State-of-the-Art (Standard) Search is to be conducted for patent applications in Turkey which otherwise shall be deemed to have been withdrawn  according to the Article 56 paragraph 4 of the Decree Law No. 551 pertaining to the protection of Turkish Utility Models and Turkish Patents in case, the request for (Standard) Search is not filed with the Turkish Patent Institute within 15 months from the date of filing of the application in Turkey or, from the date of the priority, if any, claimed in the application and, in case the (Standard) Search fee is not duly paid to the Turkish Patent Institute within the subsequent three months.
It is important to note that both of these deadlines cannot be extended in Turkey.

PCT applications entering into national phase in Turkey are not subject to this search procedure since International Search Reports are readily accepted by the Turkish Patent Institute.

As of the current sitation, the Turkish Patent Institute  has created an in-house searching unit to conduct State-of-the-Art Search only for some IPC codes. As for the IPC codes for which a Standard Search is not possible, the subject Search Report is to be established by one of the search authorities conducting search on behalf of the Turkish Patent Institute under special protocols. The list of said authorities is available DERİS’s web site  under INFORMATIVE DOCUMENTS/SEARCH EXAMINATION AUTHORITIES AND THEIR FEES 2010 together with the respective fees in Turkey The applicant is to select as of its preference the search authority, which is to conduct the search on behalf of the Turkish Patent Institute.
The fee for establishing the (Standard) Search Report requested by the selected search authority will have to be paid to Turkish Patent Institute as well as the handling fee of the Turkish Patent Institute simultaneously with the filing of the request for (Standard) Search, in order to simplify and accelerate the prosecution of the application.
However, if so wished, the fee for establishing the (Standard) Search Report can be paid within the three months subsequent to the filing of the request for conducting the (Standard) Search in accordance with Article 28, paragraph 1 of the Implementing Regulation of November 5, 1995.
It is important to note that this deadline cannot be extended in Turkey.
Turkish Patent Institute will settle directly with the selected search authority the search fee that said authority will be charging for conducting the search and establishing the State-of-the-Art (Standard) Search Report.

Yes, transitional Article 4, paragraph 2 of the Implementing Regulation which was amended on December 6, 1998, provides that "the (Standard) Search Reports established by the Search Authorities designated under the Patent Cooperation Treaty or Search Authorities conducting the search on behalf of the Turkish Patent Institute  under special protocols on the (corresponding) patent application(s), the priority of which has/have been claimed in the application filed in Turkey, will be accepted by Turkish Patent Institute for the prosecution of the Turkish application."
Namely, where any such (Standard) Search Report obtained from anyone of the PCT Search Authorities or Search Authorities working for the Turkish Patent Institute  exists, it will not be necessary to additionally refer the  patent application filed in Turkey to the State-of-the-Art Search. In other words, in case a corresponding search report established by the European, Russian, Chinese, Australian, Austrian, U.S., Spanish, Japanese, Swedish, Canadian, Finnish, Nordic or Korean Patent Offices for a corresponding patent application exists, they are accepted in Turkey under their capacity as International Search Authorities. Additionally, a corresponding search report established by the Danish Patent Office is also accepted under its capacity as a search authority, conducting search on behalf of the Turkish Patent Institute under special protocols.

It is necessary to file the request for (Standard) Search with the Turkish Patent Institute for a patent application in Turkey within the above referred period of 15 months by simultaneously submitting in the attachment thereof the copy of the (Standard) Search Report established by anyone of the above mentioned Search Authorities, on the corresponding priority application(s). 

In cases, where the (Standard) Search Report on the corresponding priority applications is not available at the date when the request for (Standard) Search comes up for filing within the above referred period of 15 months, such request will still have to be filed within the set time period of 15 months by indicating that the corresponding (Standard) Search Report is not available as yet and will be submitted at a later date upon its issuance, by the respective search Authority.
In cases, where the request for (Standard) Search is filed without the corresponding (Standard) Search Report, the respective fee will not have to be paid to Turkish Patent Institute simultaneously with the filing of the request for (Standard) Search, but when filing, at a later date, the (Standard) Search Report issued by the respective Search Authority. (Transitional Article 4, paragraph 3 of the Implementing Regulation of November 5, 1995).

No, the Turkish Patent Institute  does not accept corresponding search report for patent applications when there is no claim of priority. 

It is not mandatory to conduct a State-of-the-Art (Standard) Search for Utility Models applications in Turkey. According to Article 160 last paragraph of the Decree Law No. 551 pertaining to the protection of Turkish Utility Models and Turkish Patents, such (Standard) Search can be carried out upon request of the applicant or registrant of the utility model. 

The application is published after the elapsing of a period of 18 months from the date of filing of the application in Turkey or from the date of priority, if any, claimed in the application. The application is published in the official Turkish Patent Bulletin following the completion of the formal examination and subsequent to the filing of the request for the State-of-the-Art (Standard) Search (Article 55, paragraph 1). If not published earlier, the application is published together with the State-of-the-Art (Standard) Search Report according to Article 57, last paragraph of the Decree Law No. 551 pertaining to the protection of Turkish Utility Models and Turkish Patents No. 551

According to Article 59 of the Decree Law No. 551 pertaining to the protection of Turkish Utility Models and Turkish Patents No. 551 , the applicant for a patent disposes of 3 months from the notification to him of the State-of-the-Art (Standard) Search Report for deciding which of the types of patent with or without (substantive) examination he wishes to choose for the patent protection in Turkey. It is after the elapsing of this time period of 3 months during which the applicant is to determine the type of patent he wishes to choose, that the State-of-the-Art (Standard) Search Report is published in the Turkish Official Patent Bulletin wherein it is specified that the Turkish application concerns a patent with or without (substantive) examination. (Article 57, paragraphs 5 and 6). Where the applicant does not respond within this period of 3 months and determine the type of patent he wishes to choose, the Turkish patent application is considered and further prosecuted as a short term Turkish patent of 7 years without (substantive) examination. (Article 59 last sentence  of the Decree Law No. 551 pertaining to the protection of Turkish Utility Models and Turkish Patents). 

Applications entering into national phase in Turkey under PCT Chapter II are automatically prosecuted according to patent system with (substantive) examination whereas for applications entering into national phase in Turkey under PCT Chapter I, applicant has the option to choose either of the patent systems as indicated above. 

For the short-term protection of 7 years, after end of the opposition period, the applicant for a patent without (substantive) examination is free to take or not into consideration the observations/arguments put forward by the opponent(s). The applicant can respond to the objection/observation of the opponent(s) and, if he so wishes, can amend the claim(s) in consideration thereof within 3 months from the notification of the opposition. Where the applicant has not filed a response to the opposition/objection with or without amending the claim(s) within this period of 3 months, Turkish Patent Institute proceeds further by deciding to grant the "patent without (substantive) examination" for a term of 7 years from the date of filing of the application in Turkey. 

Yes, a "patent without (substantive) examination" of 7 years can be converted into a "patent with substantive examination" thereby extending the period of protection to 20 years provided that the request for substantive examination is filed within 7 years, at the latest, from the date of filing of the application in Turkey. Such request for (substantive) examination can be filed either by the patentee or by third persons. The examination fee is to be paid by the party namely the patentee or third persons having filed the said request for (substantive) examination (Article 60 paragraph 7). 

According to Article 62, paragraph 3 of the Decree Law No. 551 pertaining to the protection of Turkish Utility Models and Turkish Patents, in case, the applicant opts for a patent with (substantive) examination in Turkey, the request for substantive examination is to be filed and the Examination Fee is to be paid by the applicant within a period of 6 months following the publication in the Official Turkish Patent Bulletin of the State-of-the-Art (Standard) Search Report.
As the Turkish Patent Institute does not have an in-house examining unit, the examination of Turkish patent applications are conducted by foreign authorities on behalf of the Turkish Patent Institute under special protocols.
The fee for Substantive Examination varies according to the selected examination authority as shown in Deris’s web site under INFORMATIVE DOCUMENTS/SEARCH EXAMINATION AUTHORITIES AND THEIR FEES, 2007 and in addition to this, a handling fee of the T.P.I. is due. These fees are to be paid to Turkish Patent Institute at any time within the period of 6 months mentioned under point (7/9) according to Article 32 of the Implementing Regulation of November 5, 1995.
Turkish Patent Institute will settle directly with the selected Examination Authority, the fee such authority will charge for the substantive examination.

The Turkish Patent Institute notifies the results of the first examination to the applicant. In case this (substantive) examination report holds objections on patentability, the applicant is to file a response within the subsequent 6 months simultaneously with a request for second examination. In case the second examination also involves objections against the Turkish Patent application, The Turkish Patent Institute  notifies the applicant of its decision by recognizing him the possibility of a further reply within the subsequent 3 months in which period a third (final) examination should also be requested. The Turkish Patent Institute reaches its final decision in consideration of the third (final) examination report. It should be noted that the second or third examination fees are paid simultaneously with filing of the related request. The available second/third examination authorities and their fees as well as their special conditions can be found in Deris’s web site under INFORMATIVE DOCUMENTS/SEARCH EXAMINATION AUTHORITIES AND THEIR FEES, 2010. 

For patent applications entering into national phase in Turkey under PCT Chapter II, the International Preliminary Examination Report (IPER) is accepted as the first (substantive) examination report by the Turkish Patent Institute . Accordingly, in case this report recognizes patentability for the entire claim set, the application is immediately granted in Turkey On the other hand, in case there are any objections in IPER, second and third examination procedures are to be applied for the Turkish patent application.

Yes, following the publication of the Standard Search Report in the Official Turkish Patent Bulletin, third parties can raise opposition against the Turkish patent application within the subsequent 6 months. (Article 60, paragraph 1 and Article 62, paragraph 2 of the Decree Law No. 551 pertaining to the protection of Turkish Utility Models and Turkish Patents). 

Yes, the period of opposition is 3 months for  a Turkish utility model application following the publication of the application in the Official Turkish Patent Bulletin. (Article 161, paragraph 1 of the Decree Law No. 551 pertaining to the protection of Turkish Utility Models and Turkish Patents). 

According to Article 62, paragraph 2 of the Decree Law No. 551 pertaining to the protection of Turkish Utility Models and Turkish Patents, third persons can raise opposition against the patentability of the patent application within 6 months from the publication of the State-of-the-Art (Standard) Search Report.
The applicant disposes of 3 months, with a possible extension of 3 additional months, subsequent to the 6 months opposition period for responding to the opposition(s) notified immediately to him by Turkish Patent Institute according to Article 62, paragraph 4 of the Decree Law No. 551 pertaining to the protection of Turkish Utility Models and Turkish Patents
Turkish Patent Institute initiates the (substantive) examination after the elapsing of the period of response of the applicant (3 months + 3 months) as provided in Article 62, paragraph 4. According to Article 62, paragraph 5 of the Decree Law No. 551 pertaining to the protection of Turkish Utility Models and Turkish Patents, the fact that the applicant has not responded to the opposition(s) within the set period of response will not stop the initiation of the (substantive) examination.

According to Articles 70 and 71 of the Decree Law No. 551 pertaining to the protection of Turkish Utility Models and Turkish Patents, third persons may object before Turkish Patent Institute to the registration of the patent on grounds of formal deficiencies, in violation of the (formal) requirements as provided in Articles 42 to 63 of the Decree Law No. 551 pertaining to the protection of Turkish Utility Models and Turkish Patents (except for Article 45 concerning the unity of invention) and no deadline is provided in Article 70 of the Decree Law No. 551 pertaining to the protection of Turkish Utility Models and Turkish Patents for objecting to Turkish Patent Institute on such grounds.
However, according to the General Administrative Procedural Law, a deadline of 60 days should be applicable for objecting before Turkish Patent Institute against an administrative decision on the above grounds as the Turkish patent Decree-Law No. 551 contains no provision on the time period within which objections on such grounds are to be raised. There is no need to have opposed or filed objections against application during the opposition/observation proceedings for objecting before the Turkish Patent Institute against formal deficiencies according to Articles 70 and 71 of the Decree Law No. 551 pertaining to the protection of Turkish Utility Models and Turkish Patents.

According to Article 146, paragraphes 1 and 2  of the Decree Law No. 551 pertaining to the protection of Turkish Utility Models and Turkish Patents in all court actions (to be) instituted in accordance of the Decree-Law No. 551 and against all decisions of the Turkish Patent Institute  in implementing the provisions of the Decree-Law No. 551, the competent courts shall be the specialized courts in Turkey.
Both civil and criminal actions regarding Intellectual and Industrial property matters in Turkey are handled by the “Civil Court of Intellectual and Industrial Property and Criminal Court of Intellectual and Industrial Property” established as specialized courts. Said courts are presently only established in Istanbul, Ankara and İzmir.
Currently for the jurisdictions other than Istanbul, Ankara and İzmir, in the jurisdictions having more than one penal and/or civil court, according to the decision of the Supreme Council of Judges and Prosecutors, the 3rd Penal Court hears the penal actions for all Intellectual and Industrial Property matters whereas the civil actions are distributed amongst the 3rd Civil Courts of the jurisdiction.
The specialized court in Ankara is competent also for all actions to be instituted versus Turkish Patent Institute by third persons negatively affected or having suffered damage by the decisions of the Turkish Patent Institute

With the enactment of the package of new Industrial Property Legislation under various Decree-Laws, of which No. 551 concerns Patents and Utility Models in Turkey, Article 57 has been added to the Customs Act No. 4458 to permit, upon complaint, under the suspension of release procedure the seizure/withholding, by the customs, of goods infringing intellectual and/or industrial property rights, and among them patents and utility models under protection in Turkey. The withholding of the products is lifted and the customs formalities proceed further unless a court action for patent infringement is duly instituted or an interlocutory injunction is ordered by the court within 10 days from the date of the withholding of the products by the customs. 

- Filing certificate of use or importation documents
- Filing an offer for licensing
- Declaration of non-use

Please note for your information that in case of the production in Turkey of the patented product or of the product obtained via the patented process, it will be sufficient to meet the working requirement of a patent by filing the Certificate of Use with the Turkish Patent Institute  The said Certificate is to be executed and sealed by the Turkish Chamber of Commerce and Industry of which the firm using the subject patent in Turkey is a member or by any other relevant authority but only upon examination of the production premises in Turkey. The original form prepared in Turkish language has to be filed with the relevant Turkish Chamber of Commerce and Industry for certification purposes. In case the patent is put into use not by the patentee but by any other party in Turkey upon authorization/license of the patentee, the Certificate of Use shall be also accompanied with the deed of authorization/license and the same should be executed by both parties and sealed. It is important to note that the deed of authorization/license to use the patent shall additionally be recorded on Turkish Patent Register if it is to have effect against third parties of goof faith. 

The Turkish Patent Institute  effects the recordal of the importation documents as use of the patented product or of the product obtained via the patented process only upon receipt of sufficient documentation, which is constituted as follows:
Most importantly, a Customs Declaration for the goods imported by Turkish clients into Turkey obtained from the Turkish Customs Authorities evidencing the entry of the products/process embodying the patent into the Turkish territory is officially required. In the absence of the submission of this Customs Declaration, it is possible that the Turkish Patent Institute may not complete the recordal of the importation documents in the Turkish Patent Register.
The following documents can also be submitted together with the Customs Declaration- if any;
* A legible copy of an invoice from the patentee to the Turkish firm;
* Transportation certificate;
* Catalogue of the products;
* ATR1 certificate of origin and Customs Declaration from exporting party.
Said documents shall clearly indicate the exporting - importing parties as well as the patent subject to importation into Turkey. If the exportation is done by a company other than the patentee himself, a declaration of authorization prepared on the company paper of the patentee should be submitted before the Turkish Patent Institute In fact, this documentation establishes and attests the relationship between the patentee and the exporting company where the exportation is not effected by the patentee himself. 

Kindly be informed that you have to apply before the Turkish Patent Institute. for the publication of an offer for licensing, for the recordal of the Certificate of Use, of the importation documents, and of the Declaration of the Legal Excuse only one time for meeting the working requirement of a patented product and/or process. By following one of the above action, you comply with the use requirements for once and ever, thus these formalities are not required every year. 

It is to be noted that when an offer for licensing is withdrawn, the working requirements of the patent become once again due. Precisely, when the withdrawal of the offer for licensing is made, the patentee has to evidence the use of the patent by others means provided in the Turkish Patent Decree-Law no. 551, i.e. filing of the importation documents, effective use of the patent by filing the Certificate of use, etc. The patentee can withdraw, at any time, his offer for licensing provided that no person has demanded the patentee for the grant of a license (to use the invention). Withdrawal of the offer takes effect from the date of filing before the Turkish Patent Institute of the petition for the withdrawal of same. 

The minimal specific action a patentee would need to take in order to fulfill the working requirements is the filling of a request with the T.P.I. for the publication of an offer for licensing in the Official Turkish Patent Bulletin. In the absence of the prosecution of any course of action regarding the working requirements, it is to be noted that the patent cannot ex-officio revoked by the Turkish Patent Institute  on grounds of non-use or failing to meet the working requirement of a patented product and/or process. The Turkish patent is not abandoned or invalided due to the fact that no working requirement is met in the prescribed deadline of three years as from the publication date of the grant decision. The possible consequence of not fulfilling the working requirement either by filling a Certificate of Use in case of effective use and /or importation documents in case of importation of the patented product/process into Turkey, by filing a Legal Excuse for non-use or filing a request for the publication of an offer for licensing in case of non-use, would be a compulsory licensing which is however a procedure not actuated automatically by the T.P.I. but the license being granted by courts upon request of third parties. Please note that the risk of a compulsory license is very rare in Turkey. Until now, there is only one case for which the court has granted a compulsory license. 

A compulsory license can be requested in accordance with the Article 99 of the Decree-Law No. 551 pertaining to the protection of the patent and utility model in Turkey: “Compulsory license is (to be) granted where no offer for licensing has been made and where any one of the following situations/conditions materializes: Failure to put to use/work the patented invention in accordance with Article 96; Dependency of subject matter of patents as mentioned in Article 79. On grounds of public interest as mentioned in Article 103”.
For the request of a compulsory license by a third party, according to the Article 100 of same Decree-Law “any interested person may after the expiration of the period foreseen in Article 96, request the granting of a compulsory license on the grounds that the Turkish patent, at the time of the request, was not put to use or that the delay in the use thereof was not due to justifiable/legitimate reasons or that the use thereof had been suspended during an uninterrupted period of 3 years without justifiable/legitimate reason”.

The time period of three years ending within three year as from the publication date of the grant of the patent in the Official  Turkish Patent Bulletin cannot be extended.
On the other hand, after the expiration of the deadline, any application or submission of documents regarding the proof of the use of the patent can be submitted to and will be considered by the Turkish Patent Institute and recorded in the  Turkish Patent Register. However, the validity of these documents submitted after the expiration of the prescribed deadline, can only be determined by the court in a court action which may be instituted by third parties on the grounds of non - use of the Turkish patent within the 3 years period.

For filing of a Declaration of Legal Excuse, the T.P.I. requires the patentee to indicate the justifiable/legitimate reasons preventing him from putting the patented products/process in use in Turkey. The legitimate reasons of non-use of the Turkish patent can  be explained by the patentee himself in a declaration, which shall bear the name and the address of the patentee, the signature of a person authorized to sign on behalf of the patentee firm and needs to indicate absolutely the grant number of the patent, the title of the invention, the deadline of three years and mainly all the technical, economical and legal reasons of non-use of the patent. It is to be noted that according to Article 100 paragraph 2 of the Turkish Patent Decree-Law No. 551 on patents all such "technical, economical or legal reasons" of "objective nature" developing "beyond the control and will of the patentee" (like the patented product is still in development process and therefore not yet ready for the market, objective characteristics, compliance with standards/ authorization process, the need for new implementations in various fields) are deemed to be legitimate reasons for not working the Turkish patent.
It is also required by the Turkish Patent Institute to insert into the Declaration of Legal Excuse an approximate time period whereby the patentee indicates when he intends to start the commercialization of the patented product/process in the Turkish market. On the other hand, according to the recent practice of the Turkish Patent Institute, the reasons for the non-use of the patent can be declared to the Turkish Patent Institute simply in a petition without filing any declaration of legal excuse with the Turkish Patent Institute.
Such a Legal Excuse may be evidenced by supporting documents of non-use of the patent as ruled in amended Article 39 of the Implementing Regulation of 6 December 1998. Supporting documents can be copies of any official request filed with the regulatory authorities, to the ministry of health for obtaining a permission of marketing or any other documents without a confidential character evidencing that the patented product/process is still in clinical tests, experiences, etc.

Such documents are not published in the Official Turkish Patent Bulletin.    However in case a third party is interested with the subject matter of a patent, he can file a request with the Turkish Patent Institute by attending to the payment of a related fee and effect the examination of the file which may include such documents. In this way, we can conclude that these documents will be available to the public inspection. 

There is no specific article pertaining to this point in the Turkish Patent Decree-Law. According to the oral information we received from the responsible chiefs of the Turkish Patent Institute. and based on our previous experiences, in such a case the Declaration of Legal Excuse can be either prepared by the patentee or the exclusive licensee. However if the Declaration of Legal Excuse is prepared by the licensee, a declaration of authorization indicating that the patentee has granted an exclusive license should also accompany the Declaration of Legal Excuse.  There is no specific article pertaining to this point in the Turkish Patent Decree-Law. According to the oral information we received from the responsible chiefs of the Turkish Patent Institute. and based on our previous experiences, in such a case the Declaration of Legal Excuse can be either prepared by the patentee or the exclusive licensee. However if the Declaration of Legal Excuse is prepared by the licensee, a declaration of authorization indicating that the patentee has granted an exclusive license should also accompany the Declaration of Legal Excuse. 

In the offer for licensing, the relation between the parties is a contractual license if they agree on the terms and conditions of the license. Consequently the royalty as well as the rate of same are determined between the patentee and licensee. Such a license agreement can only be finalized if the parties agree on the terms of such an agreement. Where the patentee and the candidate licensee cannot agree on the amount of the royalty or other contract terms, the matter is referred to the court. At this stage, the court will decide on the royalty and other terms on the agreement, so far as it is necessary. The license granted on an offer for licensing is a contractual license agreement, whereas the compulsory license as is a procedure not actuated by the Turkish Patent Institute, the license is granted by courts upon the request of third parties and in such case, the terms as well, the royalty rate are determined by the court. 

The Decree-Law No. 551 pertaining to the protection of the Turkish patents and utility models states that in case any provisions specifically applicable to Turkish utility models are absent, the provisions pertaining to patents as set forth in the subject Decree-Law shall apply likewise, for utility model certificates, provided that they are not incompatible with the characteristic of utility model certificates. Therefore, the use requirements have to be fulfilled within the time period of three years as from the publication date of the grant decision of the Turkish utility model in the Official Turkish Patent Bulletin. 

Being one of the industrial protection varieties, industrial design applications can be filed according to the Decree-Law No. 554 pertaining to the registration and the protection of industrial design in Turkey entered into force as from June 27, 1995.
Decree-Law No. 554 pertaining to “the Protection of Industrial Designs”, modeled after the white paper on the European Community Directive Proposal on the Legal Protection of Designs, permits the registration of same in this country.
In this regard, please note that prior to June 27, 1995, the registration of industrial designs was not possible for lack of specific law concerning the industrial designs in Turkey.
Industrial designs not registered in Turkey will continue to benefit from the protection of the general unfair competition provisions of the Turkish Code of Commerce according to Article 1, paragraph 2 of the Decree-Law No. 554 which in its paragraph 3 further provides that: “The rights conferred by this law does not in any way invalidate the protection conferred by Law (No. 5846) on the Works of Art and Intellect (as amended with Law No. 4110 of June 7, 1995)”.
The respective Implementing Regulations for this Decree-Law came into force on November 05, 1995 the latest update of which was published in the Turkish Official Journal No. 26073 dated 7 February 2006.

The following persons are entitled to protection and thereby qualified to obtain registration of their industrial designs in Turkey according to Articles 2 and 4 of the Decree-Law No. 554 reading as follows:
“Article 2 : The protection conferred by this law is available to the citizens of the Republic of Turkey or to natural and legal persons who are domiciled or who have industrial or commercial establishments within the territory of the Republic of Turkey, or to the persons entitled to file application under the provisions of the Paris or Bern Conventions or the Agreement Establishing World Trade Organization.
Natural or legal persons other than those referred in the first paragraph of this Article, who are nationals of states which accord legal and de facto protection to the nationals of the Republic of Turkey shall enjoy, according to the reciprocity principle, industrial design patent protection in Turkey.

According to the definitions retained in Article 3, paragraphs (a) and (b) of the Decree-Law No. 554:
a. “Design” means the entirety of the various features such as line/drawing, form, shape, colour, texture, elasticity, material or other characteristics perceived by the human senses in appearance in whole or part of a product or its ornamentation;
b. “Product” means any industrial or handicraft item, parts of a complex system, sets, compositions of items, packaging, get-ups, graphic symbols and typographic typefaces, excluding the computer programmes and semi-conductor products”.
As part of the definition retained in Article 3, paragraph (b) “typographic typefaces” shall be registrable and enjoy protection according to the Decree-Law No. 554 whereas excluded from such protection are chip topographies and computer programs.

According to Article 12 “the term of protection of the registered design is five years from the date of filing of the application” and “is renewable for periods of five years each up to a total term of 25 years”. 

To enjoy industrial design protection in Turkey, the industrial designs to be registered must be new (Article 6) and must have a Distinctive Character (Article 7). It is to be noted that, the term “Distinctive Character” (Art. 7) meaning in Turkish “Ayırt Edici nitelik” has been given in the English translation prepared by the Turkish Patent Institute as “Individual Character” which in Turkish means “Özgün Nitelik”.
In the last paragraph of Article 7, rules that for determining, as of their entirety, the similarity between the concerned industrial designs, their common characteristics shall be taken into consideration in lieu of their differences, with a view to assess the liberty of choice at the disposition of the designer in developing the industrial design in question.
Pursuant to Article 6, paragraph 1 of the Decree-Law No. 554 for industrial design protection purposes the criterion of “absolute novelty” prevails; whether in respect of “novelty” or in respect of “distinctive character”, in that the concerned industrial design shall be deemed to be “new” if no identical industrial design has been made available to the public anywhere in the world prior to the date of filing of the industrial design  in Turkey or to the date of priority claimed, if any. In the sense of Article 6, paragraph 1 “industrial designs differing only immaterial details shall be deemed to be identical”.
The paragraph 2 of Article 6 further rules that :

-  “to make available to the public shall cover all such actions sale, offer for sale, use, description, publication, promotion/publicity, exhibition, demonstration and activities for similar purposes.”

-  “disclosures, of confidential nature, made to third parties shall not be considered as being made available to the public.”

According to Article 8, disclosures made available to the public with the consent of the designer or his successor(s) in title or by third parties in abuse of their relation with the designer or his successor(s) in title, within 12 months preceding the date of filing of the industrial design in Turkey or the date of priority claimed, if any, shall not be deemed to be destructive of the “novelty” and of the “distinctive character” of the concerned industrial design. 

The Turkish Patent Institute does not carry out an examination in respect of the criterion of “novelty” and “distinctive character” prior to the registration of the industrial design. The industrial design application is examined by the T.P.I. prior to its registration and publication for opposition purposes in consideration of the formal aspects/elements of the application. 

There is the possibility of filing multiple industrial design applications according to Article 28 in Turkey. This information must be given in the filing petition and each industrial design should have separate visual representations and description. The designs of a multiple industrial design application should be in the same Locarno sub-classification or be parts of a complex product or belong to a set or be perceived as a combination of multiple objects or representations. 

Following the registration of the industrial design, the Turkish Patent Institute shall not issue the Certificate of Industrial Design Patent but shall notify in lieu thereof that the industrial design has been registered. The Certificate of Industrial Design Patent shall issue, after the expiry of the opposition period of 6 months starting as from the publication of the registration of the industrial design in the Turkish Industrial Design Bulletin, provided no opposition is lodged within this time-period. Where an opposition is lodged, the Certificate of Design Patent shall issue or the industrial design registration shall be, partially or totally, cancelled, depending on the decision to be rendered by the Higher Council of Examination and Evaluation of the Turkish Patent Institute in consideration of the opposition lodged. 

The applicant may request in the industrial design filing petition in Turkey  the deferment of publication for a period not exceeding 30 months from the date of priority/filing of the application pursuant to Article 35 of the Decree-Law.  An industrial design application containing a request for deferment of publication shall be entered in the register after it has been awarded a date of filing; but neither the representation (picture, photograph, drawing) of the industrial design nor the name of the industrial design(s) relating to the industrial design  application are issued in the Official Industrial Design Bulletin and shall be open public inspection. At the expiry of the period of deferment, or at any earlier date on request by the right holder, the Turkish Patent Institute shall open to public inspection the file relating to the industrial design application and all entries in the register, and shall publish the registered industrial design(s) in Turkey.

As indicated on Article 26, paragraph 5, “The identity of the designer shall be cited in the application. If the applicant is not the designer or not the sole designer, a declaration shall be made in the application as to the grounds/means whereby the right to apply for design patent is obtained”. This information must be given in the industrial design filing petition in Turkey.
According to the Decree-Law No. 554 and the resulting current Administrative practice, this information pertaining to the (legal) relation between the designer(s) and the applicant as to the ownership of the industrial design and to the right to apply for an industrial design, is to be supplied on a declaratory basis. At present, no documentary evidence is required, to be submitted in support of the declaration (to be) made in this regard.

When the applicant of the claimed priority and the applicant in Turkey are not the same, a declaration must be filed simultaneously with the Turkish industrial design application as to the (legal) instrument/means according to which the applicant in Turkey has obtained the right to apply for an industrial design, the date when such right to apply is obtained and the name of the parties involved. 

A written description of the industrial design is to be filed with the industrial design application in accordance with Article 26, paragraph 2 of the Decree-Law No. 554 and Article 9 paragraph 1/c of the Implementing Regulations.
The length of the description of the industrial design having not been determined whether in the Decree-Law or in the Regulations, the description should preferably be rather concise and may consist of a few paragraphs, obviously depending on the features and complexity of the concerned industrial design(s). In multiple industrial design applications, a separate description is to be filed respectively for each one of the industrial design(s) filed under the same (multiple) application.
Main characteristics of a description may be summarized as follows:

  a. specifying the industrial design by explaining in detail the visual representations filed to this effect

  b. indicateing clearly, the differences between the industrial design as filed and the industrial designs available/known to the public and

  c. not including technical or functional details. 

According to Article 9 paragraph 1/a of Implementing Regulations to Decree-Law No. 554 pertaining to the protection of industrial designs in Turkey, requirements pertaining to visual representations in an industrial design application are as follows:

 - Visual representations of industrial design should be submitted on a plane background  in at least 8 cm. x 8 cm. and at the most in 16 cm x 16 cm can be prepared as drawing, picture, graphic, photograph or a similar way, but must clearly show all special characteristic of the industrial design and must be suitable to publish
 - For three dimensional industrial designs, visual representations that show all aspects of  the industrial designs clearly are to be filed
 - In multiple industrial design applications, separate sets of visual representations must be filed for each industrial design filed under the same multiple industrial design application in Turkey.
 - It is not accepted to place more than one figure in the same visual representation

Yes, a power of attorney is required during filing of an industrial design application in Turkey which does not need to be notarial or otherwise legalized for filing the application. However, the withdrawal of the industrial design application or the voluntary cancellation of an industrial design registration necessitates the filing of a notarial legalized Power of Attorney. 

The Power of Attorney that could not be submitted simultaneously with the  industrial design filing petition is requested by an administrative notification of the Turkish Patent Institute within two months as from the date of the mentioned notification. 

According to Article 31, parag. 2 of the Decree-Law No. 554 pertaining to the protection of industrial designs in Turkey,  the priority shall be deemed not to have been claimed, if the priority document (attesting same) is not submitted within three months as from the date of filing of the industrial design application in Turkey.
In case the certified copy of the claimed priority is not filed before the Turkish Patent Institute . by this deadline, the industrial design application is further prosecuted as a non-convention application, without the benefit of the claimed priority(ies).

The opposition as provided in Article 37 of the Decree-Law is a post-registration opposition (and not a pre-registration one) in that, opposition may be lodged against a registered industrial design within 6 months following the publication of same in the Official Industrial Designs Bulletin in Turkey. In consideration of the opposition lodged, Turkish Patent Institute  may decide to maintain or to invalidate the industrial design registration, whether totally or partially. 

As the industrial design is registered and issues without a prior examination in respect of novelty and distinctive character, if no opposition is timely lodged within 6 months from the publication in the Official Industrial Design Bulletin, the cancellation of the industrial design on ground of lack of “novelty” and/or “distinctive character” can be obtained only upon a court decision following the cancellation action instituted to this effect. 

According to Article 58, paragraphs 1 and 2, in all court actions (to be) instituted in accordance of the Decree-Law No. 554 and against all decisions of the Turkish Patent Institute  in implementing the provisions of the Decree-Law No. 554, the competent courts shall be the specialized courts.
Both civil and criminal actions regarding Intellectual and Industrial property rights in Turkey are handled by the “Civil Court of Intellectual and Industrial Property and Criminal Court of Intellectual and Industrial Property” established as specialized courts. Said courts are presently only established in Istanbul, Ankara and İzmir.
Currently for the jurisdictions other than Istanbul, Ankara and İzmir, in the jurisdictions having more than one penal and/or civil court, according to the decision of the Supreme Council of Judges and Prosecutors, the 3rd Penal Court hears the penal actions for all Intellectual and Industrial Property rights win Turkey whereas the civil actions are distributed amongst the 3rd  Civil Courts of the jurisdiction.
The specialized court in Ankara is competent also for all actions to be instituted versus Turkish Patent Institute  by third persons negatively affected or having suffered damage by the decisions of the T.P.I.

Turkey has become a member of the Protocol Relating to the Madrid Agreement concerning the international registration of trademarks on January 1, 1999 in accordance with the decision No. 97/9731 dated August 5, 1997 of the Council of Ministers.

The said instrument of accession was accompanied by the declaration that, in accordance with Article 14(5) of the Madrid Protocol (1989), the  registration resulting from any international registration effected under this Protocol before the date of entry into force of this Protocol with respect to the Republic of Turkey cannot be extended to it.
The Madrid Protocol (1989) has entered into force, with respect to the Republic of Turkey, on January 1, 1999.

In addition to Trademark and Servicemarks which can be jointly owned by more than one proprietor, the Turkish Trademark Law No. 556 provides for the registration of Guarantee Marks and Collective (Associate) Marks according to Articles 54 and 55 reading as follows: 
 
Guarantee Marks in Turkey: 
 
Article 54 of the Turkish Trademark Law: A Guarantee mark is a sign, which serves to guarantee, under the control of the proprietor of the mark, the common characteristics, production methods, geographical origins and quality of (the goods/services of) several undertakings. The registrant of the Guarantee Mark or an undertaking economically related/dependent on the registrant are not authorized to use the Guarantee Mark on their products or services.”
The application for the Guarantee Mark in Turkey is to be filed by the entity claiming the title in the mark.
No separate protection is provided as such for Certification Marks, whose certification function is performed by the Guarantee Marks in Turkey.
 
Collective Marks in Turkey: 
 
Article 55 of the Turkish Trademark Law:  The Collective mark is a sign used by a group of undertakings of producers / manufacturers or traders or providers of services. The Collective mark serves to distinguish the goods and services of the undertakings belonging to the group from the goods and services of other undertakings.” The application for the Collective (Associative) Mark is to be filed by the concerned entities acting jointly for registration purposes.

There are no restrictions for such trademarks especially in respect of services in Turkey.

“The registrant of the Guarantee Mark or a company/entity economically related/dependent on the registrant are not authorized to use the Guarantee Mark on their products or services” according to Article 54 paragraph 2 of the Turkish Trademark Law No. 556, whereas the Collective (Associative) Mark registrants are authorized to use the Collective Mark on their products or services in Turkey.

The rules (namely, the Technical Regulation - in the Decree-Law) must be filed simultaneously with the application for Guarantee or Collective Mark in Turkey. Otherwise, they are considered not validly filed (Article 56 paragraph 1 of the Turkish Trademark Law No. 556). The rules must be legalized before the Turkish notary according to Article 12 (g) of the regulation of the Turkish Trademark Law.

The changes in the rules are not applicable for as long as such changes have not been approved by the Turkish Patent Institute (Article 57, paragraph 1 of the Decree-Law No. 556).
In case the rules filed with the application do not comply with the requirements of Article 56 of the Decree-Law No. 556, the Turkish Patent Institute may request that the rules be appropriately changed. In case the changes as requested by the Turkish Patent Institute are not carried out within a period of 6 months from the date of the Administrative request, the application for the Guarantee Mark or the Collective (Associative) Mark is rejected.

Turkey having adhered to the Nice Agreement with the Decision of the Council of Ministries No. 95/7094 of July 12, 1995 under the Turkish Trademark Law no. 556, the international classification of goods and services according to the Nice Agreement applies, while also the 9th edition of the Nice Agreement has been accepted as of January 1, 2007 and is applied on trademarks as of entering into force of respective Regulation No. 2007/2 for the classification of goods dated January 01, 2007.

With the coming into force of Regulation no2007/2 of January 01, 2007, the Regulation specifies the items of goods and services and their grouping under sub-classes of a kind, as retained in the regulation are detailed and differ from the wording and structure of the international class headings and thereby consists/falls into a national sub-classification.

By an ad-hoc regulation, lately amended as of the contents of sub-classes published in the Official Gazette dated January 08, 2007 with the Regulation no. 2007/2. Turkey has established a national sub-classification system based on the Nice Classification.

Accordingly, the current trademark registration practice puts the emphasis on the sub-classification in that the Turkish Patent Institute (T.P.I.), generally considers the goods of the Turkish trademark included in the same sub-classes as confusingly similar without further distinction. According to the current practice in Turkey, the Turkish Patent Institute accepts for registration of Turkish trademarks in the name of differing applicants for goods and/or services under different sub-classes/headings within the same class.
This situation and practice in Turkey causes considerable difficulty as, despite the adoption of the international classification, the Turkish Patent Institute continues to request a more closely and restrictively defined description of goods/services on the basis of the sub-classification always quoted under the international class.
Although a Turkish trademark application may be filed in respect of the general class heading(s) of the currently valid 9th edition of the Nice international classification in view of the current practice, the broadly defined general class heading may not permit the registration of the mark in Turkey, where an identical or similar trademark application/registration happens to exist in respect of one or more sub-class(es). In such case, the trademark may be accepted for registration in Turkey only for sub-class(es) not covered by the prior/concurrent trademark application/registration.

The Article 14 of the Turkish Trademark Law No. 556 concerning use states the following:
“Where the trademark has not been put to use without a justifiable/legitimate reason within a period of five years following the registration or where the use has been suspended during an uninterrupted period of five years, the trademark shall be repealed”.

The following shall be understood to constitute use:
a/ use of the registered mark with differing elements without altering/affecting thereby the distinctive character of the trademark,
b/ use of the trademark on goods or their packaging solely for exportation purposes,
c/ use of the trademark with the consent of the proprietor,
d/ importation of the goods carrying the trademark”.

According to Article 42 (c) of Turkish Trademark Law, the invalidity of the trademark registration on grounds of non-use necessitates a court decision.
According to Article 42 (c), use subsequent to the period of 5 years will not be considered as a ground for invalidity of registration provided such use is serious, therefore not a merely formal/cosmetic use and provided that it has not been initiated within the 3 months prior to the court action, with the aim of preventing it.

Articles 14 and 42 (c) of Turkish Trademark Law will apply regarding the period of use of 5 years. According to Article 42 (c), only the courts have competence over deciding the invalidity of the trademarks on grounds of non-use as of Article 14 in Turkey. On the other hand, the regulation contains no provision as to the automatic and ex-officio cancellation of trademark registrations in Turkey on grounds of non-use. Accordingly, the Administration is not vested with any such competence to annul or invalidate trademark registrations for non-use.

We are of the opinion that none of the provisions of the Turkish Trademark Law No. 556 and particularly the text of Article 42, paragraph 1(b) reading, “A registered trademark shall be declared invalid by the court in the following cases: b) where in breach of Article 8 (pertaining to the Relative Grounds for Refusal)” does clearly and unequivocally permit the filing of an opposition and the institution of a court action in Turkey for the cancellation on grounds of simple prior use, of a subsequent trademark registration.

The solution of this problem will obviously depend on the Turkish court decisions to be rendered on this point, which, to our opinion, is likely to constitute one of the major sources of contention between the trademarks enjoying protection, on grounds of prior use, according to the former Trademarks Act and the trademarks registered, subsequently, according to the Turkish Trademark Law No. 556.
However, our previous experiences in Turkey have shown that Article 8, paragraph 3.a/b of the Turkish Trademark Law No. 556 pertaining to the “Relative Grounds for Refusal” which reads that:
“Upon opposition by the proprietor of a non-registered trademark or of another sign used in the course of trade, the trademark applied for shall not be registered provided that;

a) the rights to the sign were acquired prior to the date of filing of the application for registration of the trademark, or prior to the date of priority claimed for the application for registration,
b) the sign confers on its proprietor the right to prohibit the use of a subsequent trademark gives the possibility to block the application for the subsequent registration, by third parties, of the mark, on grounds of prior longstanding and extensive local use, in the course of the opposition/objection proceedings and also to cancel the registration in the course of the court actions.

For the above reasons to avoid the interpretative uncertainties of the future court decisions concerning this matter, it is strongly recommended to obtain the registrations of the trademarks being already used but not yet registered in turkey and those which are contemplated to be used in the near future.

Trademark identical or availability searches in Turkey may be effected either in form of an Official Search, or as a private Computer Search. The Official Search is conducted before the Turkish Patent Institute and the results thereof can be obtained within 10 business days.

On the other hand, if urgent, trademark search results are required an unofficial computer trademark search may be conducted in Turkey, the results of which can be delivered within 3 – 6 business days. However it is important to note that the Turkish trademark applications under prosecution which have not yet been published within last 4 weeks months, being confidential to only the Turkish Patent Institute due to their being under formal examination stage are not covered and also the details of the trademarks revealed in this unofficial trademark search are not updated. Therefore if a Turkish trademark application/registration has undergone any kind of recordal of status changes, renewal or has been faced with an opposition, this information may not be covered within the unofficial computer search results in Turkey.
For this reason, an official trademark search would be advised to cover all the existing Turkish trademark applications/registrations as well as international trademark applications, for which Turkey is a designated country in the Trademark Registry.

Turkish trademark searches for device trademarks currently can not be effected before the Turkish Patent Institute (T.P.I.), since the database system of the Turkish Patent Institute is unfortunately not well equipped for conducting design mark searches. Such a device trademark search may only be conducted with a private computer database on the basis of the Vienna classification code, the results thereof however may be insufficient as this search will not cover the trademark applications filed with the Turkish Patent Institute and not published in the official Trademark Bulletins within the Last 4 weeks. 

Turkish Company Name searches may only be conducted in the on-line database of the Turkish Ministry of Industry and Trade enabling the search for identical Turkish company names in all cities of Turkey. However the on-line database does not guarantee the completeness and correctness of the records revealed. Thus, the information to be obtained will not be 100 percent reliable. Such a search also does not reveal any detailed information as to the field of activity of the Turkish company. An additional search in the on-line database of the Turkish Chamber of Commerce / Industry of the major cities, where available, such as Istanbul, Izmir and Ankara may also be conducted and copies of the company excerpts may be obtained upon request. 

According to Article 12, of the regulation of the Turkish Trademark Law, the term of 2 months is given by the administration for :

- the explanation -item by item- of the specification of goods of a Turkish trademark application considered to be too broadly / generally defined. Failure to comply within the above indicated deadlines, will result in the annulment of the Turkish trademark application in respect of the non-explained broadly defined or refused goods or services- without any further administrative action/decision pertaining to such annulment.

- completing the fees in respect of the class(es) in case they have not been fully paid earlier

- lodging an objection against the refusal/partial refusal of a trademark application on absolute grounds.

According to Article 33 of the Turkish Trademark Law No. 556, the Turkish trademark application which “has not been refused according to Articles 29 to 32 shall be published in the relevant Bulletin”.

According to Articles 34, 35 and 36, third parties can file their objections/observations and raise opposition to the registration of the trade/service mark applied for within three months from the publication of the application in the Official Trade/Service Mark Bulletin in Turkey.

The Turkish Trademark Law no. 556 provides for pre-grant opposition and observation proceedings in that the application is examined by the Turkish Patent Institute (T.P.I.) prior to its publication for opposition / observations purposes in consideration of:

* Article 7 and 8 concerning “absolute grounds for refusal” and “relative grounds of refusal” respectively,
* Articles 26 to 28, if priority is claimed,
* Articles 29 to 32 concerning the supporting documents and other formal requirements.
Under the current practice, the Turkish Patent Institute shall refuse the Turkish  trademark application in Turkey filed as of Article 7(b) for “Absolute Grounds for Refusal”, in case the examination reveals any prior conflicting registration and/or application.

The international trademark registration is subject to the same rules of protection and examination as a national Turkish trademark application. Like national Turkish trademark applications, International registration is examined as of Article 7 concerning “Absolute Grounds for Refusal” and as of Article 8 concerning “Relative Grounds for Refusal” and is also published in the Official Trademark Bulletin of the Turkish Patent Institute in Turkey. The term for opposition in Turkey is 3 months from the publication date.

On September 26, 2006, Turkey declared that, under Article 5(2)(c) of the said Protocol, when a refusal of protection results from an opposition to the granting of protection, such refusal may be notified to the International Bureau after the expiry of the 18-month time limit. This declaration shall take effect on December 26, 2006.

According to Articles 47 to 53 of the Turkish Trademark Law No. 556, those persons who are damaged/suffer from the Administrative decisions, do have the right of objecting before the Higher Council of Examination and Evaluation of the Turkish Patent Institute against the said administrative decisions -which could concern any matter including a decision on registration of a given mark- within 2 months from the issuance of the official decision of same. 

With the enactment of the package of Industrial Property Legislation under various Decree-Laws, of which No. 556 concerns the Trademark/Servicemarks, Article 57 has been added to the Turkish Customs Act No. 4458 to permit, upon complaint, under the suspension of release procedure the seizure by the customs of goods infringing the intellectual and/or industrial property rights, and among them the trade marks under protection in Turkey. Unless a court action is duly instituted or an interlocutory injunction is obtained from the court within 10 days from the seizure, the goods are released and the custom formalities proceed further.

In this regard, reference is also made to Article 79 of the Turkish Trademark Law No. 556, according to which, upon complaint, the customs authorities can seize counterfeit goods during importation or exportation. The main infringement action is to be instituted before the Turkish court within 10 days from the notification of seizure by the customs in Turkey.

In the case of a change of name, address or corporation status, regardless of the number of the trademarks that were indicated in the petition for the recordal, the Turkish Patent Institute will record the status changes of the trademark owners against all trademarks pending or registered in the same trademark owner. Accordingly, by the submission of one petition and one set of documents for one trademark, the subject change will be recorded on all Turkish trademarks in the name of the same trademark owner. This recordal will be confirmed by the administration with an administrative letter to be issued in this respect.

In case there exist international registrations designating Turkey via Madrid Protocol, the  Turkish Patent Institute requests the trademark holder to file for the recordal of the change of status before the WIPO first and submit the WIPO documents to the Turkish Patent Institute in order to complete the recordal of change of status against all Turkish trademarks and international trademarks extending Turkey.

On the other hand, for the recordal of change of ownership such as assignment as well as merger (demerger), besides the documentation to be provided for the recordal of transfer, the current practice of the Turkish Patent Institute requires the assignment and merger (demerger) of trademarks in the name of the same trademark owner which are identical or confusingly similar to the trademarks to be transferred and covering identical or similar goods on the basis of Article 16 of Turkish Trademark Law as well as Article 19 of the amended Implementing Regulations.