Frequently Asked Questions

The Law No. 5042 pertaining to the protection of breeder's rights on new plant varieties has been published in the Official Gazette no. 25347 dated January 15, 2004 whereby plant variety rights will be granted registration by the Ministry of Agriculture/General Directorate. The Implementing Regulations of the Law No. 5042 has also been published in the Official Gazette no. 25551 dated August 12, 2004 and amended on March 5, 2007

The plant variety registration proceedings have been carried out by the General Directorate of Protection and Control/operating under Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs and within a new organizational development in September 2008 it has been announced that all the registration process would  be handled by TÜGEM (General Directorate of Agricultural Production and Development- Plant Breeder’s Right Office) which is also an authorized body operating under Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs. 

Nationals of Turkish Republic, or real persons or legal entities with a domicile or an effectively operating business within the territory of Turkish Republic or those persons entitled for application under the provisions of UPOV Act can enjoy the variety protection right.
Meanwhile, any real person or legal entity which do not meet the conditions set in the above mentioned paragraph but is a national of the states granting variety protection on a de facto  basis to the Turkish Republic citizens shall be entitled to enjoy the right of protection in accordance with the principle of reciprocity. 

Turkey’s application for being a member of UPOV was filed on October 21, 2004 and this filing has been favorably considered by General Secretariat of UPOV. Upon completion of the final proceedings in this matter Turkey became the 65. member of UPOV as from November 18, 2007.

The duration of plant variety protection is 25 years from the grant of the right. For trees, vines and potatoes, the said period is 30 years from the said date. Ending date of protection period shall be calculated as to run from the end of the calendar year. 

The plant variety should be

 new,
 distinct, 
uniform, and
stable
in order to obtain protection

The variety is deemed to be new if, at the date of filing of the application for a breeder's right, propagating or harvested material of the variety has not been sold or otherwise disposed of to public, by or with the consent of the breeder, for purposes of using exploitation of the variety, at home where the application has been filed earlier than one year before that date, and abroad earlier than four years or, in the case of trees or of vines, earlier than six years before the said date

Following cases shall not affect the consideration of variety as new:

a. Sales or statements that can be considered, against the holder of the right, as misuse of right (such as license right),
b. Sales or statements that are within the scope of a transfer contract of breeder’s right.
c. Acts, on behalf of the holder, under a propagating contract of material, provided that the breeder preserves the right on propagating material and material is not exploited for production of any other variety.
d. Field or laboratory trials carried out, under a contract, in order to determine the characteristics of the variety or acts related with small size product processing trials.
e. Acts arising from legal procedures for biological security or from the obligations such as entering tradable varieties in the official catalogue.
f. Sales or disposal to the public, for consumption and without defining the variety concerned, of residual products resulting from production of variety or of harvested material of sub-product nature, or materials resulting as the consequence of acts under paragraph (c), (d) and (e) of this Article. 

A variety shall be deemed to be distinct if it is clearly distinguishable from any other variety whose existence is a matter of common knowledge on the date of application or on the date of priority right.
A variety is considered as known if an application filed in any State has led to the granting of breeders right or entering the variety in the register on if the commencement of variety exploitation or existence of a variety in a variety catalogue of a professional institution or inclusion in a reference collection is in question

A plant variety shall be deemed to be uniform if it is sufficiently uniform in its relevant characteristics, except those possible variations that are subject to propagation method used. 

Denomination of a protected variety will be its generic designation. While filing the application, the denomination proposed by the applicant or the provisional denomination used by the breeder should be provided. The new plant variety applications should be made with the denomination designated in the cases where denomination is registered and used in Turkey or in a country which is a party to UPOV. The General Directorate, during substantive examination, assesses the proposed variety denomination whether it is suitable pursuant to related provisions of the Law. The denomination of the variety is announced when publication of the registration is made. Obligation to use the denomination applies even after the termination of the breeder’s right. The applicant who proposes the denomination does not have right to obtain a further trademark right for the subject denomination.
The rules of denomination are:

a. The denomination may be composed of a meaningful or meaningless or word combinations, or a combination of words and numbers, or letters and numbers in order to assure the recognition of the variety.
b. The denomination proposed for the variety shall differ from other varieties or shall suffice in terms of linguistics for the recognition of the variety.
c. The denomination shall not contain any expression or phase attacking or violating the public order and general ethics.
d. The denomination shall not be composed of only those indication denoting to the species, quality, quantity, object, value, geographical origin or production date as solely used for the plant varieties and seed business, including the languages of our country and other states that are parties to the UPOV Act.
e. The denomination shall not be liable to mislead or to cause confusion concerning the characteristics, the value or the identity (geographical origin) of the variety for the purposes of relation between the variety and the breeder or the applicant.
f. Proposed variety denomination shall not involve any object of impediment, pursuant to the trade mark legislation, to register a trade mark for the products in relation to the variety.
g. If a denomination is already in use for a variety registered in a member state that is a party to the UPOV Act, the breeder’s right application shall be made under this denomination and the variety shall be registered thereunder. If there are other denominations in other states for the same variety, those denominations used in other states shall be registered with the application register or breeder’s right register. The same provisions shall be applicable for those varieties already registered in Turkey.
h. Proposed variety denomination shall not be identical or be confused with a variety denomination under which another variety of the same or of a closely related species is entered in an official register of plant varieties or under which material of another variety has been marketed in Turkey or in a Member State of the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plant (UPOV).
i. Any party that sells, markets or exploits in any other way, the propagation material for the protected variety shall use the variety denomination. This provision extends to the essentially deriver varieties. Even if the breeder’s right expires, it is obligatory to use the variety denomination.
j. The prior rights of third parties in relation to the disposal of the protected variety shall remain reserved. If the use of the variety denomination is prohibited for a person who has to use this variety due to the prior rights of third parties, the General Directorate shall require the breeder or right holder to propose a new denomination for the variety.
k. Proposed variety denomination may be used together with the trademark, trade name or any other similar indication only if the variety denomination is written in an easily recognizable way.

If a provisional denomination has been proposed in the application petition for the new variety, the General Directorate requests the applicant, just before the registration phase, to submit a final denomination. The applicant has to submit, within 30 days, final denomination for the variety.
When the Ministry approves the denomination, it communicates the denomination to countries party to the UPOV Convention and publishes it in the Bulletin. 

Objections can be lodged, within 3 months from publication date of the denomination in the Bulletin, against the denomination. Authorities of countries party to the UPOV Convention may address their observations on the denomination. Objections and observations shall be communicated to the applicant and he shall be given 30 days term to respond. In case the applicant responds to the objections and proposes a new denomination, the new denomination is published and 3rd parties have right to object against the new denomination. In case no response is received from the applicant the application shall be refused. Motivated decision taken by the Ministry on acceptance or refusal of the objection shall be notified to the parties involved. A court appeal may be instituted within 30 days of notification. 

Owner of the new plant variety files an application in writing with the General Directorate in order to benefit from the plant variety protection. The application for a breeder’s right should contain the following information and documents:
The application form provided by the General Directorate should be filled in and a cover letter addressing to the General Directorate requesting the protection should be prepared. Within the application form the following information should be provided:

a. Name and address of applicant or, where appropriate, his legal representative. (If the applicant is a legal entity, then its notarized circular of signature should be submitted. If the application is to be filed via a representative, a notarized power of attorney confirming that the applicant has empowered the representative to do so is to be submitted)
b. If the applicant is not the breeder himself, the name and address of the breeder and any relevant information and document indicating how the entitlement to the breeder’s right came into his possession.
c. Turkish and Latin name of variety in the botanical taxon
d. The denomination proposed for the variety or provisional designation used by the breeder
e. If priority right is requested for a previous application the application date, number and office of such application.
f. Technical description of the variety. (A variety characteristics form displaying technical specifications of the variety as prepared by the Institution and, when necessary, other relevant documents concerning the morphological/ molecular characterization defining the variety)
g. Where appropriate, details of any previous commercialization of the variety. (If there is a previous commercialization of the variety for which an application for granting the breeder’s right was filed, such details and documents showing the purpose and period of that commercialization; and since when it was offered for the commercialization)
h. The bank receipt proving that the application fee and technical examination fee –where necessary have been paid.
i. The geographic origin of the variety;
j. If requested, any details on any picture, drawing, slide or material to be used to define the variety;

Other Filing Related Issues:

1. Any party with no domicile in Turkey should appoint a representative in Turkey so as to apply for and register a breeder’s right for its varieties, provided that such representative shall have a domicile in Turkey;
2. Turkish translations of those documents in foreign language made by certified (sworn) translation offices shall be attached to the application form;
3. The entire application form and attached documents shall be signed and sealed by the applicant;
4. The page size of the documents to be attached to the application shall be A4 with legible and clear texts and such content and nature that will eliminate any obscurity or ambiguity.

Applicants/breeders with no residence or active business place in Turkey should assign a Turkish representative for filing and registering the breeder’s rights on new plant varieties. A notarized power of attorney confirming that the applicant has empowered the representative to proceed with filing and registration formalities before the General Directorate should be submitted during filing. 

If the applicant or his predecessor in title has already applied for a property right for the new plant variety in a country party to the UPOV Convention, and the date of application is within 12 months of the filing of the earlier application, the applicant shall enjoy priority right for the earlier application as regards the application for the breeder’s right in Turkey. In such a case the date of the application in any party to the UPOV Convention shall be deemed to be the date of application in Turkey.
In order to benefit from the right of priority of the first application, the breeder shall so inform, in the subsequent application, the Ministry in writing. Priority rights not exercised within the prescribed time-period shall be considered to be void.
The authority with which the subsequent application has been filed may require the breeder to furnish, within a period of not less than three months from the filing date of the subsequent application, certified copies and translations of the documents which constitute the first application, and samples or other evidence that the variety which is the subject matter of both applications is the same.
The Ministry, upon the request of the applicant, may provide up to two years period after the expiration of duration of priority to furnish any necessary information, document or material required for the purpose of technical examination. Where the first application is refused or withdrawn, the Ministry may decide to cancel the extension period and require the applicant to furnish the necessary information, document or material required for technical examination in 12 months after the date of rejection or withdrawal.

The General Directorate assigns a Commission to carry out formal and substantive examination of the application. In the formal examination process the Commission considers the documentation and information submitted during filing. If the Commission concludes that the application has been unduly and incompletely filed the applicant is given 30 days to complete the outstanding documents and information. If the applicant fails to complete the file or correct the deficiencies within said term the application will deem not to have been filed. In case the deficiency is related to the priority right the applicant is deprived of his priority right and the application is proceeded without priority right. 

The General Directorate assigns a Commission to carry out formal and substantive examination of the application. In the substantive examination process, the following issues are taken into consideration:

a. If the variety for which an application has been filed is new,
b. If the applicant is entitled to file an application,
c. If the proposed denomination of the variety meets the requirements mentioned in the Law.

Following the substantive examination, if the Commission finds out any impediment to the grant, the General Directorate refuses the application and this refusal is notified to the applicant within 30 days. In case the refusal decision refers to denomination of the variety the applicant is required to propose a new denomination within 30 days. Where the applicant does not respond the decision of refusal is finalized. If no formal deficiency is found the application is accepted by the Commission and is given an application number.

The plant variety application which is deemed to be fully and accurately filed upon formal and substantive examination is registered with the log and is published in the Plant Variety Bulletin within 30 days (The data in the subject Bulletin is accessible via internet www.tugem.gov.tr) 

a. Name, surname and address of the applicant, or if any, its procedural representative;
b. If the applicant is not the breeder, then data showing the name, surname and address of the breeder as well as other information evidencing as to how the entitlement to the breeder’s right came into his possession;
c. Denominations of the variety in Turkish and Latin in botanical taxon;
d. Proposed denomination for the variety, or a provisional designation used by the breeder;
e. If a right of priority for a previously duly filed application is sought, the state, date, number and authority of the first application.

Any opposition to the application can be filed with the Ministry, within three months following the publication of the application in the Bulletin. 

Oppositions can be filed on the grounds that the variety is not new, not uniform and not stable, or the applicant is not entitled as holder or the variety denomination is not suitable pursuant to the related articles. The opposition should be filed in writing together with the supporting evidences and documents. 

The opposition(s) filed to the application is notified to the applicant and the applicant is required to inform within 3 months his observations against the opposition and whether he still maintains his application or claims amendment to the application.
The period given to applicant may be extended for a maximum two months term provided that applicant so requests and this request is based on valid grounds.
Where applicant does not respond within the period given, the application is deemed to be withdrawn. If the applicant informs that he will maintain his application or amend it, the person who filed an opposition is informed and required to provide information, within 30 days, on whether he maintains his opposition.
If the opposing party still maintains his opposition on the basis of his opposition;

a. if the variety is not new, applicant is not entitled as holder, or the denomination proposed for the variety is not pursuant to the related articles, then the General Directorate immediately initiates evaluation of the opposition,
b. if the variety is not distinct, not uniform or not stable, evaluation of the opposition is carried out within the course of technical examination.

The Directorate itself, determines the method of technical examination in order to carry out the examination as required by the grounds of opposition.
The opposing party may be required to furnish, in support of his opposition, additional information, document or propagating material that is the subject of technical examination. If the opposition is within the scope of the above mentioned paragraph (a), within 30 days of the decision of the General Directorate, the decision may be brought before the court for appeal.
Within one month from notification of decision on the acceptance of the opposition based on actual entitlement, authentic holder who files an application for the same variety may request the General Directorate to consider the application date of the previous refused variety as s his application date, if so Ministry shall accept this request.

Subsequent to formal and substantive examination of the application and publication of same in the Bulletin, the variety is subject to a technical examination. The conditions of the technical examination are set by the General Directorate and the examination is carried out under observation of the General Directorate. The criteria in the technical examination are whether the variety belongs to the specified botanical taxon; whether the variety is distinct, uniform and stable (DUS tests). In case the variety complies with the requirements for being distinct, uniform and stable the “Variety Characteristics Certificate” will also be prepared.

a. In the event that DUS tests and other tests required for the technical examination have already been carried out by the competent authority of a state that is party to the UPOV Act, the examination may be based on the results of those tests, provided that the tests results and the related documentation are delivered to the General Directorate and include the name, title, signature of the persons/authority who has prepared the documents. It is important to note that the documentation attesting the test results which are prepared by the applicant himself is not accepted by the General Directorate. The testing results and the related Characteristics Documentation should be prepared by a competent authority which is also accepted by the General Directorate. Meanwhile, these tests must be carried out in those countries with those climatic conditions similar to or same as those ones prevailing in Turkey.
b. In the event that the examination cannot be based on these test results the General Directorate may avail itself of the services of its main service units or subsidiaries or affiliates or other bodies. In the event that technical examination is carried out by other bodies, an additional examination fee is to be paid.

The General Directorate may instruct the applicant to carry out technical examination. Upon the request of the General Directorate, the applicant shall provide General Directorate with the results of growing tests or other tests to be performed by himself or by third parties designated by it. Technical review may be based on the outcome of these tests.

General Directorate requires the applicant to deliver the testing material within 4 months as from the publication of the application. The quantity or the volume of the testing material is designated by the General Directorate. In the event that the applicant fails to deliver such testing materials within the determined term the application will be refused. 

Test materials shall meet those minimum germination standards on the basis of varieties for the seed in the lowest certified class as designated by the General Directorate. Test materials picked up from the variety sample shall be set aside to be used in the DUS tests while the rest shall be retained as the reference sample. The trial period for the variety in the DUS tests shall be at minimum one growing season in ornamentals; three seasons for perennial field plants and trees, and two seasons for other species.
In the event there arises a problem in DUS tests in relation to the variety, these periods may be extended.
For the purposes of conducting the DUS tests, those principles and test criteria, which are laid down in the Plant Characteristic Certificates drawn up based on those UPOV and CPVO technical principles designated for that plant species shall be implemented. If there is not any criterion or characteristic certificate designated by UPOV and CPVO for the plant species under the application, the institution shall lay down those examination criteria by itself.

The Technical Examination Report includes the test results for evaluating the variety’s being distinct, uniform and stable. In case the Report is inadequate supplementary examinations may be carried out and all the reports in this regard and the test results are delivered to the General Directorate. 

a. If the proposed denomination for the variety:
1. does not comply with the provisions set by the Law,
2. does not constitute a different denomination or it is insufficient in respect of linguistics, to recognize the variety.
3. is against to public security and common moral values
4. consists of figures indicating species, quality, quantity, objective, value, geographical origin or the production date which is the only case for the plant variety and seed sector.
5. misleads or create confusion in respect of the properties of the variety, its value and geographical origin or the relationship between the variety and its breeder or between the variety and applicant,
6. the denomination, is identical to or very similar to, leading to confusion, a variety of the same or of a related species is registered in Turkey or in any State party to the UPOV, except the variety has no longer been cultivated or it is not commonly identified,
b. non-compliance with the provisions formal and substantive examination,
c. if the required documentation and variety material has not been timely and duly submitted to the General Directorate,
d. if the variety is not found as uniform, distinct and stable,
e. if the requirements for finalization of the provisional denomination has not been met by the applicant.

Upon favorable completion of the technical examination the breeder’s right is recorded in the Register and the applicant is provided with the Breeder’s Right Certificate and the registration is published in the Bulletin within 30 days as from the decision of registration.
The registration of the breeder’s right in relation to the protected variety shall be published in a bulletin within thirty days from the registration date.

Following details shall appear in the bulletin in relation to the registration of the breeder’s right:

a. The protected variety denomination;
b. Application date and number;
c. If any right of priority is used, then the state, date and number of the first application as well as the denomination of the variety at the time of application;
d. Name, surname, nationality and address of the right owner;
e. If the right owner is not the breeder, then the name, surname, nationality and address of the breeder(s);
f. Date by which the breeder’s right was registered, and the registration number.

Third parties may lodge, within 30 days from the date on which the breeder’s right is published on the Bulletin, an objection to the grant of a right on the grounds that there were deficiencies in the procedures laid down in related articles.
During the course of examination conducted by the General Directorate, if it is established that one of the procedures for granting the right has not been fulfilled, or a significant deficiency occurred in procedures, the General Directorate may decide on that the granting procedure is invalid and go back to the point of procedure where the deficiency occurs.

Upon registration of the breeder’s right on new plant variety, an annual fee should be paid by the right holder to the General Directorate in advance in January as for each year of the duration of the protection.
If the annual fees are not paid within the determined periods, the breeder’s right shall automatically expire. In such a case, it shall be deemed that annual fee was effected as of the payment deadline. This will be published in the bulletin within thirty days.

If the breeder’s right has terminated because the annual fee was not paid within the periods laid down, the termination shall be effective as of the deadline for the annual fee; however, if the right holder communicates to the General Directorate, in writing within six months from the publication of the termination in the bulletin that the failure to pay the annual fee was attributable to the force major events, the breeder’s right shall resume to be valid and enforceable provided that annual fee is paid in such sum and in accordance with such terms laid down by the General Directorate.
General Directorate shall publish the force major notice in the immediately next bulletin. Any concerned party may communicate its opinions to the General Directorate in writing within thirty days following the publication of the force major notice in the bulletin. General Directorate shall consider the application for the force major and the opinions of the concerned parties on a joint basis and then reach a decision.
The General Directorate shall be authorized to restore the breeder’s right in force. Where the General Directorate acknowledges the presence of a force major event, the right shall be restored as of the payment date provided that annual fee is paid. The restoration of the right into the force shall be registered with the log and entered with the bulletin.

The plant variety  right holder is responsible for the continuing existence unaltered of the protected variety or, as the case may be, of the propagation materials retaining their hereditary characteristics as long as the right is in force.
The General Directorate investigates whether, within the protection period, the variety or where appropriate its genetic parts are maintained. The right-holder, upon the request of the General Directorate, is obliged to provide information, documents and material necessary to assess the continuing maintenance of genetic forms of the variety to the General Directorate or an institution designated by General Directorate.
When there are suspicions about the maintenance of genetic form of the variety and these suspicions cannot be eliminated by the information, document and material provided by the right-holder the General Directorate may request an examination to be conducted for maintenance of genetic forms of the variety. This examination shall constitute the comparison between material submitted by the holder and samples and information on the characteristics document of the variety, by conducting growing and other tests.
When the examination conducted indicates that the right-holder failed in the maintenance of genetic form of the variety concerned, the observation of the holder shall be requested before cancellation of breeder’s right.

Where it is established that the plant variety right-holder does not provide the General Directorate with the required documentation, testing material within the determined time limit or fails to fulfill the requirements after grant or the variety has lost its uniformity and stability characteristics, breeder’s right may be ex-officio cancelled by the General Directorate.
The protection right may also be ex-officio cancelled in cases where although Court has cancelled the variety denomination, the right-holder did not propose a new denomination for the variety, within the time limit specified by the Ministry.
Cancellation of breeder’s right shall enter into force from the date of registration in the Register. Cancellation decision shall be published on the bulletin within 30 days from the date of its entry in the Register.

Breeder’s right confers on the holder following exclusive rights for protection of the variety:

a. production or reproduction.
b. conditioning for the purpose of propagation.
c. offering for sale.
d. selling or other marketing.
e. exporting or importing.
f. stocking.

The exclusive rights shall also apply in relation to the varieties:

a. which are essentially derived from the protected variety, provided that the protected variety is not itself an essentially derived variety.
b. varieties which are not distinct from the protected variety.
c. varieties whose production requires repeated use of the protected variety

In case of breeders more than one person, the entitlement shall be vested jointly in them provided that there is no contrary agreement between respective parties.
Each holder of the right is entitled to do following on his own right, independently of other shareholders:

a. He may exercise his right freely in proportion to the respective share held.
b. He may exploit the variety in question after written notification to other holders of the right.
c. He may take any measure necessary for protection of variety concerned.
d. He may institute legal and criminal proceedings against 3rd persons in cases where infringement of the right which results from joint application to the Ministry or granting of the right. (provided that the plaintiff shall inform other shareholders, within one month from date of the institution of the proceedings, in order to enable them to participate to the proceedings)

The applicant has the rights/authorities mentioned above between the date of application and date of grant. 

Where the varieties are bred or discovered and developed by employees during the execution of their duties, the breeder’s right shall be vested in their employers unless otherwise provided by the contract or understood from the nature of the work.
The breeder’s right shall be vested in the employers for the variety that has been bred, discovered or developed by the employee, using the information and equipment available at work, who were not required by the contract.
The employees who bred or discovered and developed the varieties may claim a certain amount of remuneration determined by breeder and employer by taking into account the economic value of the variety. When the parties do not agree on the level of remuneration, it shall be decided by the Court. The parties may determine the level beforehand and so include in the contract.

Breeder’s rights shall not extend to the following acts:

a. acts done privately and for non-commercial purposes;
b. acts done for experimental purposes;
c. acts done for the purpose of breeding other varieties, except acts referred in Article 14 paragraph 5 of this Law. 

The right holder, or its authorized representative is obliged to exploit the propagation material of the protected variety. The compulsory exploitation/use should be realized within three years from the date on which the grant of the breeder’s right has been published in the Bulletin.
The documents proving that the protected variety is in exploitation may be those declarations showing that the protected variety is in exploitation in sufficient quality and quantity and they should be certified by the relevant professional associations, Chambers of Commerce/Industry or other relevant bodies.
On the document proving that the variety is in exploitation should include the date and number of the grant of the breeder’s right for the protected variety, the date of the initial exploitation/use, the declarer’s name, address, signature, and the execution date of the document.

Breeder’s right may be subjected to compulsory license, at the end of the 3rd year from the grant of breeder’s right where commencement of exploitation of the protected variety, increasing its exploitation or spreading of its exploitation are of great importance for national defense or public health purposes; where the non exploitation of protected variety or its insufficient exploitation in terms of quality and quantity causes serious damage to the economic or technological development.
Compulsory license shall be decided by the Council of Ministers upon the proposal of the Ministry of Agriculture. In case, where the exploitation of the protected variety is important for national defense or public health, the proposal is prepared jointly by the Ministry of Agriculture and Ministry of Defense or the Ministry of Health.

The breeder’s rights will be considered as exhausted in cases where any material of the protected variety or a variety which a) is essentially derived from the protected variety, b) is not itself an essentially derived variety c) is not distinct from the protected variety d) whose production requires repeated use of the protected variety, or any material obtained from that material has been marketed/sold by the right-holder or by any third party with the consent of the right-holder in Turkey
However, breeder’s right may be claimed in cases where acts involve further propagation of the variety in question or involve an export of materials (any kind of propagating material, harvested material including entire plants and parts of plants, any product obtained directly from the harvested material) for propagating purposes, to a country which does not protect varieties of the plant genus or species to which the variety belongs.
If export material is for final consumption purposes again breeder’s right shall be considered as exhausted.

The right holder should communicate to the General Directorate, in writing the changes regarding his address and name, transfer of rights through assignment or merger, etc. following the registration date for the breeder’s right within 30 days after the change.
The General Directorate effects the recordal of changes and these changes are published in the Bulletin.

a. Petition of request;
b. A notarized verdict of inheritance;
c. Registration certificate for the breeder’s right;
d. A notarized deed of assignment signed by the assignor and assignee along with their conceding statements, where the protected variety’s denomination is used;
e. If the assignee is a legal entity, then its circular of signature;
f. If the demand for the transfer or assignment is through an attorney, then notarized power of attorney.
g. Receipt showing that the fee was paid;

Contractual license may be granted on the exclusive or non-exclusive basis to be valid within the territory of Turkish Republic.
License agreement shall be executed in writing. Licensee or licensor files an application for recordal of license with the General Directorate with the following documents for the validity of the license agreement.

a. A notarized license agreement setting forth the signatures and declarations of the licensee and licensor, the application date and number for the variety to be licensed, its registration date and number, license fee, duration and justification;
b. Registration certificate of the breeder’s right;
c. Receipt showing that the fee was paid;
d. If the licensee is a legal entity, then its circular of signature;
e. If the application for license is filed by an attorney, then the power of attorney.

The Court may declare the breeder’s right invalid in the presence of following grounds:

a. where the variety does not meet the requirements with respect to novelty and distinctness at the time of application or right of priority.
b. where the variety does not meet the requirements with respect to uniformity and stability,
c. where it was understood that the breeder’s right has been granted to a person who is not entitled to have a protection.

Persons with a legal interest, may request, within the period of protection of the right, from the court the invalidation of the right for the variety concerned. The request for invalidity claming that the application has been filed in the name of an authorized person can only be put forward by the actual/real right-holder. 

A (Court) Decision ruling that the breeder’s right is invalid, will have retroactive effect and thus, within the context of invalidation, the legal protection secured under this Law shall be deemed not to have been borne at all. 

A breeder’s right will terminate upon: a) expiry of the term of protection, b) surrender by the right-holder himself, c)non-payment of yearly fees and additional fees, within the prescribed time-periods. 

The following acts shall be considered as infringement of breeder’s rights:

a. Exploitation of the rights (production or reproduction, conditioning for the purpose of propagation, offering for sale, selling or other marketing activities, exporting or importing, stocking) without the consent of the holder,
b. Despite being aware or being in a position to know that propagating material of a protected variety is produced by virtue of the infringement of the exclusive rights of the holder, preparing the propagating material for propagation, reproduction, offering for sale, selling or other marketing, importing or exporting, or storing the variety for these purposes,
c. Extension of the scope of exploitation rights granted by contractual license or compulsory license or transfer them to third persons without permission,
d. Violation of the related provisions regarding denomination,
e. Usurpation of right
f. Involving in acts foreseen above or assisting or encouraging them or facilitating in any way and under any circumstances, their occurrence,
g. Refraining from declaring the source from where and the manner the products, found in his possession, manufactured or commercialized, unlawfully, were obtained.

A holder of a right whose rights are infringed may, in particular, appeal to the Court for the following:

a. the cessation of the acts in infringement of right conferred by the breeder’s right.
b. remedies of infringement and compensation of material and moral damages incurred,
c. confiscation of products manufactured directly or as a consequence of the infringement of rights conferred and of means directly used in manufacturing such products,
d. recognition of ownership over the products and means confiscated in accordance with subparagraph (c) of this Article. In such cases, the value of said products shall be deducted from the amount of compensation awarded. Where the value of said products happen to be above the amount of compensation determined in accordance with subparagraph (b), the holder shall repay the excedentary balance to other party.
e. precautionary measures for preventing the continued infringement of rights; modification of the shapes of the products and means, or, where inevitable for the preclusion of acts of infringement, the destruction of the products and means confiscated according to subparagraph ( c).
f. the disclosure, by means of publication, to the public and to those related, of the court’s judgment rendered against the party infringing the rights who shall bear the costs for such publication.

Any person who has already instituted a proceeding may appeal the court to order precautionary measures provided that they can prove the existence of acts in Turkey of actual exploitation of the variety or serious and effective preparations to exploit it in Turkey which would constitute an infringement.
The request for precautionary measures may be filed before or with the institution of proceedings or be filed later. The request for precautionary measures shall be examined separately from the proceeding.
Precautionary measure shall be in nature to enable securing of the judgment and particularly provide the following:

a. cessation of the acts of infringement of the breeder’s rights,
b. injunction to arrest within the borders of Turkey, including the customs, free ports or free trade areas and keep in custody, and preserve the produced or imported goods which have infringed the breeder’s rights.

The competent court, for the institution of legal proceedings by the holder, is the court of the domicile of the plaintiff or of the place where the offence was committed or of the place where the act of infringement produced effect.
Where the plaintiff is not domiciled in Turkey, the competent court is Ankara courts
The Competent Court, for the institution of proceedings by third parties against the applicant or the holder, is the court of domicile of the defendant. Where the applicant or patent right holder is not domiciled in Turkey, the provisions of the 3rd paragraph of this Article shall apply.
Where several courts are competent, the court before which the proceedings are first initiated shall be the competent court.
Where the Ministry is the plaintiff or defendant, the competent court is the court where the headquarters is located.

The aim of the law no. 5042 is to encourage the development of plant varieties and to ensure protection of new varieties and breeder’s rights. The right owner obtaining protection under the scope of this law has a right until the termination of the right with respect to the new variety. However, in order to market, sell or to produce the subject new variety in Turkey the requirements set by the Law no. 5553 (in effect as from 31.10.2006 replacing former Law no. 308 for registration, control and certification of seedlings) should be met by the right owner. The purpose of this law is to upgrade productivity and quality in plant production, to ensure quality assurance for seedlings, to make arrangements for the production and trade of seedlings, and to implement all necessary arrangements for restructuring and developing seed sector. The registration proceedings are run to describe the characteristics of the seedlings and certification proceedings are carried out to determine whether the characteristics described during registration are effectively and duly realized.