Turkey
is a member of the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property.
Being a member of the Nice Agreement, the International Classification of Goods
and Services for the Purposes of the Registration of Marks (11th edition) is followed
in Turkey. Trademark applications are examined as to procedural examination,
examination for absolute grounds for refusal, examination of oppositions and
appeals. At the stage of the examination for absolute grounds for refusal, if
the Trademark Office rejects the mark, an appeal may be filed within 2 months
from the date of rejection.
Letter
of Consent is now applicable in Turkey as per the new Turkish IP Law No.6769
adopted as of January 10, 2017. A Notarized Letter of Consent can be submitted
when filing a trademark application or during filing an appeal against the
rejection decision of an application.
Once
a trademark application is accepted by the Turkish Office, it is published in
the Official Bulletin. Any interested party may file an opposition against the
trademark application within two months from the publication date of the
Bulletin.
The
Trademark Office’s decision regarding opposition can be appealed at the
“Re-Examination and Evaluation Board” (Committee) and the Committee's decision
can be appealed at the competent court. In the absence of opposition, a
trademark is registered and a certificate of registration is issued.
A
trademark registration is valid for 10 years as of the date of filing the
application. A registration can be renewed for ten years, and also at the
expiration of each period of 10 years thereafter. Renewal request needs to be filed within six
months before the renewal due date in Turkey. In case no request is filed
within this period, the renewal request can still be filed in the next 6 months
after the due date by paying surcharge. Use of a trademark is not compulsory
for filing application neither for registration nor for maintaining the
registration in force. However, any interested party may request the court to cancel
a trademark registration, if the owner of trademark fails to use such a
trademark in Turkey for 5 consecutive years from the date of registration.
Trademark requirements:
1- A
simply signed Power of Attorney.
2- Name
and address of trademark owner.
3- Sample
of mark (not required for word marks).
4- Specification
of goods and/or services.
5- In
case of priority claim;
- Priority date, country and serial number,
- A certified copy of the priority application (required within 3
months from the filing date).
Validity:
-
Trademark registrations are valid for 10-years
from filing date and are renewable for consecutive periods.
Renewal Requirements:
-
A simply signed Power of Attorney.
-
The number and date of the registered
trademark/service mark.
Recordal of Assignment Requirements:
-
A Notarized Deed of Assignment (DOA) containing
the signatures of both the assignee and the assignor. The name and number of
the trademark must be in the DOA.
-
A simply signed Power of Attorney executed by
assignee.
Recordal of Merger Requirements:
-
A Power of Attorney signed by the current name.
No notarization or legalization is necessary.
-
A scan copy of Official Document showing that
the referenced change has been approved and recorded by the competent authority
(i.e., Commercial Registry, or any other governmental institution).
Recordal of Change of Name/Address Requirements:
-
A simply signed Power of Attorney executed
according to current name and address.
-
A certified copy of the official document
showing that the referenced change has been approved and recorded by the
competent authority (i.e., Commercial Registry, or any other governmental
institution).
Recordal of Licensing Requirements:
-
A License Agreement containing the declarations
and the signatures of the licensee and the licensor, and registration number
and list of goods and/or services of the mark, the duration and the fees (if
any) of the agreement.
-
A simply signed Power of Attorney executed by
Licensor or Licensee.
Turkey
is a member of the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) and the European Patent
Convention.
Once
an application for the grant of a patent is filed, it is examined with respect
to compliance with the formalities and patentability provided for under the
patent law including novelty, inventiveness (state-of-the-art) and industrial
application. The Institute examines the compliance of the application to the
formal requirements. Should the examination results reveal that the application
suffers formal deficiencies, or that the invention is not subject to patent
protection, the examination procedure is suspended and the applicant is
requested to remedy the deficiencies or to notify the Institute his objections
within the period set forth in the regulations.
Should
the examination conducted by the Institute shows no deficiency as to formal
requirements or when any such deficiency has been duly remedied and completed
in accordance with the requirements, the Institute shall inform the applicant
that the request, if not filed earlier, for conducting the search on the
state-of-the-art, is to be filed within 15 months from the filing date. In the
absence of opposition, the letters patent or the utility certificate is issued.
Within
15 months from the date of filing the application, the applicant shall request
the Institute to conduct the search on the state-of-the-art where priority is
claimed; such period (15 months) runs as of the date of priority. Failure to
take action causes the lapse of the application.
After
receiving the search report, the applicant must decide within 3 months whether
to proceed with substantive examination or to request the grant of a patent
without said examination or as a result of deferred-examination for a period of
7 years. The patentee of a non-examined patent or any third party may request
before the expiration of a 7-year term (from the filing date), that the
prosecution for the substantive examination be resumed in order to obtain a
patent for a duration of 20 years.
Should
the applicant request a Substantive Examination; the applicant shall request
the Institute to conduct the examination after the 6 months following the
publication of the state-of-the-art search report, where third parties may
raise objections to the grant of the patent.
The
Institute shall notify the applicant of the examination report it has
established, as to the deficiency or meeting of patentability requirements of
the application, and shall grant the applicant 6 months for him to rectify the
deficiency, or to amend the claim(s) and to object to it. During the
prosecution of the granting procedure, amendment of claims to rectify obvious
errors such as spelling errors, providing of incorrect/inappropriate documents,
the claim(s) may be amended only during the prosecution of the granting
procedure. Also, the transformation of a patent application into a utility
model application is possible.
The
Institute shall reach its final decision after examining the applicant's
observations and, if any, the amendments made in the application. The decision
of the Institute may consist of granting the patent for all or part of the
claims. The application shall be open to public upon its publication, after the
lapse of a period of 18 months from the date of filing the application or, if
any, from the date of the claimed priority.
A
patent is valid for 20 years, and a utility certificate is valid for 10 years.
Annuities are to be paid during the final 3 months of each year of the
protection period. However, late payment of the annuities with a surcharge is
allowed within 6 months from the lapse of the annuity due date. It is possible
to pay the annual fees in advance to cover the whole or a part of the validity
period in advance.
The
right to a patent may be assigned or licensed. An assignment shall have no
effect against third parties, unless it has been recorded at the Patent Office
and published in the Official Gazette.
Filing Requirements:
1. Specification,
claims, abstract.
2. Drawings
(if any)
3. Name
and complete address of the applicant(s);
4. Name
and complete address of the inventor(s);
5. A
scan copy of the simply signed Power of Attorney.
Recordal of Assignment:
1. A
scan copy of an Apostille Deed of Assignment containing the declarations and
the signatures of the assignee and the assignor, the number of the patent, and
the fees of the assignment.
2. A
scan copy of a simply signed Power of Attorney by the assignee.
Recordal of License Applications:
1. A
scan copy of a simply signed Power of Attorney by the licensee.
2. A
scan copy of a License Agreement executed by both parties.
Designs
are protected in Turkey through registration with the competent office. The
International Classification for Industrial Designs under the Locarno Agreement
is followed in Turkey as of November 30, 1998.
Once
an application for the grant of a design is filed, it is examined with respect
to compliance with the formalities and patentability provided for under the
design law including novelty and distinctiveness. (Novelty is defined by law as
a design is considered new if, before the date of application or priority (if
any), no identical design has been made available to the public anywhere in the
world.)
Examination
is conducted only in form by Turkish Patent and Trademark Office prior to the
registration. Designs allowed for registration are published and thereby become
open to opposition for a period of 3 months. However, at the request of the
applicant, the publication may be postponed for up to 30 months from the filing
date. If opposition by third party is justified, the design is not registered.
The
registered design is protected for 5 years as of the filing date. This period
may be renewed four times and the total protection period is 25 years. The
renewal application may be filed during the last 6 months of the 5-year period
of protection. However, it may also be renewed with fine, within 6 months from
the expiration of the protection period.
Filing Requirements:
1. A
soft copy of the simply signed Power of Attorney.
2. Representation
of the design in the form of drawings, photographs, picture, graphic. The
representation should show all special characteristic of the design and must be
convenient to be published.
3. Name,
complete address and nationality of the applicant(s);
4. Complete
name(s), address(s) and nationality of the designer(s);
5. Type
of the contract by which the design has been assigned to the applicant (in case
the applicant is not the designer e.g., employment relation, contract
requirement, assignment);
6. In
case of priority claim:
a) Priority date, country and serial no.
b) A soft certified copy (copies) of the priority application(s)
(term: within 3 months after the filing date;
The
Turkish Copyright Law No. 5846 of 1951 amended by Law No. 4630 of 2001 allows
for the protection of copyrightable works in general and computer software in
particular.
Original
works of literature, art and science, regardless of type, importance or purpose
are protected. This includes works of art expressed in writing, sound,
drawings, photography and motion pictures, such as books, writings, speeches,
oral works, plays, dramatic works, musical compositions, films, phonographic
works, applied art, 3-D works and computer programs. Such works are protected
for the lifetime of the author plus 70 years following his/her death.
In
order for protection to be effective, the work of art is to be original and
includes personal efforts, innovation and new arrangement.
Any
enforcement of the law is through the courts of Turkey.
Some Articles of the Copyright Law No. 5846 dated 1951 has been amended in the following years: 1983, 1995, 2001 and 2004.
On
May 17, 2006, a new regulation related to the “works of art” in relation to the
above-mentioned copyright law has been executed and published in the Official
Gazette No. 26171.
The following works are protected as per the said law:
1. Literature
and science works;
2. 4.
Cinema works
3. Music
works;
4. Fine
art works:
- Paintings, art and crafts, engraving, illumination works,
calligraphy, serigraphy
- Statues, relief, carving
- Architecture works
- Handworks, miniature, ornament, designs, photographic works
- Graphic arts
- Caricature works
Turkey
is a member of the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic
Works.