Turkey is a party to the European Patent Convention (“EPC”). European patents validated in Turkey are published in the Turkish Patent Bulletin and have the effect of a national patent. In this short article, we will be examining the main rules on the validation of European patents in Turkey.
Deadline for Validation Applications
Applications for the validation of a European patent must be filed before the Turkish Patent and Trademark Office (“Office”) within three months from the date of publication of the decision to grant the European patent in the European Patent Bulletin. It is not possible to request an extension for the respective filing.
Turkish Translation Requirement
A translation of the patent specification (i.e., description, claims, and drawings) into Turkish must be supplied. Normally, the Turkish translation of the patent specification must be submitted along with the filing of the validation application. However, an extension of three months can be requested only for the submission of the Turkish translation provided that such a request is filed by paying an additional fee within the same three-month deadline for the validation application.
Official Fees for Validation Applications
The publication fee of the translation of a European patent is TRY 4,540. If requested, the additional fee for the extension request for the submission of the translation is TRY 8,120. Both fees should be paid at the time of the validation application.
Annual fees, which become due after the date of the publication of the grant in the European Patent Bulletin, should be paid to the Office. You may access the annual fees of each year from here.
The above fees are valid for the year 2024 and may be subject to an increase at the beginning of the forthcoming year.
Publication of Claims and Amended/Limited Specification
For provisional protection before the grant, the applicant of the European patent may also apply for the publication of the claims in Turkey. If requested, the respective application must be filed within three months from the publication of the claims in the European Patent Bulletin along with the submission of the Turkish translation of the claims and abstract and with the payment of the relevant publication fee.
If the European patent is amended due to opposition or is limited by the applicant, the Turkish translation of the amended or limited version must be submitted to the Office within three months from the publication date in the European Patent Bulletin and with the payment of the relevant publication fee.
The publication fees of the claims and the amended/limited specification of the European patent are TRY 8,960 and TRY 5,980, respectively, in 2024.
Patent Attorney Requirement
Applicants, who reside outside of Turkey, must be represented by a Turkish patent attorney. However, it is not required to submit a power of attorney for a validation application. For us to access all information required for the filing, we will only need the application number of the relevant European patent.
For further queries, please contact:
Dogukan Berk Aksoy, LL.M.
Attorney at Law | Trademark Attorney | Patent Attorney
T: 0 (312) 969 09 63