KINDS OF PATENTS
National patent
Under the present law two kinds of national Turkish patents may be distinguished, namely, 20-year patents and 7-year patents, depending upon whether or not the establishment of a novelty search report has been requested and the search fee in respect of the application on which the patent was granted has been paid in time.
Where a 7-year patent has been granted following a procedure of grant without substantive examination, within the period of 7 years from its filing date a substantive examination can be requested as yet, in which case a patent with a duration of 20 years from the original filing date may be granted if the conditions therefore are found fulfilled during the substantive examination; an advantage of this system (compared to a deferred examination system) is, that in such case patent protection exists also prior to the grant of the 20-year patent, under the patent granted for the 7-year term.
European patent Turkey is a party to the European Patent Convention since November 1, 2000. Consequently it is possible to obtain patent protection for Turkey in the form of a European patent International (PCT) patent It is possible to obtain patent protection for Turkey in the form of a PCT patent since January 1, 1996 (to be applied for in a national patent application or in a PCT international application designating Turkey). Patents of addition The owner of a main patent application may apply for the grant of a patent of addition for the protection of an invention sharing the overall inventive concept of the main invention and improving or developing the invention of the main patent. The invention for which a patent of addition is sought need not involve an inventive step over the invention of the main application. Applications for a patent of addition may be filed until a decision on the main application is made; if the main application is refused, no patent of addition can be granted. Secret patents The law provides for the grant of secret patents. During two months from filing the contents of each patent application will be kept secret (except if the Patent Institute decides to disclose the contents earlier). Said period may be extended up to five months from filing if the invention is considered of importance for the national defence. A copy of the application will in such case be forwarded to the Ministry of National Defence. The said Ministry may prior to expiration of said five-month period request the secret prosecution of the application. Patents issued under secrecy rule are entered in the special Register of Secret Patents and kept secret for one year from grant; the secrecy period may be extended with one-year periods (except in times of war and until expiration of one year from the end of the war situation, when secrecy will be maintained without one-year extensions being required). The secrecy of a patent or patent application may be lifted by the Patent Institute with the authorization of the Ministry of National Defence at any time. No annual fees are due on a secret patent.