NEWS & UPDATES

TURKPATENT established a public company for commercialization of the IP rights

Turkish Patent and Trademark Office (TURKPATENT) has established a public company for commercializing the industrial property rights, i.e. patents, utility models, trademarks, designs and geographical signs. The company is named "Turkish Industrial Property Valuation and Consulting Engineering Services Inc. (TÜRKSMD).”

In an interview with Anadolu Agency, the President of TURKPATENT has stated that Turkey has currently 1 million 600 thousand registered industrial property inventory and they are passively staying on the shelves and have not been passed on to the real sector, the established companies will contribute to the transfer to the real sector of the property products.

The objective of TÜRKSMD is to assess industrial property assets of the real and legal entities and ensure commercialization of the patented work growing out of R & D.

Ankara-based Company will provide the following services:

• Providing venture capital, investment trusts, funds, and joint finance to the start-ups supported by angel investors.
• Providing valuation and consultancy services in the field of industrial property, training and accreditation activities for institutions, organizations and initiatives, and expertise services in valuing industrial property rights.
• Preparing feasibility reports for the selection of computer software and hardware for the public, private and legal entities and will provide R & D activities, engineering, consultancy, training, support and service.
• Providing all kinds of engineering services both in Turkey and abroad. TÜRKSMD will provide engineering services for the creation, development and revision of the intellectual and industrial rights, and will carry out the processes by providing advisory services within the registering and protection of the rights.
• Providing consulting services to government agencies, legal entities and real persons through the provision of national and international information on commercial and industrial relations, patents, utility models, trademarks, industrial rights, human relations, business administration, marketing, investment, globalization and finance.
• Conducting researches and preparing reports about the services in foreign countries and will provide consultancy services in the field of software consultancy, patent and trademark valuation services in view of the fields of international law and trade.

In order to realize its aims, TÜRKSMD will establish all kinds of partnerships with domestic and foreign capital companies at home and abroad.

TÜRKSMD will be able to enter the tender in and out of the country and use its rights by establishing facilities, buying, selling, renting businesses, exporting, importing goods and undertaking the projects. The Company will be also able to register and sell these licenses, patents, trademarks, designs and business rights, both directly and indirectly, on behalf of the Company, by the contracts.

Turkish inventions will be exhibited in Geneva

Turkish Patent and Trademark Office is participating in the 46th International Exhibition of Inventions of Geneva in Switzerland, from April 11th to April 15th, 2018, with three domestic inventors and their inventions. Various 1000 inventions of more than 700 participants from 45 countries will be introduced during the exhibition organized by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

The exhibition, attracting the attention of industrialists, investors, businessmen in search of innovation, allows the inventors to introduce their inventions and have financial support for commericalizing their inventions. In the exhibition, outstanding inventions are awarded in various categories.

In the last year's exhibition, Turkish inventors:

• İlter DENİZOĞLU won "Gold" prize and Special Award for Medical Science of Gulian University of Islamic Republic of Iran and special award of China's Delegation,
• Gül Bahar BAŞIM, Sabri Orçun ORHAN, Zeynep ÖZDEMİR, Özkan BEBEK won "Gold" prize and special award of Ministry of Scientific Research and Innovation of Romania,
• Ezgi YELEKOĞLU & Altuğ TOPRAK won the "Silver" prize and special award of China's Delegation.

The following inventions will be exhibited in the boot of Turkish Patent and Trademark Office during the exhibition of this year.

"Settable Pot" by Arife Sare AYDIN, Inventor

This invention relates to a pot containing a stirrer which is connected to the lid to allow the meal to be stirred at a constant speed while being cooked, and controlled by means of a setting mechanism. Said pot comprises a stirrer which performs the mixing process, a setting mechanism providing movement to said stirrer, and a lid on which the said components are carried.

"Desktop thermoelectric ice machine" by Raşit AHISKA, Inventor

This invention is an easily portable desktop thermoelectric ice machine which produces ice in a very short time by converting electrical energy from the electric network or battery directly into cold by means of a thermoelectric module consisting of N and P-type semiconductors without using intermediates. In the designed device, a small amount of clean water is automatically or manually placed in the high-heat-conducting ice container (cooler compartment) to produce ice within 1-3 minutes in a needed amount for cooling a person's drink, and the device is operated with a battery or mains voltage. 30-50 gr of ice, which is the average amount of ice needed to cool a drink in a beverage at one time, is herein produced in 1-3 minutes and can be served automatically or manually. The ice container of the device is cooled by a specially designed single thermoelectric module. Special battery or special SMPS power supply is used to operate the module. A special temperature control circuit is used to keep the device's electricity consumption to a minimum. A heat transfer system having a specially designed heat pipe is used to keep the heating surface of the module at ambient temperature.

"Road safety system for uneven roads" by Adnan Kal and Uğur Kal, Inventors

This invention relates to road safety system for uneven roads, by which the vehicles exceeding the speed limit are trembled and drawn to the level of the speed limit.

The decisions of Intellectual and Industrial Property Courts of Turkey will become electronically accessible

Ministry of Justice of Turkey has gradually started to give online access to the decisions of intellectual property and industrial property rights courts and the commercial civil courts for allowing the investors informed of the judicial processes.

As a beginning, the decisions of certain courts will be accessible. In course of time, the decisions of  all the commercial and intellectual and industrial property courts will be available to the public through the Ministry's online platform.

Ministry of Justice initiated the project, within the framework of the works of the Coordination Council for the Improvement of the Investment Environment (YOIKK) and the Ministry's Strategic Action Plan, in order for the business to reach the judicial decisions.

The project is aimed for providing transparency in commercial court cases and making those who are interested in investing in Turkey informed of the judicial process in the country.

Ministry has designated the city of Istanbul as pilot region and created a new data field within the National Judiciary Information System  (UYAP) for the publication of the decisions of the 34 Commercial Civil Courts and 4 Intellectual and Industrial Property Rights Civil Courts in Istanbul. The decisions of the said courts have been given access to through National Judiciary Information System (emsal.uyap.gov.tr).The decisions of five chambers of the Istanbul District Justice Court, which is the Second Instance Court, has been also provided access.

TURKPATENT has opened "Patent Training Unit" for the secondary and university students

In cooperation with Turkish Patent and Trademark Office (TÜRKPATENT) and General Directorate for Secondary Education of the Ministry of Education, a patent training unit (Patent Workshop) within the organizational body of TURKPATENT has been opened to provide interactive patent search and practice training for the secondary students and university students.

The unit will guide the students about patent applications, patentability issues, collecting patent information, accessing to patent information databases. The project is intended to be applied at all layers of education, including kindergartens, in the future.

TURKPATENT has brought clarification regarding the search and preliminary examination fees

Turkish Patent and Trademark Office (TURKPATENT) has announced that the applicants of the international patent applications (so-called PCT applications) should pay the search and preliminary examination fees in PCT Fee Tables declared by World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) where TURKPATENT is designated as International Search Authority (ISEA) or International Preliminary Examination Authority (IPEA). TURKPATENT has also officially stated that the search and preliminary examination fees include VAT. The announcement has taken place in Turkish Official Gazette dated 13 February 2018 and will be valid as from 01 January 2018.

Turkey is expanding the scope of its Patent Support Program to increase the patenting activity in the country

Patent Support Program, which is conducted in cooperation with The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK) and Turkish Patent and Trademark Office (TURKPATENT), has been amended.

TUBITAK and TURKPATENT signed a new protocol on February 08, 2018 to expand the scope of the patent supports.

Within the scope of the Program, all the costs for international patent applications and international search reports under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) will be funded by TUBITAK provided that Turkish applicants select TURKPATENT as International Search Authority (ISEA) and International Examination Authority (IPEA).

With the amendment of the Program, TUBITAK has included China and South Korea among the countries (USA, EPO, JAPAN) in which the costs for patent applications filed by Turkish citizens or those whose place of business are located in Turkey are supported.

TUBITAK has also substantively increased the amount of the funds paid to Turkish Patent Attorneys / Turkish Patent Agents for their professional development and supporting the inventors.

The cooperation between TUBITAK and TURKPATENT also contributes to the development of TURKPATENT's strong position among international patent offices

The numbers of patent applications filed in Turkey and in the world by the Turkish applicants are quite a low, compared to trademark and design applications of the country. Turkey would like to promote inventive activity and patenting activity by developing new innovation programs.

Summit on Artificial Intelligence, Industry 4.0. and Intellectual Property Law to be held on February 12^th, 2018

"Summit on Artificial Intelligence, Industry 4.0. and Intellectual Property Law", organized by Research and Application Center for Intellectual and Industrial Rights (FISAUM) of Ankara University in Turkey, will be held on Februay 12th, 2018. During the summit, the facts of AI and Industry 4.0.will be academically discussed for the first time in Turkey in the context of general legal aspects and of intellectual property law in particular. Please click here for the poster of the Summit.

Turkey tops trademark filings in Europe in 2017

Prof. Dr. Habib Asan, the President of Turkish Patent and Trademark Office (TURKPATENT), has given an interview regarding the industrial property activities and statistics in 2017 to Turkey's official news agency, Anadolu Agency (AA), on 26 January 2017.

Here are the highlights from the President's interview with the AA:

• Total 121,108 trademark applications, (of which 106,099 are domestic and 15,009 are foreign) were filed last year. 88% of total trademark applications are of native origin and the number of the application increased 13% compared to the previous year 2016. With these figures, Turkey has once again become the country in Europe where the highest numbers of trademark applications were filed the last year.
• Total of 19,283 patent applications were filed with TURKPATENT in 2017, of which 8,625 are domestic and 10,658 are foreign. With those figures, domestic patent applications increased by 34 percent compared to 2016. The increase rate is a pleasing development, as total 50 thousand patent applications are aimed for till 2023 in parallel to Turkey's 2023 goals declared by the Turkish Government.
• Total 3,320 utility model applications, of which 3,256 are domestic and 64 are foreign, were filed in 2017.
• Total 46,853 design applications, of which 39,172 are domestic and 1,066 are foreign (made through WIPO), were filed in 2017 in Turkey.
• Total 12,424 patent applications (1,964 domestic and 10,460 foreign), 85,573 trademark applications (77,394 domestic and 8,179 foreign), 44,214 design applications (37,280 domestic and 6,934 foreign), and 2,088 utility model applications (2,014 domestic and 74 foreign) were registered in 2017 in Turkey.
• TURKPATENT performed 7,259 searches and examinationS in 2017.
• Turkey has issued important laws and regulations in 2017, such as Industrial Property Code.

Turkish Plant Variety Office has announced its new schedule of fees for 2018.

Turkish Plant Variety Office (also known as Central Directorate for Seed Registry and Certification (TTSMO)) announces its schedule of fees at the beginning of each year. The Office has announced its new schedule of fees on 17 January 2018. The schedule of fees can be found by clicking here.

The Office has also published a separate announcement regarding the requirement for the payment of annuities of the plant varieties which were registered in the earlier years. It calls the owners of the plant varieties to pay the annuities till 31 January 2018 and inform the Office of the payment. The Office has published a list covering all the registered plant varieties and the required amount of annuities for each registered varieties. The list can be downloaded here

Twitter's long struggle to register Periscope in Turkey.

Twitter is not able to register its brand Periscope for live broadcasting and streaming services in Turkey.

The recent court decision has confirmed that the trademark application filed by Twitter for Periscope is not allowable due to earlier registered trademark rights of third parties.

Twitter filed a trademark application in Classes 9, 35, 38, 41, 42, 45 for Periscope in 2015 in Turkey. Turkish Patent and Trademark Office (TURKPATENT) only allowed registration of the mark "Periscope" for the services commercial data analysis and commercial advisory in Class 35 after ex-officio decision based on absolute grounds and long opposition proceedings due to oppositions filed by third parties. Subsequently, Twitter filed revocation action against the decision of TURKPATENT before Intellectual and Industrial Property Rights Civil Court of Ankara (Court No. 2 - First Instance Court). The First Instance Court has recently confirmed that the decision of TURKPATENT is in place, and refused Twitter's claims. Twitter can bring the case to Second Instance Court for further consideration.

Twitter is currently unable to broadcast under the brand name of Periscope in Turkey. Instead, it uses the brand name Scope, Twitter user name @prscptr and the domain name www.pscp.tv for its live stream and broadcasting services in Turkey due to another ongoing court action (infringement action) filed by a local company holding trademark registration for Periscope in classes 38 and 41 since 2010.

Turkish Patent and Trademark Office has announced its performance goals for 2018.

Turkish Patent and Trademark Office (TURKPATENT) conventionally announces its performance goals and objectives at the beginning of each year. TURKPATENT has released its Performance Document on 11 January 2018.

In the preface of the Document, Chief Executive of TURKPATENT states that the document covers 48 activities which are planned to be performed within the scope of 17 targets which were determined for 5 strategic goals.

The Document covers two main parts, i.e. General Information and Performance Information, each of which is detailed below.

General Information

The Performance Document states the powers, duties and responsibilities of TURKPATENT with an organizational chart (as below) and provides actual details regarding the departmental structure, status of human and physical resources and inventory of TURKPATENT .

The Document reports some important tasks and projects completed in 2017 and projects a series of new tasks and goals in 2018, several of which are summarized below:

• Technology Infrastructure of the Office has been strengthened in 2017 for shortening the proceedings and decreasing the errors.
• Integration of the archive of the Office into Electronic Document, Process and Archive Management has continued during 2017 and the completion of the integration is planned in December 2018.
• Telephone system has been modernized by new technology IP system.
• The use of Electronic Document Archive Management System (EBAYS) used for internal and external correspondences will be continued in 2018.
• A new generation data storage unit will be purchased in 2018.
• Critical data is planned to be kept in a separate data center to avoid any loss of data due to possible natural disasters.
• Certificate of Management System for Information Security (TS ISO 27001) is aimed to be obtained in 2018.
• The Office has 470 employees according to data in September 2017.
• It is planned to employ new patent examiners to increase capacity of the Office for international search and examinations*, new examiners for geographical indications to work in the newly established Division of Geographical Indications, one Legal Consultant for developing laws and regulations, and one lawyer to represent the Office before the Courts during 2018.

Performance Information

The part of Performance Information of the Document refers to the following Fundamental Policies and Priorities for performing the goals and objectives of TURKPATENT in 2018.

• Turkey's 10th Development Plan (2014-2018), which mainly aims to increase human and institutional capacity of the public sector to protect intellectual property rights, raise service capacity of the technology transfer offices and innovation centers, commercialize intellectual property rights, and raise public awareness on intellectual property right by publicity.
• Program of 65th Government of Turkey, which projects establishment of Patent Bourse.
• National Intellectual Property Rights Strategy Paper and Action Plan (2015-2018) of Turkey, which basically aims law and enforcement improvement and effective inspection and protection of intellectual rights, commercialization of intellectual property rights, raising public awareness on intellectual property rights.
• Geographical Indications Strategy Paper and Action Plan (2015-2018) of Turkey, which mainly aims to develop the laws and regulations for GIs, increase the institutional capacity of the public establishments dealing with the GIs, create an effective inspection system for GIs, develop marketing strategies to increase the added values of the GIs.

Subsequently, the Document quotes the mission and vision statements of TURKPATENT :

Mission
Contributing to the effective protection and commercialization of industrial property rights and serving to the economic and technological development of our country by increasing the awareness of industrial property in all layers of the society and being active in international platforms in the field of industrial property.

Vision
Being an Office contributing to the improvement of Turkey's intellectual capital and innovation capacity and giving direction to national and international policy in industrial property

Performance Document states the following strategic objectives of TURKPATENT :

• Performing the services in respect of the industrial property rights in a qualified, effective and rapid manner.
• Increasing the industrial property awareness in all layers of the society.
• Converting industrial property into economic benefit.
• Being active in the international arena and being guide to the country in the industrial property issues.
• Consolidating the institutional capacity.

Finally, the Document comprehensively states the performance goals and objectives for 2018. Each performance goal has its own performance indicators and performance activities for its realization. The primary performance goals of TURKPATENT are being provided below:

• Measures will be taken to increase customer satisfaction in the services provided by the Office.
• The alignment between the Office's decisions and the judicial decisions will be enhanced.
• All services will be provided electronically.
• It will be contributed to the improvement of the attorney system.
• The level of awareness of patents, trademarks, designs, geographical indications and traditional product names will be raised in the public.
• Scientific studies in the field of industrial property will be supported.
• It will be contributed to the commercialization of inventions.
• Situational analysis regarding the impact of branding on development will be made and branding awareness will be increased and thus its the impact on development will be encouraged.
• It will be contributed to increasing the effect of geographical indications and development of traditional products.
• It will be contributed to the creation of original designs.
• The capacity to establish international patent search and examination reports will be increased.
• It will be contributed to increasing the effectiveness of platforms bringing together industrial property stakeholders.
• International events will be followed to increase the efficiency of the country in intellectual property matters.
• The human resources infrastructure of the Office will be strengthened.
• The technological infrastructure of the Office will be strengthened.
• The physical infrastructure will be strengthened to increase institutional capacity.
• A planned work culture will be developed within the Office.

To put it in a nutshell, TURKPATENT is aiming to use the electronic means, promote the knowledge and capacity of human resources and improve infrastructure for high quality and fast services in 2018 and the following years in view of the newly released Strategy Document (2018-2022) covering the activities and actions which are planned between 2018 and 2022.

The Performance Document can be reached by clicking here.

*Turkish Patent and Trademark Office has become International Search and Examination Authority in 2016.

Vocational qualification exams for becoming Turkish patent and trademark attorney to be held on January 21, 2018.

The candidates who passed the general qualification exams for becoming Turkish patent attorney and trademark attorney held on November 11, 2017 will take their vocational qualification exams on January 21, 2018.

Vocational qualification exam for becoming Turkish patent attorney will cover open-ended questions regarding national and international laws and practices of patents, utility models, integrated circuit topographies, designs and geographical indications.

Vocational qualification exam for becoming Turkish trademark attorney will cover open-ended questions regarding national and international laws and practices of trademarks, integrated circuit topographies, designs and geographical indications.

Payment periods for renewal fees of Turkish trademarks and designs will change from January 10, 2018

New Industrial Property Code came into force last year on January 10, 2017 in Turkey.

The Code prescribes the followings for the trademark and designs renewal fee due dates:

• Renewal fees for trademarks shall be due on the anniversary day of the filing date every ten years.
• Renewal fees for designs shall be due on the anniversary day of the filing date every five years .

According to Old Trademark and Design Decree Laws (Decree Law No. 554 and Decree Law No. 555 ), it was possible to pay the renewal fees for trademarks and designs on the last day of the month covering the anniversary day of the filing date.

New Industrial Property Code prescribed a period of transition, which keeps the provisions of Old Decree Laws applicable regarding the due dates throughout twelve months from the date of entry into force of New Industrial Property Code, which means between January 10, 2017 and January 10, 2018.

The period of transition will end on January 10, 2018 and the renewal fees due for trademarks and designs on and after that date should be paid on the anniversary day of the filing date of trademarks and designs.