Pursuant to Article 107(2) of the Industrial Property Code No. 6769 (“Code”), applicants or holders of a patent may request the re-establishment of rights if they have, despite taking all due care required by the circumstances, failed to observe a time limit set by the Turkish Patent and Trademark Office ("TPTO"), resulting in the rejection, withdrawal, invalidation, or any other loss of rights regarding the patent or patent application.

Deadline for the Request

The request must be filed with the TPTO within two months from the removal of the cause of non-compliance, and no later than one year from the expiry of the missed time limit.

The request must be submitted with a petition and any supporting documentation (with Turkish translation, if applicable) evidencing the reason for non-compliance.

Admissibility of the Request

Neither the Code nor any secondary legislation explicitly defines which causes are considered admissible. Each case must be evaluated on its own merits.

However, examples cited in the Guidelines for Examination of the European Patent Office (1) —such as sudden illness, organizational disruptions, or a failure in the monitoring system—may also be accepted as valid grounds in Turkey

Even where the cause is admissible, it must also be proven that all due care required by the circumstances was taken.

If the TPTO grants the request, its decision will be published in the Official Patent Bulletin. If the request is rejected, the decision may be challenged by filing a cancellation action before the Ankara Civil Court of Intellectual and Industrial Property Rights.

Situation for PCT National Phase Entries and European Patent Validations in Turkey

The TPTO accepts requests for re-establishment of rights from PCT applicants who failed to enter the national phase in Turkey within the applicable deadlines (i.e., 30 months from the priority date, or 33 months if an extension fee was paid).

However, for European Patent validations, the TPTO does not accept requests for re-establishment of rights where the validation application was not filed within the three-month period following publication of the grant. According to the TPTO, Article 107 of the Code applies only to applications and patents that already have a national effect in Turkey. If a European patent is not validated within the prescribed time, the TPTO argues that it does not acquire such effect.

Nevertheless, this position may be challenged before Turkish courts, based on the argument that the European Patent Convention (EPC)—particularly Articles 64, 66, and 67—recognizes national effects of European patents. Moreover, Article 90(5) of the Turkish Constitution provides that in case of a conflict between national law and international agreements concerning fundamental rights (such as property rights), international agreements shall prevail.