Entrepreneur's Handbook
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY REGISTRATION PROCESSES ³
As stated before, Intellectual Property Rights are divided into Copyrights and Industrial Rights. In order for these rights to legally provide the necessary privileges to their owners, legal processes must be carried out. These legal processes are generally called registration procedures.
Copyrights arise spontaneously with the creation of the work. In this respect, unlike Industrial Rights, there is no need for a separate registration process in order to obtain protection. However, administrative processes regarding the copyright application are carried out by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism's General Directorate of Copyright. In this direction, authors can register their works through the "Optional Registration Process".
The Optional Registration Process, which is carried out on the works, is a declaration-based process that is not compulsory to be done in order to make it easier to determine who created the work, does not cause any loss of rights when not done and does not give any rights to the person. The document given as a result of this process makes it easy to prove who the owner of the work (person or persons creating the work) is.
Copyright protection is valid as long as the author lives. However, protection continues for 70 years after the death of the owner.
Industrial Rights such as Patent, Utility model, Brand and Design are registered by the Turkish Patent and Trademark Office (TÜRKPATENT) as a national institution. Detailed information about the registration processes of Industrial Property Rights is given below.
3.1. Patent Registration Process
The patent registration gives the owner the authority to prevent the unauthorized production, sale, use or import of the invention by third parties for a limited period and place. In order for an invention to be protected (registered) with a patent, it must meet the patentability criteria. These criteria are innovation, inventive step and applicability to industry (Table 13.1).
* In utility model applications, the "invention step" criterion is not taken into account.
Inventions that do not meet the patentability criteria cannot be protected by patent registration. However, other applications outside the scope of patent protection can be grouped as follows. Patent registration is not possible for the applications made in these matters.
3.1.1. Subjects that cannot be patented because they are not inventive
- Discoveries, scientific theories, mathematical methods. (A shortcut method for division is not an invention. However, a calculator that works according to this method can be considered as an invention.)
- Plans, rules and methods regarding mental activities, business activities or games. (A new language learning method is not an invention. However, a new device for teaching languages can be considered as an invention.)
- Bilgisayar programları.
- Estetik niteliği bulunan mahsuller, edebiyat ve sanat eserleri ile bilim eserleri.
- Bilginin sunumu.
3.1.2. Inventions that cannot be protected by patent even though they are inventive
- Inventions whose subject is contrary to public order or general morality.
- Biological processes for plant or animal production with plant varieties or animal breeds, excluding microbiological processes or products obtained as a result of these processes.
- All treatment methods including diagnostic methods and surgical methods to be applied to the human or animal body.
- Only the discovery of one of the elements of the human body, including the human body and a gene sequence or partial gene sequence at various stages of its formation and development.
- Human cloning processes, processes of changing the genetic identity of the human germline, the use of human embryos for industrial or commercial purposes, genetic identity changes that can cause suffering to animals without significant medical benefit to humans or animals, and animals obtained as a result of these processes.
The authorized institution for national patent registration in Turkey is TÜRKPATENT. In this context, national patent registration applications are made to TÜRKPATENT. In addition, international patent registration applications within the scope of PCT (Patent Cooperation Treaty - Patent Cooperation Treaty) can also be made through TÜRKPATENT.
In this section, information will be given about the national patent registration process, apart from the international patent registration process. Accordingly, the national patent registration process can be briefly summarized as follows (Figure 13.2):
A similar registration process is followed for the Petty Patent, which is another type of protection used for inventions. However, there is no inspection report in the Petty Patent registration process. In addition, the protection period for the patent is 20 years from the date of application, while this period is 10 years for the Petty Patent. These periods cannot be extended.
3.2. Trademark Registration Process
The authorized institution for national trademark registration in Turkey is TÜRKPATENT. In this context, national trademark registration applications are made to TÜRKPATENT. The trademark registration process can be briefly summarized as follows (Figure 13.3):
The trademark protection period is 10 years from the date of application and can be extended in ten-year periods if the registration is renewed. Brands whose registrations are not renewed within six months from the end of the protection period are considered void.
3.3. Design Registration Process
In order for a design to be protected by design registration, it must meet the innovation and distinctive quality criteria (Table 13.2).
Designs that do not meet these two criteria cannot be protected by design registration. However, other applications outside the scope of design registration protection can be grouped as follows. Design registration is not possible for applications made in these matters:
- Designs that do not conform to the design and product description.
- New and non-distinctive designs.
- Designs contrary to public order or general morality.
- Designs with appearance features necessitated by the technical function of the product.
- Designs that have to be produced in certain shapes and sizes in order to mechanically mount or connect the product on which the design is used or applied to another product.
- Signs of sovereignty included within the scope of the 2nd repeating article 6 of the Paris Convention and designs that are excluded from this scope but are of public interest, have become public in terms of religious, historical and cultural values and do not allow the relevant authorities to register.
- Designs involving improper use of signs, coats of arms, insignia or naming.
- Designs covering subjects such as production management, purpose of use of the product, technical benefits and functional features of the product.
The authorized institution for national design registration in Turkey is TÜRKPATENT. In this context, national design registration applications are made to TÜRKPATENT. The design registration process can be briefly summarized as follows (Figure 13.4):
With design registration, the appearance features of a product or object are protected. The protection period of registered designs is 5 years from the date of application. However, this period can be extended up to 25 years by being renewed in periods of five years.
3.4. Geographical Indication Registration Process
Although the production and marketing of the registered geographical indication and traditional product name can be made by anyone who meets the requirements, not everyone has the right to apply for registration. The natural or legal persons listed below can apply for Geographical Indication:
- Producer groups.
- Public institutions and organizations related to the product or the geographical area from which the product originates, and professional organizations that qualify as public institutions.
- Associations, foundations and cooperatives working in the public interest in relation to the product or authorized to protect the economic interests of their members.
- If the product has only one manufacturer, the manufacturer concerned, provided that he proves this.
There are some names and signs that cannot be registered within the scope of Geographical Indication registration. In this context, the following cannot be registered as Geographical Indications:
- Names that do not conform to the definition of origin name or sign of origin.
- Names that became the real names of the products.
- Plant species and varieties, animal breeds or similar names that may mislead the public about the true origin of the product.
- Names that are against public order or general morality.
- In applications originating from foreign countries, names that are not protected in their own country, whose protection is terminated or are not used, although their application has been made by persons who meet the conditions specified in the law.
- Names that are fully or partially identical to a registered or applied geographical indication and that may mislead the consumer.
Geographical Sign registration is not made for a certain period of time. Since there is no protection period, there is no renewal process of the protection period as in other registration protections. It is aimed to protect the quality of the product related to the registration of the geographical indication. For this reason, beyond being a right granted to a person or persons, it has a local quality.