Utility model protection is not suitable for every invention

A Turkish utility model may be relevant for eligible technical products, but subject-matter exclusions and the absence of a patent-style inventive-step test do not remove the need for novelty and a clear enabling disclosure.

We compare patent and utility model routes against the technical subject, expected product life, prior art and foreign filing plan. The specification and claims are drafted for the selected right rather than copied from a product brochure.

Where the same technical development may support both immediate Turkish protection and later foreign filings, timing is reviewed before choosing the utility model route. Priority, conversion options and subject-matter eligibility should be understood before the initial specification is submitted.

Your instruction and fee scope

Send the technical disclosure and priority details before choosing the route. The proposal identifies eligibility review, specification work, translation and filing; later prosecution and annual fees are stated separately.

Initial protection review

We review the technical subject matter, applicant details and available specification before confirming the appropriate Turkish filing route.

What the service covers

Document and formalities review
Preparation and filing of the application
Coordination of Turkish translation requirements
Official correspondence and status reporting

Information we need

Send the description, claims, drawings, abstract, applicant and inventor details, priority information and the intended filing date.

Claims and disclosure must be reviewed together

A utility model specification must support the technical features later relied on in the claims. Before filing, we compare the proposed claim language with the description and drawings, identify unsupported generalisations and clarify alternative embodiments. This review is important because material that was not disclosed at filing cannot simply be added when an objection or validity question arises.

Clear scope before instruction

After the initial review, we provide a case-specific document list, procedural outline and fee proposal.

Utility model eligibility, term and documents

A Turkish utility model must be new and industrially applicable; the patent-style inventive-step requirement does not apply. Its maximum term is ten years from filing, subject to annual fees, and cannot be renewed beyond that term.

Excluded subjects include chemical and biological substances and processes and their resulting products, pharmaceutical substances and processes and their resulting products, biotechnological inventions, and processes or products obtained by those processes. General patent exclusions also apply.

Send an enabling technical description, claims, drawings and abstract, applicant and inventor details and any priority record. We assess eligibility before choosing the utility model route; a shorter procedure does not make an ineligible subject protectable.

Official reference: Industrial Property Code — Articles 101 and 142

Utility Model Application in Turkey