When the first plant varieties law came into force in Turkey?
The Plant Varieties Law came into force on 15.01.2004 in Turkey.
Is Turkey a member of UPOV?
Yes. Turkey became one of the members of UPOV on 18 November 2007.
Which governmental bodies are responsible for prosecuting and registering the applications for plant varieties?
General Directorate of Plant Production (BÜGEM) and Variety Registration and Seed Certification Center (TTSM).
What is the protection term for plant varieties in Turkey?
The protection term is 25 years from the registration date. This term is 30 years for trees, vines and potatoes.
Who can file applications for plant varieties and obtain protection of plant varieties in Turkey?
Turkish citizens and the citizens of the member states of UPOV can file applications and obtain registration for plant varieties in Turkey.
Is it required to appoint a representative if the applicant’s address is not in Turkey?
Applicants not having a domicile, seat or establishment in Turkey should appoint a procedural representative residing in Turkey by Power of Attorney legalized by Apostille or Turkish Consulate if the applicant country is not a member of Hague Convention (Apostille Convention).
What are the requirements for protection of Plant Breeders’ Rights?
There are four basic requirements for protection of a variety under PBR, which are:
(i) Novelty,
(ii) Distinctiveness,
(iii) Uniformity, and
(iv) Stability.
Which information and documents are required for filing application for Plant Breeders’ Rights?
1. Formal and technical information, i.e.
− Turkish and Latin denomination of the variety in the botanical taxon.
− Denomination of the variety or provisional denomination used by the breeder.
− Priority date and the territory if priority is claimed.
- Technical properties of the variety.
− Information and document regarding the prior commercial exploitation if it has taken place.
− Payment receipt of the filing fee,
− Geographical origin of the variety.
2. A certified copy of the priority document, if any priority is claimed.
3. High-resolution photos of the variety in colour which indicate the characteristics of variety.
4. Power of Attorney notarized and legalized by Apostille.
5. Assignment of rights (covering the name and address of the breeder and the indication how the rights were acquired) if the applicant is not the breeder.
6. A description of plant variety.
7. The document of the first commercial use, i.e. a copy of invoice (signed & stamped, including name & duty of signor) and a declaration for first commercial use (signed & stamped, including name & duty of signor).
What is the novelty condition in terms of the first commercial use?
The variety will be novel if the variety is not made available to the public or sold for the purposes of commercial exploitation by the right owner or by anyone with the consent of the right owner:
- within Turkey for more than one year before the date of application;
- outside Turkey for more than four (4) years or, in the case of trees and vines six (6) years, before the date of application.
What is the priority claim period?
Priority claim period is 12 months from the date of the application filed in a member country of UPOV Convention. In that case, the application date filed in Turkey will be the first application date in the UPOV country.
What are the requirements for claiming priority right?
Applicant should inform the Office that he/she would like to benefit from the priority right originating from his/her first application. If the Office consider it necessary, it can ask the applicant to submit the legalized copies of the application documents of the priority application with their translations as well as samples and evidences proving that the variety which is subject of both applications are the same.
What is the scope of the formal examination?
The formal examination is conducted in view of whether the documents and information for the acceptance of the application have been duly provided.
Is there any possibility to correct any deficiency or mistake?
If there is any deficiency or mistake, the Office ask the applicant to remove the deficiencies or correct the mistakes within one month (non-extentable). If the deficiency is not removed within due date, the application is deemed to be withdrawn irrevocably.
In which aspects are the substantive examination conducted?
The substantive examination is conducted in respect of the following questions:
- Is the variety novel?
- Is the applicant entitled for application?
- Is the denomination proposed for the variety in compliance with the requirements by the Law?
If the Office finds that the variety is in good order after examination, the application is put in the Register and an application number is allocated.
If the Office finds any deficiency in terms of the above questions, the application is refused without any possibility of appealing before the Office (Note: the refusal decision is subject to judicial check if a court action is taken within 2 months from the refusal decision).
Exceptionally, the Office ask the applicant to give a new denomination within 30 days from the notification of the refusal if the application is refused on the grounds that the designated denomination does not comply with the requirements of the Law.
What is the publication period of application for a variety?
Applications are, for the purpose of opposition, published within 30 days as from their being put on Register after the substantive examination.
In what aspects are technical examination performed?
If no impediment is found after the substantive examination, the Office arranges for technical examination.
The technical examination is conducted for:
- confirming that the variety belongs to the designated botanical taxon,
- determining the distinctness, uniformity and stability of the variety,
- preparing the variety characteristics document if the variety is found distinct, uniform and stable.
Which authority is authorized to conduct technical examinations?
The technical examinations can be conducted by
- any main Offices of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, any Offices related to the Ministry or any offices which are not related to the Ministry but appointed by the Ministry, or
- the applicant if the Ministry considers it appropriate.
Can technical examinations be based on the tests conducted in other countries?
The technical examinations can be established on the tests, namely DUS tests, conducted by the authorized Offices of the member states of the UPOV. However, these tests should be conducted in the countries the agricultural climate conditions of which are similar to or same as those of Turkey.
If the technical examination is requested to be established based on the DUS tests conducted in other UPOV countries, when should they be submitted to the Office?
The DUS tests are required to be submitted along with the application. If the authorized Office of the member state of the UPOV does not provide the DUS test to the applicant (as known that the UPOV’s common practice is that such reports are only exchangeable between the national authorities upon the payment of a transmittal fee), the Office can, upon the request of the applicant, communicate with the authorized Office of UPOV state and request the transmittal of the DUS tests.
If the DUS tests are not completed, the applicant should fill in and sign the technical examination questionnaire and file it with the Office at the time of application together with the payment of the technical examination fees for further examination in Turkey.
How are the grant procedures handled after the completion of the technical examination?
Once the technical examination is completed, the test agency send the technical examination report to a special committee, which is consisted of experts of various related organizations and offices in view of the plant groups and named Committee for Registering Plant Breeders’ Rights. The Office arranges this Committee and send the technical examination report to each of said organizations and offices consisting the Committee and subsequently invite the Committee to meet for elaborating the technical examination report. This Committee grants Certificate of the Plant Breeders’ Rights.
Is the registration of the plant varieties published?
Yes, the registration is published within 30 days as from the registration date for the opposition purposes.
What are the conditions for denominating a variety?
The denominations should be made considering the following rules as prescribed by the Regulation:
1.The denomination may consist of a meaningful or meaningless word or group of words, words and numbers, or letters and numbers, provided that it allows the variety to be recognized.
2.The denomination proposed for the variety should be of a different name than the other varieties or the recognition of the variety should be sufficient in terms of linguistics.
3.The denomination should not contain any expressions contrary to public order and general morality.
4.The denomination should not consist of signs indicating the species, quality, quantity, purpose, value, geographical origin or production date in the plant varieties and seed sector not only in the Turkish languages but also in the languages of the contracting countries of the UPOV convention.
6.The denomination should not be misleading or confusing with respect to the relationship between the variety and the breeder or applicant in terms of geographical origin, value or characteristics of the variety.
7.In the proposed denomination of the variety, there should be no elements preventing a trademark from being obtained in respect of the products related to the variety in terms of trademark legislation.
8.If a denomination is used for the variety registered in a country which is a party to the UPOV Convention, applications for breeders' rights should be made under this denomination and the variety is registered under this denomination. Where another denominations are also used the same variety in other countries , those denominations used in other countries are also recorded in the application registry and the registry of the breeders’ rights. The same also applies to previously registered varieties in Turkey.
9. The proposed denomination for the variety cannot be identical or confusingly similar to the denominations of the same and similar varieties which were registered and is used in Turkey or the contracting parties of UPOV Convention.
10. Anyone who sells, markets or otherwise uses the propagation material of the protected variety must use the denomination of the variety. This also includes mainly derived varieties. Even if the breeders’ rights are terminated, the denomination of the variety must be used.
11. Prior rights of third parties with respect to the use of the protected variety are reserved. Because of the previous rights of third parties, if the use of the denomination of the variety is prohibited to the person who has to use this variety, the General Directorate will ask the breeder or the right holder to propose a new denomination for the variety.
12. The use of the denomination proposed for the variety can only be used together with the trade mark, trade name or other similar marks provided that the denomination is written so to be easily identifiable.
Which varieties are protectable in Turkey?
All the varieties and species listed under the code system of UPOVcan be protected in Turkey.
When should annuities or renewal fees be paid for the registered plant varieties?
The annuities or renewal fees should be paid within the month of January of every year. In the case of failure, the rights for plant varieties are lapsed.
Is there any grace period to still pay annuities or renewal fees if they are not paid in due time?
No, there is no grace period.
Is there any possibility for re-establishing the the rights of plant varieties lapsed due to the failure to pay the annuities or renewal fees in due time?
The re-establishment of the rights are possible provided that the failure has been caused by a force majeur. The request for re-establishing the rights due to force majeur should be filed within 6 months as from the date of publication regarding the termination .