Turkish Supreme Court Rules on Missed European Patent Validation Deadlines

The Turkish Supreme Court has issued an important decision addressing whether the restoration of rights mechanism under Article 107 of the Turkish Industrial Property Code can be used to remedy missed European patent validation deadlines in Türkiye.

In its decision dated 17 March 2025 (11th Civil Chamber, Case No. 2024/2156 E., Decision No. 2025/1875 K.), the Court held that the restoration of rights provisions applicable to national patent procedures do not extend to European patent validations.

Background

The dispute concerned a European patent for which validation formalities in Türkiye were completed after the applicable deadline had expired.

The patent proprietor argued that instructions had been provided before the deadline and that the delay resulted from circumstances occurring during the validation process. Following notification from TÜRKPATENT that the patent was deemed invalid in Türkiye due to the missed deadline, the proprietor requested restoration of rights under Article 107(2) of the Industrial Property Code.

The request was rejected by the Re-examination and Evaluation Board (YİDK), leading to judicial review proceedings.

Lower Courts Accepted the Claim

The First Instance Court and the Regional Court of Appeal both concluded that European patent applications should be treated similarly to national patent applications for the purposes of restoration of rights.

The courts considered that a European patent application designating Türkiye should benefit from the remedial mechanisms available under Article 107 of the Industrial Property Code and therefore annulled the YİDK decision.

Supreme Court’s Analysis

The Supreme Court overturned the lower court decisions.

According to the Court, the validation of European patents in Türkiye is governed by a special legal framework consisting of the European Patent Convention and the Regulation on the Implementation of the European Patent Convention in Türkiye.

The Court emphasized that the regulation requires the Turkish translation of the European patent specification to be filed within the prescribed validation period and permits an additional three-month extension only if requested within the original deadline.

The Court further held that:

The validation deadline is a strict statutory deadline;
Failure to comply results in the European patent being deemed invalid in Türkiye from the outset;
The legal consequences of missing the validation deadline are specifically regulated under the European patent validation framework;
Article 107 of the Industrial Property Code applies to national patent procedures and cannot be used to revive missed European patent validation deadlines.

As a result, the Court concluded that TÜRKPATENT had correctly rejected the request for restoration of rights.

Significance

The decision is one of the first Turkish Supreme Court rulings to directly address the relationship between the European patent validation system and the restoration of rights provisions contained in the Industrial Property Code.

The judgment draws a clear distinction between national patent procedures and European patent validations, confirming that the remedies available under Article 107 are not applicable to missed validation deadlines.

For patent proprietors, the decision highlights the importance of carefully monitoring validation deadlines and ensuring that all translation and validation requirements are completed within the prescribed time limits, as failure to do so may result in the permanent loss of patent protection in Türkiye.