Frequently Asked Questions
It is a type of monopoly right that allows only the owner(s) of an idea, invention or design to use, produce, commercialize, or buy and sell it for a certain period of time and within a certain region (country).
It can be bought, sold, seized, licensed, pledged as collateral, bequeathed, etc.!
Patents, utility models and designs are among the intangible assets of a business and may appear on company balance sheets. However, ownership rights cease when the protection period expires.
There is no such thing as a world patent!
The monopoly right applies only within the borders of the region (country) where protection has been applied for.
For example, for a patent filed in Türkiye (TR 2016/00256) , third parties can be prevented from using or producing it only within the borders of Türkiye. If a US application is also filed during this process (US1.256.302), the invention may likewise be protected in the United States. In this case, the idea or invention cannot be copied in any way in the United States or Türkiye.
However, if no protection application is filed in other countries, the idea or invention is effectively granted to those countries. Accordingly, if no protection application is filed in Italy, the idea or invention may be freely produced, used and sold in Italy, but it cannot be produced or sold in the United States or Türkiye.
The applicant or inventor has the right to prevent the following acts carried out by third parties without permission in the region where the application was filed:
- Producing, buying, selling, using, exporting or importing the patented product, or possessing it for these purposes for any reason other than personal need,
- Using a patented process (method),
- Offering to others, by third parties, the use of a process patent whose use is known, or should be known, to be prohibited.
Protecting ideas, inventions or designs is the cornerstone that enables them to be licensed and to generate income when commercialized.
You can protect your idea, invention or designs in two ways:
- By keeping it confidential (Trade SECRET): Ideas and inventions that can be uncovered through reverse engineering (RE) cannot be kept as trade secrets.
- Through Legal Protection (IP): Ideas, inventions or designs can be legally protected through patents, utility models, design registration and copyrights.
If ideas, inventions or designs are not protected:
- All the effort, time and money spent by the inventor or designer may be lost.
- Anyone can copy and produce the idea without paying anything to the inventor or designer.
- Since the costs of all the effort and money spent on the idea, invention or design are borne by the inventor or designer, other producers can build on the idea, invention or design at lower cost.
- Someone else may obtain a patent for the same idea, invention or design, and if the inventor or designer cannot prove that the invention or design is theirs, this right may be used to prevent the true owner from working on and advancing their idea.
- The inventor or designer may be prevented from benefiting from the commercial income of an invention or design that is the product of their own knowledge and experience.
Copyright: All the rights arising from a work for the person who creates an idea or work of art that has no technical character. Examples: films, musical works, cartoon characters, paintings, architectural projects, software, etc.
Patent: A patent is a document granting the inventor/applicant the right to produce, use, sell or export/import the invented product for a certain period. All rights to an invented product or system/method belong to the patent holder and cannot be used without their permission. Examples: machines, devices, mechanical tools, software with workflow processes, procedures (methods), processes, drugs, molecules, methods for obtaining a new gene, etc.
Utility Model: A document granting the right to use, sell or export/import improvements made to existing technology that do not involve an inventive step.
Processes, products obtained by these processes, and chemical substances cannot be protected by a utility model!
Design: The appearance of the whole or a part of a product resulting from various elements or features perceivable by the human senses, such as lines, shape, colour, form, texture, flexibility of material or ornamentation. Examples: aesthetic and ergonomic designs, posters, visual designs, etc.
Question 1: Is it industrially applicable? The invention must be capable of being produced or used in any branch of industry.
Question 2: Is it new? Before the date of the protection application, there must be no information about the invention or design made publicly accessible anywhere in the world through written or oral disclosure, use or any other means.
No one must have come up with the same invention or design before you!
Question 3: Does it involve an inventive step? The invention must not be obvious (easily conceivable) to an expert in the relevant technical field from the state of the art.
- Application of known methods,
- Combination of obvious features,
- A new use of a known product that makes use of its known properties,
- Use of a known method in another closely related and similar field,
- If any of these apply to the invention, it indicates that there is no inventive step.
Question 4: Is it distinctive? In the examination of distinctive character, a design must be visually different from others.
Don't reinvent the wheel!
With a good Novelty Search, you can proceed with the process having a strong indication of whether your idea, invention or design is new.
Otherwise, if it is found during the process that someone else has previously filed a protection application or produced, used or published the same idea, invention or design, your registration application will be rejected.
Is a novelty search important?
The fact that no one in your field is producing or using your idea, invention or design does not mean that it is new!
- As a result of the search, you can gain insight into whether your idea, invention or design is truly new. This way, you can avoid committing an offence by infringing another patent, utility model or design.
- You can foresee risks before investing in your idea, invention or design and prevent potential investment losses later.
- You can see innovations in the sector, follow technology and stay up to date both in Türkiye and internationally.
- You can access more detailed technical information than what is obtained from trade fairs, events and publications.
- From patent documents, you can discover improvements and new ideas you had never considered and gain different perspectives.
- Your protected ideas, inventions or designs can prevent others from filing applications that would infringe them, and you can even have such applications cancelled through a legal opposition.
Before starting your projects, you can improve them through a worldwide novelty search related to the project!
These patent databases contain over 100 million patent documents from 81 countries, mainly in English, German and French.
80% of the information constituting the literature and all new technologies not previously disclosed are contained in patent documents
Each country has its own practices in this regard. Under Turkish and European patent laws, patents cannot be obtained for software, whereas US law allows it. However, even in Europe and Türkiye, where the law states that computer programs cannot be patented, there are cases in which patents can be obtained for computer programs. For this reason, it is advisable to have the features and technical elements of the computer program examined by a professional patent attorney.
Before you start protecting your inventions:
- Inform your institution/university: According to the “Industrial Property Law No. 6769” published in the Official Gazette on 10 January 2017, for applications filed without notifying the University after the law's entry into force, the University may acquire ownership by way of transfer.
- Always seek professional consultancy!
- Apply to the TTO
- File your application before others do
- Conduct thorough research
- Do not share it with anyone
- Do not make any public disclosure about the invention
- Do not publish scientific or academic papers about the invention
For your questions on intellectual property: [email protected], 0 (312) 508 89 68
http://tto.ankaramedipol.edu.tr
Ankara Medipol University TTO Patent Office
Ankara Medipol University, Main Campus, Museum Building.
Block C, Floor -1