To be a patentable invention in Turkey, your idea must clear three tests at the same time: it has to be new (novelty), it has to involve an inventive step, and it has to be capable of industrial application. If it fails any one of these, the Turkish Patent and Trademark Office (TÜRKPATENT) will not grant a patent. Some subject matter, such as scientific theories, business methods and methods of medical treatment, is also excluded by law no matter how clever it is. This guide explains exactly what makes a patentable invention in Turkey, what cannot be patented, and how to check your idea before you spend money filing.

What Makes an Invention Patentable in Turkey?

An invention is patentable in Turkey when it is new worldwide, involves an inventive step, can be applied in industry, and does not fall into one of the categories the law excludes. These rules come from Türkiye’s Industrial Property Law No. 6769, in force since January 2017, and TÜRKPATENT applies them when it examines every application. A granted patent then gives you the exclusive right to stop others from making, using, selling or importing your invention in Türkiye for up to twenty years from the filing date, as of the time this article is written.

The same three conditions, novelty, inventive step and industrial applicability, sit at the heart of patent law in most countries, including the standards used by the European Patent Office (EPO) and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). So once you understand what makes a patentable invention in Turkey, you also understand most of what a later international or European filing will demand. That overlap is useful if you plan to protect the same invention abroad.

The Three Tests a Patentable Invention in Turkey Must Pass

Every patentable invention in Turkey must satisfy three separate tests, and an examiner checks each one in turn. Passing two out of three is not enough. The invention has to meet all of them, which is why understanding the patentability requirements in Turkey before you file saves a great deal of wasted effort.

Novelty: it must be new worldwide

Novelty means your invention has not been made available to the public anywhere in the world before your filing date. Türkiye applies an absolute novelty standard, so a disclosure in any country, in any language, whether in a journal, at a trade fair, on a website or in an earlier patent, can count against you. Your own disclosure counts too, and the body of everything already public is called the prior art that your invention must differ from.

Türkiye does allow a twelve-month grace period under Law No. 6769, as of the time this article is written: a disclosure made by the inventor within the twelve months before the filing date does not, on its own, destroy novelty. Even so, do not rely on it. Most countries apply absolute novelty with no grace period, so an early public disclosure can still sink a later filing abroad. The safest course is to keep the invention confidential and file before you tell anyone.

Inventive step: it must not be obvious

An inventive step means the invention is not obvious to a person skilled in the relevant technical field. The test is not whether the idea is new, but whether a competent specialist, knowing the existing prior art, would have arrived at it without genuine inventive effort. A small, predictable change to a known product usually fails this test. A solution that a skilled engineer would not have expected usually passes it. This is the requirement applicants underestimate most often.

Industrial applicability: it must be usable

Industrial applicability means the invention can be made or used in any kind of industry, including agriculture. This is the easiest of the three tests to meet, because almost any concrete product or process qualifies. It mainly rules out ideas that cannot work in practice, such as a device that would breach the laws of physics. If your invention can be manufactured or carried out and produces a practical result, it satisfies this condition.

What Can Be Patented in Turkey?

Almost any technical solution to a technical problem can be patented in Turkey, provided it meets the three tests above. When people ask what can be patented in Turkey, the practical answer is broad: products and devices, machines and mechanical parts, manufacturing processes and methods, chemical compounds and formulations, electronic systems and many software-driven inventions that produce a technical effect. If your invention is a tangible product or a repeatable process that solves a real technical problem in a new and non-obvious way, it is very likely eligible.

What can be patented in Turkey also includes improvements to existing technology, not only breakthrough inventions, as long as the improvement is itself new and inventive. In our practice before TÜRKPATENT, many strong applications are refinements of known products rather than entirely new concepts. The key is that the improvement must clear the inventive-step bar and not merely repackage what is already known.

What Cannot Be Patented in Turkey

Some things cannot be patented in Turkey no matter how original they are, because Law No. 6769 places them outside the patent system. The law splits these into two groups. The first group is matters that are not regarded as inventions at all:

Discoveries, scientific theories and mathematical methods.
Plans, rules and methods for mental acts, business activities or games.
Computer programs as such, when there is no technical effect.
Aesthetic creations and works protected by copyright.
Mere presentations of information.

The second group is inventions that are excluded for policy reasons even though they may be technical:

Inventions contrary to public order or morality.
Plant and animal varieties, and essentially biological processes for producing them.
Methods of treatment, surgery or diagnosis applied to the human or animal body. The products and devices used in such methods can still be patented.
The human body and the simple discovery of one of its elements, including a gene sequence.

If your idea sits in either group, a patent is not available, although another form of intellectual property protection, such as an industrial design or copyright, may fit instead.

How to Check If You Have a Patentable Invention in Turkey

The most reliable way to check whether you have a patentable invention in Turkey is to run a professional novelty search before you file. A novelty search looks through patent databases and published literature worldwide to see whether your invention, or something very close to it, already exists. Asking “is my invention patentable in Turkey?” without a search is guesswork, and a refusal after filing costs both the official fees and the time. Learning how to patent an invention in Turkey starts here, with the prior art rather than the paperwork.

A practical pre-filing check runs in a clear order:

Keep it confidential. Do not disclose the invention publicly before filing, because public disclosure can destroy novelty. Use a confidentiality agreement if you must discuss it.
Define the invention clearly. Write down what is new about it and the technical problem it solves, so a search can be targeted.
Run a novelty search. Search prior art worldwide, ideally with a patent attorney who knows how to read claims and classifications.
Assess the inventive step. Compare the closest prior art and judge honestly whether the difference is more than an obvious tweak.
Confirm it is not excluded. Check the invention against the excluded categories above.

If you still believe you have a patentable invention in Turkey after these steps, you are in a far stronger position to file. In our experience, applications backed by a clean clearance search move through TÜRKPATENT more smoothly and face fewer objections.

Patentability Requirements in Turkey vs the Utility Model Route

The patentability requirements in Turkey are stricter for a patent than for a utility model, and this matters if your invention is a genuine but modest improvement. A utility model protects an invention that is new and industrially applicable but does not require an inventive step, so an idea that fails the inventive-step test for a patent may still qualify for a utility model. The trade-off is a shorter term and narrower coverage. The two routes compare like this:

Novelty: required for both a patent and a utility model.
Inventive step: required for a patent, not required for a utility model.
Industrial applicability: required for both.
Term of protection: up to twenty years for a patent and up to ten years for a utility model, as of the time this article is written.
Processes and chemical substances: can be patented, but cannot be protected as a utility model.
Examination: a patent goes through full substantive examination, while a utility model follows a lighter process with no inventive-step examination.

These figures are indicative and current only as of the time this article is written, because official fees and procedural rules are revised periodically, so confirm the current position with a patent attorney. If your invention clears all three patent tests, a patent is usually the stronger asset. If it is novel but incremental, the utility model can be a sensible, faster alternative.

Common Reasons an Invention Fails the Patentability Requirements in Turkey

Most refusals trace back to a handful of avoidable mistakes against the patentability requirements in Turkey. Knowing them in advance is the simplest way to protect your application:

Public disclosure before filing. Showing or selling the invention first can destroy novelty and is the most common self-inflicted failure.
No real inventive step. The change is something a skilled person would consider obvious, so it fails this central requirement.
Falling into an excluded category. The idea is a business method, a discovery or a method of treatment.
Weak or narrow claims. The claims define the scope of protection, and poorly drafted claims either get refused or protect almost nothing.
Skipping the novelty search. Filing without checking the prior art often ends in a refusal that a search would have predicted.

Working out whether you meet the patentability requirements in Turkey before filing, rather than after, is what separates a smooth grant from a costly refusal.

A patentable invention in Turkey is one that is new worldwide, genuinely inventive, capable of industrial use and not on the excluded list. Whether you are refining a known product or building something entirely new, knowing how to patent an invention in Turkey comes down to those same four points. Leo Patent, a trademark and patent attorney firm in Istanbul, helps Turkish and foreign inventors assess patentability, run novelty searches and file before TÜRKPATENT. Contact us for more information.

Frequently Asked Questions

What makes an invention patentable in Turkey?

A patentable invention in Turkey must be new worldwide, involve an inventive step, be capable of industrial application, and not fall within an excluded category under Law No. 6769. If it meets all three positive tests and avoids the exclusions, TÜRKPATENT can grant a patent that lasts up to twenty years from filing.

What are the patentability requirements in Turkey?

The patentability requirements in Turkey are novelty, inventive step and industrial applicability, applied together. Novelty means the invention is not already public anywhere in the world; inventive step means it is not obvious to a skilled specialist; industrial applicability means it can be made or used in industry. All three must be satisfied at once.

What can be patented in Turkey and what cannot?

What can be patented in Turkey includes products, devices, processes, chemical compounds and technical improvements that meet the three tests. What cannot be patented includes discoveries, scientific theories, mathematical and business methods, computer programs without a technical effect, aesthetic creations, and methods of medical treatment or diagnosis applied to the body.

Does disclosing my invention destroy its novelty?

Disclosing your invention publicly before you file can destroy its novelty, because Türkiye applies an absolute novelty standard. A description in a journal, a presentation at a trade fair, an online post or a public sale can all count as prior art. Türkiye does allow a twelve-month grace period for the inventor’s own disclosures, but many other countries do not, so the safest course is to keep the invention confidential and file first.

Is my invention patentable in Turkey if it is only a small improvement?

A small improvement may still be patentable in Turkey if it is new and not obvious to a person skilled in the field. If the improvement is something a competent specialist would reach without inventive effort, it usually fails the inventive-step test, but it may still qualify for a utility model, which does not require an inventive step.

How long does a patent last in Turkey?

A patent in Turkey lasts up to twenty years from the filing date, as of the time this article is written, provided the annual maintenance fees are paid. A utility model lasts up to ten years. Neither right can be renewed beyond its term, and missing a maintenance fee can cause the right to lapse early.

Do I need a patent attorney to assess and file in Turkey?

You are not required to use a patent attorney to file in Turkey if you reside in Türkiye, but professional help with the novelty search and claim drafting greatly improves your chances. Foreign applicants who do not reside in Türkiye must appoint a registered Turkish patent attorney to act under a power of attorney.

About Leo Patent

Leo Patent is a leading trademark and patent attorney firm (marka ve patent vekili) serving foreign and Turkish clients across Türkiye. The firm is registered before the Turkish Patent and Trademark Office (TÜRKPATENT) and the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce (registration no. 308755-5), and handles trademark, patent, design and other intellectual property registrations in Türkiye and internationally.

This article was prepared under the supervision of Burak Ünal, general manager of Leo Patent, registered trademark attorney (TÜRKPATENT reg. no. 2900) and registered patent attorney (TÜRKPATENT reg. no. 1677). He holds a Business Management degree from Boğaziçi University (2016) and an MSc in Finance from the London School of Economics, which he attended as a Chevening Scholar; he is also a congress member of Galatasaray Sports Club. He advises clients in Turkish, English, French and Chinese. In Türkiye, trademark and patent attorneys are a regulated profession separate from lawyers: Burak Ünal is not a lawyer, and Leo Patent does not provide lawyer services or court representation.

Need help with a trademark or patent in Türkiye? Contact Leo Patent for a consultation: www.leopatent.com · [email protected] · WhatsApp +90 532 689 48 18.

Disclaimer: Leo Patent is a trademark and patent attorney firm (marka ve patent vekili) and is not a law firm; it does not provide lawyer services, legal advice or court representation. This article is for general informational purposes only and you are strongly advised to consult a qualified professional to evaluate your personal situation. No liability is accepted that may arise from the use of the information in this article.