On 08 May 2020, a webinar presentation has been made by Turkish PTO regarding the impacts of the suspension of time limits during coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. You can see below the highlights discussed during the webinar:
The scope of suspended time limits:
*** Regarding the transactions with respect to the registration processes of the IP rights and the processes need to conducted by the Turkish PTO after the registration processes, the time limits given to the applicants to make a transaction are suspended regardless of if those are given by Turkish PTO or stated in the law
*** Regarding the transactions with respect to the registration processes of the IP rights and the processes needs to conducted by the Turkish PTO after the registration processes, the time limits given to the current/ prospective opponents and third parties to make a transaction are suspended regardless of if those are given by Turkish PTO or stated in the law
***The time limits regarding renewal of an IP right are suspended.
*** The time limits regarding the periodic payments which provide the continuance of an IP right are suspended.
*** Regarding the cases in which non-use of an IP right causes enforcement, the time limits regarding the use of an IP right are suspended.
***Regarding the registered marks, the 5 years- time limit as to losing a right by staying silent is suspended.
***The time limits regarding the priority rights are suspended.
***The time limits are suspended regarding the rights that the owner can use for a certain time even if the respective IP right has ended.
***All time limits stated in the IP Law in which might cause losing rights in case of not complied are suspended.
***Regarding the law suits with respect to IP rights including cancellation of Turkish PTO decisions; all time limits covering the ones regarding filing the law suits, prescription periods, conciliation actions, the ones given by the judge or stated in the law are suspended except for the ones regarding the complementary acts of provisional injunctions.
***Regarding criminal investigations or prosecutions conducted because of a trademark infringement, all time limits given by the judge/prosecutor or stated in the law are suspended except for prescription time limits for crimes and penalties.
Calculation of suspended time limits:
| Earlier Deadline | Suspended deadline |
| Given time limit expires on March 12 or in an earlier date | Not changed |
| Given time limit expires on or between March 13-27 | June 30 2020 |
| Given time limit expires on or between March 28- June 15 | June 16 +number of days left for the expiry of the given time limit by March 13. |
| Given time limit starts before March 13 and expires on and after June 16 | Expiry date of given time limit + 95 days |
| Given time limit starts on or between March 13- June 15 | Given time limit will start on June 16. |
Taking into account the information above you see below the new deadlines to oppose a trademark application in Turkey:
| Bulletin Date | Bulletin Number | Actual Deadline | New Deadline |
| 27/04/2020 | 347 | 27/06/2020 | 17/08/2020 |
| 13/04/2020 | 346 | 13/06/2020 | 17/08/2020 |
| 27/03/2020 | 345 | 27/05/2020 | 17/08/2020 |
| 12/03/2020 | 344 | 12/05/2020 | 17/08/2020 |
| 27/02/2020 | 343 | 27/04/2020 | 31/07/2020 |
| 12/02/2020 | 342 | 12/04/2020 | 16/07/2020 |
| 27/01/2020 | 341 | 27/03/2020 | 30/06/2020 |
| 13/01/2020 | 340 | 13/03/2020 | 30/06/2020 |
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
