Patent Annuities in Türkiye: How Patents Are Quietly Lost

Obtaining a patent is hard; keeping it only requires attention. Even so, a large share of Turkish patents lapse not because of a refusal but because an annuity went unpaid — and once the right ends, the invention falls into the public domain.

How the due date works

Annuities are payable from the end of the second year following the filing date and every year thereafter, on the day and month corresponding to the filing date (Article 101). The schedule runs from the filing date, not from grant — a distinction that surprises many proprietors whose certificate arrived years later.

The surcharge period

A missed annuity does not end the right immediately: it can be paid with a surcharge within six months following the due date. After that, the patent lapses. Because the window is short, keeping the address on the register current matters.

Why annuities get missed

• Ownership of the task falls between the technical team and finance.
• Reminder chains break when the file moves between attorneys.
• Contact details on the register are never updated.
• Portfolios outgrow manual tracking.
• Patents acquired in a transaction are never entered into a calendar at all.

Each due date is a portfolio decision

Fees rise over the twenty-year term, so every annuity is an opportunity to ask whether the patent is used, whether it retains defensive value, whether it supports a tax position, and whether foreign family members depend on it.

See our article on the IP tax exemption, or ask us to build your renewal calendar.

General information only, not legal advice. Official fees are revised annually.