Is There an “International Patent”? The PCT Route from Türkiye
Date Published
There is no worldwide patent. Rights are territorial, so protection must arise in each country where you want it. The Patent Cooperation Treaty does not change that — what it does is let you start everywhere with one filing and postpone the expensive decisions.
What the PCT gives you
A single international application preserves your filing date across the member states and produces an international search report. Grant decisions still belong to each national office. The real product is time: the national phase can be entered up to thirty months from the priority date, which is long enough to learn which markets actually matter before paying for them.
The twelve-month priority year
Foreign filings made within twelve months of your first Turkish application can claim its date. For patents that year cannot be extended, and once it passes your own published application can stand in the way of later filings.
Alternatives
- Direct national filings, where only one or two countries matter.
- A European patent application covering many European states in one procedure, validated in selected states after grant.
- Regional entry through the PCT national phase.
See our article on filing in Türkiye, or talk to us about a filing strategy for your markets.
General information only, not legal advice.