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CategoryTrademark
Published28 August 2026
Authors
Uğurcan TekinPartner
Mehmet Kerem KüçükTrademark & Patent Specialist

The Priority Right: The Invisible Calendar of International Filing Strategy

Industrial property rights are territorial; a Turkish registration does not, by itself, protect anything abroad. The need to file separately in each country creates a timing problem: in the gap between filings, third parties may apply for the same sign or invention, and in patents, disclosures made in the meantime may jeopardise novelty. The priority right is a mechanism designed precisely to solve this problem.

The rule, born of the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property and reflected in the priority provisions of the Industrial Property Code, is this: whoever makes a duly filed first application in one contracting state enjoys a right of priority for subsequent applications in other contracting states, for six months in trademarks and designs and twelve months in patents and utility models. A later application claiming priority is treated as if it had been filed on the date of the first.

Later applications filed within the priority period are pulled back to the date of the first filing.

The Practical Effect of Priority

Priority shows its effect most clearly in two scenarios. The first involves intervening third-party filings: a business that files a trademark application in Türkiye in January will, in countries where it files by June, rank ahead of a third-party application filed in February. The second is specific to patents: promotional activity, trade fair presentations and publications made after the first filing do not destroy novelty for foreign applications filed within the priority period, because those applications are assessed as of the first filing date. Once the priority period is missed, that shield falls away; even the applicant's own publicity can be cited against its own patent.

“The priority period is the silently running hourglass of international protection strategy.”

Exhibition Priority

Alongside filing priority, the Code recognises exhibition priority. Those who display their products at official exhibitions, or exhibitions treated as official, may benefit from priority if they file within the period running from the date of display. In sectors with heavy trade fair activity, exhibition priority is a useful tool for managing the tension between pre-filing publicity and protection. Its documentation requirements are strict, however; the nature of the exhibition and the date of display must be evidenced in due form.

Strategic Use: Managing the Calendar

The priority right also works as a planning tool that spreads international filing costs over time. A business that files first in Türkiye can spend the six or twelve months on market research, investor discussions and budget planning, and decide within that window which countries it truly needs protection in. The international filing systems, Madrid, The Hague and the PCT, also operate with priority claims, carrying the first filing date into the international phase. The critical point is that priority must be claimed in due form in the later application and the documents relating to the first filing must be submitted within the prescribed time.

Key Principles

  • The priority period is six months for trademarks and designs and twelve months for patents and utility models.
  • A later application claiming priority is treated as filed on the date of the first application.
  • Priority neutralises intervening third-party filings and, in patents, interim disclosures.
  • Exhibition priority offers a separate route, subject to strict documentation.
  • The priority period should be used as a strategic window for planning the international filing budget and country selection.

Devin Patent provides attorney services for managing priority claims and building international filing strategies through the Madrid, Hague and PCT systems. Disputes connected to the priority right are handled by our partner firm, Devin Law & IP.

Sources

  • Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property
  • The priority provisions of the Industrial Property Code No. 6769 (mevzuat.gov.tr)
  • Turkish Patent and Trademark Office, guidelines on priority claims (turkpatent.gov.tr)
Related practice areaIndustrial Property Law→

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