According to the Turkish Patent Law, inventions are protected under “patents” and “utility models”. Both systems are based on statutory laws, namely the Industrial Property Law/Code No 6769 (IPL or IPC).

Patents

Procedure for obtaining a patent

The application is examined by the Turkish Patent and Trademark Office (TPTO) as to whether the patent application complies with the legal requirements or not.

The priority claim may be asserted at the time of the first application or within two months following the application.

If the TPTO found that the application is duly and completely filed, the applicant must request the TPTO to conduct a standard state-of-the-art survey, within 12 months from the date of application, and pay the necessary fee for the survey. If these requirements are not fulfilled, the application is considered withdrawn.

After the applicant’s request, a search report is prepared and sent to the applicant by the TPTO. The search report is the initial stage with regards to making a decision on whether the invention fulfils the criteria for patenting.

The patent application is published in the Official Patent Bulletin after a total of 18 months from the date of the application or priority. However, the applicant may request for an earlier publication.

Third parties may file an opposition within six months after the publication of the search report. The TPTO notifies the applicant without waiting for the opposition and annexes, and the applicant has the right to submit a counterview within three months from the notification.

After the opposition phase is completed, the TPTO issues an examination report. The examination report is the last step in deciding whether the applied invention is patentable or not.

In the examination report, the invention (claim) is examined in terms of patentability criteria (novelty, inventive step, and industrial applicability).

Once the examination is completed, if it meets the legal conditions, the patent is finalised and the TPTO’s final decision is published in the Bulletin.

Utility Models

The utility model differs from the patent procedures since there is no examination process. To obtain a utility model document, a research report is sufficient. Therefore, this procedure is shorter and can be completed at less cost.

If the utility model application has the elements specified in the legal regulations, the utility model is enrolled in the registry.

If it is determined that the application does not meet the formal requirements, the applicants are given two months to remedy the deficiencies. If the deficiencies are not fulfilled within this period, the application shall be deemed rejected.

The applicant must request for research on the state of the art with the application or by applying to the Office within two months from the date of the notification of the formal letter of conformity. If the applicant does not request for a search or does not pay the fee for the search, it is deemed that the application has been withdrawn.

After the applicant’s request for research on the state of the art, a research report shall be prepared by the TPTO and published in the bulletin. After publication, the TPTO takes into account the applicant’s opposition and third-party opinions, if any. As a result of the examination, the application is rejected or registered.

Since the application comprises research, examination and documentation, a patent registration process takes from two to five years on average. Nevertheless, patent protection starts from the filing date.

It is not necessary to get a representative/counsel to initiate a grant proceeding for Turkish citizens and residents. In other words, right holders have a right to file applications themselves. However, foreign applicants are required to apply with a local representative.

Official fees for granting a patent in 2024 can be found on the TPTO website, as can official fees for granting utility models. Since the fees are updated periodically by the TPTO, it is necessary to check the current fees on the TPTO website.

The term of protection of a patent is 20 years, and for utility models it is ten years, each from the date of the respective application. According to Turkish law, these periods cannot be extended.

Intellectual property right holders are entitled to:

• monopoly rights – prohibiting others from commercial use of the invention without permission;
• production and sales rights – manufacturing and selling their invention;
• right to license – allowing others to use their invention by licensing it (transferring the patent right to others in exchange for a licence fee);
• disposition – assigning or transferring their intellectual property rights; and
• legal protection – to seek all legal remedies including injunctive interims.

However, the right holders are obliged to pay annual renewal fees. If payment is not made, the right of protection expires.

Once a patent application is filed and recorded with the TPTO, the patent file becomes publicly available and can be viewed by any person. The TPTO’s online system allows the public to research on the online database. In this database, it is possible to view all of the information about the patent such as filing date, owner, inventor and invention summary. In addition to these, the patent claim, patent tariff and other documents of the patent can also be accessed.

According to Turkish law, there is no further protection after the protection term has expired.

Third parties have the right to participate in proceedings by filing for third-party observations after the patent or utility model has been published by the TPTO in the Bulletin, upon payment of a fee.

If the third parties submit a counterview before the preparation of the search report, these may be taken into account by the TPTO. However, a third party giving an opinion does not become a part of the dispute.

Third parties may oppose the patent within six months from the date of publication. This legal remedy is only for patents, and is not available for utility models.

For utility models, third parties should submit their opposition and opinions within three months from the date of publication.

If the application is refused by the TPTO, the applicant may appeal the decision before the TPTO within two months of the notification of the decision. These appeals are examined by a board consisting of three experts. However, if the applicant does not obtain a favourable result at this stage, the applicant has the right to file a cancellation lawsuit before the Ankara Intellectual and Industrial Law Courts against the TPTO’s decision, within two months of the notification of the decision.

The legal consequence of a failure to pay the annual fees is forfeiture of all rights based on the patent. In other words, if there is a failure to pay, the right of protection ends. The applicant is obliged to pay annual fees to the TPTO regularly during the protection period, starting from the first day of the third year from the date of application. The due date is the month and day corresponding to the application date. If not paid by such time, it shall be paid within a period of six months with a surcharge. If not paid within the six-month period, the patent right will expire if the patent has been obtained. If the application is still ongoing, the application will be deemed null and void.

Annual fees differ for patents and utility models, and are updated every year. The fees can be found via the links provided in 1.3 Timeline for Grant Procedure.

According to Turkish Law, as a rule, a patent cannot be amended/expanded by the patentee after the patent has duly obtained protection. However, the patentee has the right to abandon the whole patent, or some or all of the patent claims. If the patentee partially withdraws from the patent, the patent remains valid as to the claim or claims not withdrawn, unless the withdrawal extends the scope of the patent.

However, as mentioned, before the patent is registered, third parties may file an opposition to the application within six months from the publication of the patent application in the Official Bulletin. In case of such an opposition, the patentee may submit a response to the opposition or an amendment to the patent within three months from the TPTO’s notification of the opposition. The TPTO will approve the patent if it finds that the patent is in accordance with the law. However, if the TPTO finds that the patent is partially in accordance with the law, it will approve the validity with respect to the relevant part/s. The patentee may amend the patent upon notification of these matters, but if the patent is not made legal, it shall be deemed invalid.

In case of infringement of a patent or utility model right, the right holder may take the following remedies:

• a settlement, if the parties are open;
• mediation, which is mandatory in all commercial cases involving monetary damages and handling by an arbitrageur;
• interim injunction proceedings – can be requested in the main lawsuit or separately;
• declaratory lawsuit – the right owner can take an action to collect evidence and establish the infringement before the main lawsuit;
• an infringement action – the most common legal remedy; and
• alternative dispute resolution – if the parties agree.

Third parties who wish to remove effects of the technical intellectual property right may bring the following actions.

• Invalidation action – according to Turkish law, a person who is related/concerned, public prosecutors or the relevant legal entities may request the invalidity of the patent. Individuals who request invalidation of a patent are also entitled to request an interim injunction.
• Declaration of a non-infringement action – a court decision that the relevant act does not constitute infringement of the patent is an important defence tool for the requesting party. However, to obtain such a decision, the requesting party must prove its legitimate interest.

First Instance

According to Turkish law, patent cases are monitored before the specialised Courts for Intellectual and Industrial Property Rights (“IP Courts”) which are located in Ankara, Istanbul and Izmir. Patent cases are monitored before the Civil Courts of First Instance where there are no IP Courts (especially in Anatolia).

IP Courts and Civil Courts of First Instance each have a single judge who does not have to be trained academically in the field of intellectual property. Nevertheless, they are supported by special training in the said field.

Competent courts are regulated under Article 156 of the Law on Industrial Property No 6769. Accordingly:

• the competent court in the lawsuits to be filed against the decisions of the Turkish Trademark and Patent Office, which is the authority to register patents, is Ankara Civil Court of Intellectual and Industrial Property Rights;
• the competent court in the lawsuits to be filed against third parties (patent owners or infringers) is the court where the plaintiff is domiciled or where the unlawful act (patent infringement) has taken place; and
• the competent court in the lawsuits where the plaintiff is a foreigner and has no domicile in Turkey, is the place where the plaintiff’s patent attorney in Turkey is recorded at the date of filing of the lawsuit – if the plaintiff has no attorney, then it is Ankara Civil Court of Intellectual and Industrial Property Rights.

It may be more advantageous to resolve patent disputes before the Industrial Property Courts in Ankara, Istanbul and Izmir, if it is possible, due to the knowledge and experience that these courts have.

Second Instance

The decisions of the first instance courts are handled by the District High Court.

Third Instance

The final decision is made by the Supreme Court which is the final court according to the Turkish legal system.

According to the Industrial Property Code, it is necessary to apply to a mediator in patent disputes that also include a claim for compensation. However, according to the practice established by the decisions of the Supreme Court, if there is a cumulative claim (other than a compensation claim), application to the mediator is not mandatory.

On the other hand, in Turkish law, except for invalidity cases, patent disputes may be resolved through arbitration upon agreement of the parties. However, arbitration boards dedicated exclusively to patent disputes do not exist in Turkey. Nevertheless, since invalidity actions have public consequences, arbitration is not available in these cases.

As mentioned in 2.1 Actions Available Against Infringement, mediation is a mandatory litigation requirement for commercial lawsuits with compensation claims. However, it has been observed that the Supreme Court, in its recent decisions, has tended not to accept mediation as a condition of litigation in cases involving cumulative claims; in other words, cases involving claims other than compensation claims.

Under Turkish law, representation by a lawyer is not mandatory; in other words, parties may represent themselves. However, since IP disputes have some unique principles of the procedural law and are complicated, it is common and recommended to have representation by a lawyer.

Turkish law adopts the interim injunction system and the system has a significant role since the continuation of infringing use in intellectual property disputes can result in serious damages and harm.

Interim injunctions can be requested with the main lawsuit or separately. However, if the injunction claim has been asserted separately and obtained, the requesting party should file the main lawsuit within two weeks.

To obtain an injunction, the requesting party must prove before the court the following.

• That irreparable harm will result if the injunction is not granted (due to prejudicial delay).
• It will be impossible or difficult to obtain a right, if the interim injunction is not applied (due to change of the statute).

In practice, it is observed that the IP courts tend not to grant an interim injunction without obtaining an expert report as such injunctions affect commercial activities. However, it is common to grant an interim injunction based on an expert report, since IP disputes require technical knowledge.

The courts generally grant an interim injunction in line with the expert report in return for payment of a guarantee which is determined on a case-by-case basis.

The parties have two weeks to oppose the expert report since its notification.

In addition to all of these, the parties have the right to oppose an interim injunction, within one week from the date of the notification of the decision before the court handling the main lawsuit.

There are no option or regulation specially ensured to potential opponents.

According to Article 174 under the Industrial Property Code (IPC), there are no specific limitation provisions for patent infringement actions; the general rules apply. Under Turkish law, the general period is two years from the date of knowledge of the infringement or infringer, and a maximum of ten years from the infringement. As long as the acts of infringement continue, the time period does not begin.

A patent disseise action (Article 111 under the IPC) can be filed within two years from the registration of the patent in the name of the person who is not the real right holder. However, for a patent invalidation action, the lawsuit should be filed during the patent protection term and up to five years afterwards. It is significant that patent infringement actions can only be filed after the publication of the patent. However, if the defendant has knowledge of the patent and its scope, the lawsuit may be filed before the application date.

Declaratory Lawsuit

The right owner can take an action to collect evidence and establish the infringement before the main lawsuit. In order to apply for this remedy, it is necessary to convince the court that the evidence may be lost or damaged unless immediate action is taken.

Expert Reports

According to Turkish law, an expert report is one of the most significant pieces of evidence, especially in the fields requiring technical information such as the Industrial Property Code. The expert report should not contain a legal interpretation and should only provide technical information that will help clarify the case. In practice, expert reports should be prepared between one to three months in advance.

Discovery/Seizure

If it is necessary to physically examine the product to clarify the patent dispute, the court may decide to undergo discovery at the location of the product or seizure and examination of the product. The court may decide that discovery should be conducted ex officio or upon the claim of one of the parties. With regard of discovery, the judge can also decide to have expert assistance with respect to the technical aspects of the dispute.

According to the Turkish Industrial Property Code, there are no special provisions, so it adopts the general rules. The Turkish judicial system is not strictly front-loaded, however, the parties must submit their all arguments and the list of evidence until the exchange of petition stage is completed.

Then, once the exchange of petition phase has been completed, the parties cannot amend their claims or arguments. However, if the other party explicitly opposes, then a party may change its claims or arguments. On the other hand, evidence may be submitted at any time before the hearing. It is possible to submit newly discovered evidence at any stage of the litigation, as long as it is not intended to prolong the proceedings.

The Turkish legal system does not allow representative or collective actions for intellectual property rights proceedings. However, depending on the type of case, the plaintiffs and defendants may be multiple.

Under Turkish law, it is generally accepted that the enforcement of a legal right will not constitute an infringement or violation of law. However, depending on the circumstances, competition law and contractual restrictions may be relied upon in litigation concerning standard-essential patents, where bona fide willing licensees may rely on such restrictions to avoid injunctive relief and/or to seek a licence on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms.

The patent owner or applicant is entitled to file an action for infringement. Unless otherwise agreed, exclusive licence is entitled to assert a claim of patent infringement and take action. On the other hand, a non-exclusive licensee can request the patent owner to take an action against patent infringement. If the patent owner does not file a lawsuit requested within three months, then the non-exclusive licensee can file an action in their name and in their own interests.

In the Industrial Property Code, the term “indirect patent infringement” is not defined. However, Article 86 of the IPC grants the patentee the “prevention of indirect use of the invention”. According to this Article, the conditions of prevention of the indirect use of a patent element by third parties are as follows.

• The prohibition is for those who are not authorised to use the invention.
• The prohibited element must be related to the part that provides the patent function that constitutes the essentials of the invention.
• Third parties must know that the subject elements are sufficient for the realisation of the invention and are used for that purpose.

On the other hand, in cases of direct infringement, the act constituting infringement must be directly in accordance the Code and must include all the features of the patent. The defendant in such cases is the party who has committed the act of infringement. However, the same types of remedies are available in each case.

There are a number of provisions in Turkish law for the protection of process patents. According to the regulation in the Industrial Property Code, using the procedures and methods of the invention subject to the patent without the permission of the patentee is considered patent infringement. However, if the patent is related to a procedure for the creation of a product or substance, the court may ask the defendant, instead of the plaintiff, to prove that the procedure used to obtain the same product or substance is different from the patented procedure. Furthermore, if the product obtained by using the patented method is new, it is deemed that the same product or material is produced by the patented method. Those who claim otherwise are obliged to prove this.

The scope of the protection of the patent is determined by the patent claims. However, the description and drawings shall be used for the interpretation of the claims. Descriptions and drawings are considered in interpreting the claims and claims shall not be limited to the use of words when interpreting. The applicant’s statements during the prosecution and validity process are also considered in the claims. In other words, the doctrine of estoppel is available in Turkish practice. However, it is clearly stated that the scope of the claims should be interpreted in a way that ensures the patentee’s rights to fair protection and legal certainty for third parties. The doctrine of equivalents has existed in the Turkish system for many years. According to this doctrine, in determining the scope of protection, features that may be equivalent to the claimed features should be taken into account.

Invalidity Action

In practice, the most common defence against an infringement claim is filing an invalidity (cancellation) action against the patent. If an invalidity action is filed (even after the infringement lawsuit), the IP Courts take into account the invalidity issue.

Equitable Defences

Equitable defences such as laches and estoppel are also available under the IP Code.

Prior User Rights

Patent applicants or owners do not have the right to prevent persons who began to use the invention in good faith, or who have adopted significant and real measures for its use, before the application date, from continuing or beginning to use the invention.

Bolar Exemption

Article 85/3(c) of the IP Code states that experimental activities, including experiments involving an invention subject to a patent, licensing of pharmaceuticals, and all necessary tests and experiments, are outside the scope of the rights conferred by a patent. Similarly, the exclusive rights of the patentee do not extend to experimental acts involving the patented invention.

Exhaustion of Rights

After the products subject to industrial property right protection are put on the market by the right holder, or third parties with relevant permission, acts related to these products are excluded from the scope of the protection.

Agricultural Defences

Under the farmer’s privilege defence, small farmers can use production material obtained from a product resulting from production performed on land they have themselves cultivated with a patented product sold by the patent owner or used with its permission, or obtained through other commercial means.

In practice, experts have a significant role in the course of actions, since patent disputes have a highly technical nature but the respective judge does not have a technical background. Therefore, the IP Courts issue their decisions by taking into account the technical evaluations of the experts. In general, the experts are appointed by the court. However, if the parties agree to appoint experts, they may suggest the experts to the court for its approval.

In Turkish patent litigation, there is no separate procedure for construing the terms of the patent’s claim.

As mentioned in 3.6 Role of Experts, the expert’s opinion is significant in the Turkish judicial system. In addition, the parties may obtain expert opinions from independent specialists about the subject dispute and submit them to the court. The judge may, upon request or ex officio, decide to invite and hear the expert. Nevertheless, a specialist’s opinion is not binding for the judge; it is discretionary evidence.

The reasons for revocation/cancellation in Turkish law are:

• the patent does not meet the requirement for patentability;
• the invention is not sufficiently explained;
• the subject patent exceeds the initial form of the application;
• proving that the patent owner does not have the right to obtain a patent; and
• exceeding the scope of protection provided by the patent.

According to Turkish law, partial invalidation of a patent is possible. To partially invalidate a patent, the remaining claims of the patent must meet the patentability requirements of novelty, inventive step and industrial applicability. On this requirement, the court may issue a partial invalidation decision. However, a single claim cannot be partially invalidated. If an independent claim is invalidated, the dependent claims remain intact if they meet the patentability criteria.

A patent owner may amend after the date of the application, during the opposition process before the TPTO. However, in Turkish law, the Industrial Property Code prohibits any amendment/limitation to claims or the patent document after the grant of the patent. If a partial invalidity is determined by a court decision, the invalid part may be excluded from the patent; in other words, a partial invalidity decision is established. Moreover, Article 138/2 of the European Patent Convention is applied in Turkish practice. Accordingly, any limitation or amendment made after the approval of a European patent in Turkey shall be notified by the TPTO to the court hearing the invalidity case and the court shall render a decision according to this amended version. However, this is an exceptional situation and not commonly encountered.

The Turkish legal system is not bifurcated, however, invalidity and infringement procedures are separated. Invalidation actions may be filed either independently or as a counterclaim to the infringement action. If an invalidation action is filed as a counterclaim, the invalidity action and the infringement action are merged and the same court hears both actions. However, since the invalidity claim affects the merits of the infringement claim, the invalidity action shall be concluded first, regardless of which one was filed first. Even if the invalidity action is filed separately, since these actions are closely related, the invalidity action takes precedence. The procedure before the courts of first instance for both infringement and invalidity proceedings takes approximately 18–24 months.

The general principles of Turkish law also apply to intellectual property rights. Even some special provisions apply to IP proceedings.

The typical timeline in patent proceedings is that litigation takes about 24–36 months for the Intellectual Property Courts (first instance), but it may vary depending on the complexity of the case. However, for the Court of Appeal (second instance) the timeline is about one year in normal cases, which is the same as the Supreme Court (third instance).

In Turkish law, the judicial process starts with the petition submitted by the plaintiff and if this petition meets the eligibility requirements, the stage of the parties’ exchange of petitions is completed. Each party has the right to submit two petitions.

Turkish law adopts a series of hearing systems in civil cases. Following the exchange of petitions, the date of first hearing is determined. The technical name for this first hearing is “Preliminary Examination Hearing”. Following the first hearing, the court sets hearing dates for reasons such as the expert report or a development that has a serious impact on the proceedings.

After the first hearing, the court proceeds to the examination stage, during which the evidence necessary to clarify the dispute is collected and analysed. The witness and expert reports are also examined by the court at this stage.

The expert report is issued by court order, and the parties have the right to object to the expert report within two weeks of the notification of the report.

See 2.3 Courts With Jurisdiction under “First Instance”. Additionally, regional courts and the Supreme Court have a minimum of three judges.

According to the Civil Procedural Law, during the first hearing the courts recommend settlement and mediation to the parties. Mandatory mediation is a condition of litigation in Turkish law for commercial cases in which compensation is claimed.

Litigation initiated before Turkish courts can be continued without having to await the litigations of other national courts. In other words, the Turkish legal system does not adopt the anti-suit injunction system. However, this is at the discretion of the courts and the decisions of foreign courts are not binding in Turkish courts. Within the scope of patent invalidity or non-infringement proceedings, the plaintiff may request a preliminary injunction to prevent the patentee from exercising its rights arising from the patent registration for itself or its clients.

Civil remedies for patent owners include compensation for damages (moral, monetary and reputational), declaratory judgments, the destruction of infringing goods, a recall order, the confiscation of manufacturing tools and publication of the judgment.

Damages

In terms of monetary compensation, damages are determined by considering the loss of profit and actual damage. The loss of profit can be calculated in three different ways:

• (a) if there was no competition by the infringer of the industrial property right the right holder would have obtained;
• (b) the net profit obtained by the infringer of the industrial property right; and
• (c) the right of the infringer of the industrial property right to lawfully use such right through a licence agreement.

In practice, the net profit (b) method is commonly preferred and this calculation method is based on the trade books of the infringer due to difficulties in obtaining a precedent licence agreement. Since the calculation of the compensation may not be totally accurate due to improper records in trade books. It is common for plaintiffs to receive less compensation than they request.

However, the Turkish legal system does not include penalty damages.

Other Remedies

The court may also, upon the request of the patentee, order the withdrawal from the market, destruction, recall, etc, of goods infringing an exclusive patent right, and order the infringer to bear the costs of publication and dissemination of information concerning the patentee’s decision on patent infringement.

Costs

Under Turkish law, the losing party bears all costs, fees and expenses of the proceedings, including the winning party’s attorney’s fees.

Under Turkish law, the losing party bears all costs, fees and expenses of the proceedings, including the winning party’s attorney’s fees.

There are not different types of remedies for patents and utility models. The same remedies are valid for both types of IP rights.

Decisions on intellectual and industrial property rights can only be enforced once finalised (after both appeal stages).

Unless otherwise stated, the effect of the interim injunction continues until the invalidity/infringement decision becomes final. According to the Civil Procedure Code, an interim injunction may be requested at any stage of the proceedings and may be reconsidered if circumstances change. Therefore, if an interim injunction was not granted at the beginning of the case and the case was later accepted by the court of first instance, the plaintiff may request an interim injunction at the appeal stage. However, it is not common for requests for interim injunctions to be granted at the appeal stage.

There are no special provisions in appeal procedure; the general rules apply for intellectual property rights.

In the second stage of appeals before the Regional Court, the file is fully reviewed, and the merits and procedures are both examined. Whereas, at the third stage before the Supreme Court, there is only a procedural examination.

There are no mandatory step that must be taken before an action for patent infringement. If parties send cease and desist letters or conduct determination of evidence, notarisation costs will arise. However, these costs may depend upon the evidence determined or the number of pages of the letter.

Depending on the type of case and the value of the claim, the minimum official fees are around TRY15,000. If compensation is claimed, court fees are calculated according to the amount of such compensation. If the case is referred to an expert report, the expert fee can be around TRY2,000–5,000 per expert. For invalidity and infringement actions without a claim for damages, the minimum fee for an attorney, determined according to the annual tariff announced by the Union of Turkish Bar Associations, is TRY39,000. If there is a claim for damages, the official attorney fees are calculated on a percentage basis according to the amount claimed.

As a principle, the plaintiff must bear the court costs until the final decision. Following that, the losing party bears all litigation fees and the official attorney’s fee of the counterparty.

Negative declaratory and infringement cases can be handled via ADR, but commonly the courts are utilised in Turkey.

On the other hand, invalidity cases cannot be resolved by arbitration since the decisions of ADR are binding to the parties. However, the invalidity of a patent relates to the official register and public order.

The assignment of patent and utility models must be in writing and notarised. Notarisation is a condition of validity for the transfer. It is not compulsory to register the assignment, but rights arising from assignments cannot be asserted against bona fide third parties. For this reason, it is highly recommended to have the assignments registered.

The first step is parties should sign an assignment agreement in writing which must be signed by the parties’ representatives and notarised.

After notarisation, the assignment is duly completed and valid. As a rule, registration of the assignment agreement with the TPTO is optional. The registration only has an explanatory effect.

If one of the parties requests and pays the fee, the transfer agreement is registered with the TPTO and published in the Official Bulletin.

Patent licence agreements must be in writing, and written form is a condition of validity. They must be registered in the Patent Registry in order to be enforceable against third parties, but it is not a requirement for invalidity of the licence. Under Turkish law, exclusive and simple licence agreements may be concluded.

According to Turkish law, while the licence agreement must be in writing, notarisation and legislation are not required for licensing.

As a rule, registration of the licence agreement with the TPTO is optional. Although registration only has an explanatory effect, it is useful and recommended for asserting rights against third parties.

If either party requests and pays the fee, the licensing is registered with the TPTO and published in the Official Bulletin.