Patent registration in Turkmenistan. Turkmenistan, also known as Turkmenia, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. The country possesses the world’s fourth-largest reserves of natural gas and substantial oil resources. Turkmenistan has taken a cautious approach to economic reform, hoping to use gas and cotton sales to sustain its economy. Accordingly, many businesses want to enter this market and one of the most important preparations a business needs to take before expanding to this country is to learn the procedure of patent registration in Turkmenistan.
Patent in Turkmenistan
According to Turkmenistan law, a patent in this country is a grant of a property right given by the Government to an inventor. With a patent, the inventor, or the patentee will have the right to exclude others from making, using, offering for sale, selling the invention in a country, or importing the invention into a country, along with other rights to protect their best interests.
To be patentable in Turkmenistan, an invention must satisfy the requirement of new, inventive, and industrially applicability.
In addition, an invention that is patentable can also be an improvement on existing items or methods.
On the other hand, the subjects that are unpatentable in Turkmenistan are:
- Discoveries, laws of nature, and mathematical methods;
- Aesthetic designs;
- Systems, rules, and methods for the performance of mental labor, games or management, computer programs;
- Presentation of data and abstract ideas.
Necessary documents for patent registration in Turkmenistan
The necessary documents for patent registration in Turkmenistan include:
- The request to grant a patent (patent application);
- Detailed information on the applicant(s) including the applicant’s names, addresses, etc.;
- A description of the invention;
- A signed and stamped power of attorney by the applicant(s);
- A copy of the amendments (if any);
- Priority documents (if any).
- Other required documents.
The procedure for patent registration in Turkmenistan
To obtain a patent in Turkmenistan, the applicant needs to file their patent application to the IP Office of Turkmenistan.
It should be noted that there are 2 types of patents in this country. One is a limited patent that is valid for 10 years and the second is a ‘normal’ patent that is valid for 20 years, similar to the standards of most countries in the world.
After receiving the patent application, the examiners in Turkmenistan will conduct 2 or 3 examinations to check if the subject matter of the patent application is registrable or not.
The first examination is the formal examination that usually lasts 3 months, checking the basic requirements in the formality of the application.
The second examination is the limited examination. Once passed, the applicant will be entitled to receive a limited patent that has 10 years of validity.
However, if the patentee wants the entire 20 years of protection, they must file a request for suspension of issue of the Limited patent and request the substantive examination within 5 years from the filing date which is the third optional examination.
The limited examination usually takes about 6 months.
To maintain the validity of these patents, the patentee needs to pay annuities yearly starting from the 1st year. The fees should be paid before the anniversary of the filing date.
Besides the traditional filing method, the applicant can also seek patent protection in Turkmenistan via filing through the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT).
You can see a list of Turkmenistan IP firms here.