Support Patent Board Chairman Kemal Yamankaradeniz:
Türkiye is on track to reach 3% in R&D spending
Amendments were made to the R&D law in March 2016; Council of Ministers issued decisions regarding the new R&D law in August 2016. Now, the next step is to increase Türkiye's R&D spending to 3 percent.
Kemal Yamankaradeniz, Chairman of the Board of Destek Patent, one of the most established "Patent Attorney" companies in our country, made assessments on where the new regulations regarding R&D should take Türkiye.
Yamankaradeniz reminded that the European Union, with a decision taken in 2000 for member and candidate countries, aimed to increase R&D spending to 3 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and explained how Türkiye fared in this process:
In our country, this rate was 0.53 percent in 2002. There was an acceleration in 2004, reaching 0.92 percent. In 2014, it reached 1.01 percent, surpassing 1 percent for the first time. Following the enactment of the law revising R&D on March 1, 2016, and the publication of the necessary Cabinet regulations in the Official Gazette on August 11, 2016, we expect this rate to rise to around 2 percent in 2017. Reaching 3 percent by 2023 seems like a realistic target in our opinion. Our business world should definitely not remain indifferent to the significant opportunity presented by the R&D law; they should strive to understand and seize this opportunity.
Kemal Yamankaradeniz, Chairman of the Board of Destek Patent, lists some of the R&D opportunities not to be missed:
• Design activities are now also included in R&D support. There are significant opportunities here.
• The reduction of the required number of personnel for Ministry approval and support to 15 significantly simplifies establishing an R&D center. Those with R&D experience have a higher value-added product. This opportunity shouldn't be missed.
• If you cannot do R&D, you can benefit from support by having R&D done by other R&D centers.
• Additionally, if you employ basic science graduates, PhD or master's degree graduates in your R&D center, you will be offered more advantages.
What's the key to turning all these R&D conveniences into effective opportunities for companies? Yamankaradeniz offers the following answer to this question:
R&D centers that have been established or will be established must absolutely be patent-focused. Companies must employ a patent manager. Collaboration with institutions specializing in patents is essential. The government has introduced regulations that will simplify the inputs to R&D activities. The primary output of our R&D centers will be patented inventions. To increase patented inventions, we need attorneys specializing in intellectual and industrial property rights to best utilize the government's incentives.
