Patent applications rise 47% in 2019: Turkish minister

The number of patent applications rose by 47% in Turkey last year, the country's industry and technology minister said on Friday.

The increase resulted from new inventions in high-technology fields, including machinery, medicine, chemistry, computer and electric-electronics, Mustafa Varank said at an event in the capital Ankara.

Turkey ranked 13th in the world with its number of patents in 2019, outdistancing many countries such as India, Israel, Australia, and Finland, he added.

When an invention is patented, it is protected for 20 years, so each patent application has a 20-year-long goal and vision, Varank stated.

The number of patent applications annually rose by 27 times in the last 18 years, he said.