Trademark Law in Turkey

For companies active on the Turkish market or distributing their products via Turkey, the trademark is the most important industrial property right. The legal basis is the Industrial Property Code No. 6769 ("Sınai Mülkiyet Kanunu" – SMK), which since 2017 has consolidated Turkish trademark, patent and design law into a modern framework largely aligned with EU law. The competent authority is the Turkish Patent and Trademark Office (TÜRKPATENT). Since Turkey – like most jurisdictions – follows the first-to-file principle, early registration is of strategic importance for foreign companies: whoever files first generally secures the right.

Table of contents

• What can be protected as a trademark?
• Why is registration in Turkey so important?
• How does the application procedure before TÜRKPATENT work?
• What role does international registration (Madrid System) play?
• What rights does a registered trademark confer?
• What do the use requirement and the risk of revocation mean?
• How can third-party trademarks be challenged?
• How are trademark rights enforced?
• What extended protection do well-known trademarks enjoy?
• When do coexistence and delimitation agreements make sense?
• What can be done about trademark usurpation (bad-faith registration)?
• What are the most common mistakes in practice?
• What should foreign companies bear in mind in practice?
• Conclusion

What can be protected as a trademark?

Any sign capable of distinguishing the goods or services of one undertaking from those of others and of being represented clearly and unambiguously in the register may be protected as a trademark – in particular words including personal names, figurative elements, colours, letters, numerals, sounds and the shape or packaging of goods. Excluded from protection are, among others, signs devoid of distinctive character, purely descriptive indications, signs identical or confusingly similar to an earlier trademark, and deceptive signs. Protection is granted for the specific classes of goods and services claimed under the Nice Classification; the class strategy should therefore be defined carefully and with future business fields in mind.

Why is registration in Turkey so important?

Turkish trademark law follows the principles of territoriality and registration: a German or EU trademark has no protective effect in Turkey, as Turkey is not an EU member and the EU trademark does not extend there. Companies that supply the Turkish market, have products manufactured there or engage distribution partners without registering their trademark in Turkey run the risk that third parties – not infrequently their own distributor or former business partners – file the mark first. Recovering such a "hijacked" trademark is possible, in particular via the invalidity ground of bad-faith filing ("kötü niyetli tescil") and the special protection against agents and representatives, but it is lengthy and costly. Precautionary registration, by contrast, is fast and comparatively inexpensive.

How does the application procedure before TÜRKPATENT work?

The procedure comprises the following steps:

Search: Before filing, an identity and similarity search in the TÜRKPATENT register is recommended in order to identify conflicts with earlier rights.

Filing and formal examination: The application is filed electronically; foreign applicants without domicile in Turkey must be represented by a trademark attorney registered with the Office. The Office first examines the formal requirements and then the absolute grounds for refusal ex officio.

Publication and opposition: Applications free of objections are published in the Official Trademark Bulletin. Within two months of publication, holders of earlier rights may file an opposition. In opposition proceedings, the applicant may require the opponent to prove genuine use of its earlier mark if that mark has been registered for more than five years – an effective defence against oppositions based on unused register marks.

Registration: If no opposition is filed or the opposition fails, the mark is registered upon payment of the fee. Protection runs for ten years from the filing date and can be renewed indefinitely for successive ten-year periods.

Decisions of the Office may be appealed to the Re-examination and Evaluation Board of TÜRKPATENT; its decisions can in turn be challenged before the specialised courts in Ankara. A smooth procedure typically takes around twelve to eighteen months in practice.

What role does international registration (Madrid System) play?

Turkey is a member of the Madrid Protocol. German and Austrian companies can therefore also obtain Turkish protection through an international registration with WIPO designating Turkey; conversely, Turkish base marks can be extended internationally. The designation of Turkey undergoes the same substantive examination before TÜRKPATENT, including the opposition procedure. Whether the national filing or the Madrid route is preferable depends on the portfolio, the cost structure and the required speed of reaction in the event of objections; where an opposition risk is expected, the national filing with a local representative often offers practical advantages.

What rights does a registered trademark confer?

The proprietor may prohibit third parties from using, without consent, an identical or confusingly similar sign for identical or similar goods and services in the course of trade – including affixing it to goods and packaging, placing goods on the market, import and export, and use in business papers, advertising and on the internet, including use as a domain name or keyword. For well-known marks, protection extends under certain conditions to dissimilar goods as well. The trademark is also a tradable asset: it can be assigned, licensed and pledged; assignments and licences should be recorded in the register to take effect against third parties acting in good faith.

What do the use requirement and the risk of revocation mean?

The trademark must be put to genuine use in Turkey for the registered goods and services within five years of registration; if use is omitted without justification or suspended for an uninterrupted period of five years, the mark may be revoked upon request. Since 2024, revocation requests are decided in the first instance by TÜRKPATENT in administrative proceedings. Companies should continuously document use – invoices, catalogues, advertising, turnover figures with a Turkish nexus – in order to counter revocation requests and non-use defences.

How can third-party trademarks be challenged?

Where a third-party registration conflicts with earlier rights or blocks market entry, several lines of attack are available: the invalidity action ("hükümsüzlük davası") based on absolute or relative grounds – including the practically important category of bad-faith filings, for example by distributors, former partners or professional trademark squatters –, the revocation request based on five years of non-use, and the ground of the mark having become a generic term. Since 2024, revocation requests are decided first by TÜRKPATENT in administrative proceedings, which has made attacks on unused blocking marks faster and cheaper. Acquiescence must be kept in mind: whoever knowingly tolerates the use of a later registered mark for five years can in principle no longer assert its invalidity – unless the filing was made in bad faith. Active register monitoring prevents acquiescence periods from starting to run unnoticed.

How are trademark rights enforced?

In the event of infringement, the proprietor has civil claims for injunctive relief, removal of the infringement, destruction of the infringing goods, material and moral damages and surrender of the infringer's profits; lost profits may alternatively be calculated on the basis of a hypothetical licence fee. Jurisdiction lies with the specialised civil courts for intellectual and industrial property rights. Of great practical importance are preliminary measures – including the securing of evidence ("delil tespiti") – and customs seizure at the border. Intentional trademark infringement is, moreover, a criminal offence: the manufacture and sale of counterfeit goods can be punished with imprisonment, which lends considerable force to enforcement against product piracy; details are covered in the separate article on trademark and product piracy.

What extended protection do well-known trademarks enjoy?

Well-known marks within the meaning of the Paris Convention enjoy extended protection: their registration by third parties can be prevented even without a prior Turkish registration, and the protection of registered well-known marks extends to the taking of unfair advantage of, or detriment to, their distinctive character and repute. The trademark owner also enjoys special protection against its agent or representative: if the agent files the mark in its own name without consent, the owner may oppose the application and demand cancellation as well as transfer of the registration. In addition, unfair imitations can be attacked – even without a trademark registration – under the unfair competition rules of the Turkish Commercial Code ("haksız rekabet").

When do coexistence and delimitation agreements make sense?

Not every conflict has to be fought out: where similar signs collide in different product segments or distribution channels, coexistence and delimitation agreements are a proven instrument – with provisions on the delimitation of goods and classes, design requirements, geographical restrictions and waivers of opposition. Code No. 6769 expressly recognises the consent of the earlier right holder: with a notarised letter of consent ("muvafakatname"), a later application can be registered despite an earlier identical or similar mark. Such agreements should be drafted carefully, as they bind the portfolio in the long term; at the same time they are often the fastest way to avoid years of opposition battles.

What can be done about trademark usurpation (bad-faith registration)?

The most frequent obstacle for foreign companies is that their own trademark has already been registered in Turkey in bad faith by a third party – often by the infringer itself or an actor connected with it. If the foreign trademark owner has not filed its own application before market entry, a local actor can have the identical or confusingly similar sign registered in its own name; until the registration is invalidated, someone else then appears as the legal "owner" of the mark – and the true owner cannot use instruments such as criminal complaints or customs applications until this obstacle has been removed.

Under Code No. 6769, bad-faith trademark registrations can be attacked with the invalidity action – without any time limit. Proof of bad faith depends on the circumstances of the individual case; the courts typically examine the following elements:

• whether a prior business relationship existed between the registrant and the foreign trademark owner (distribution or dealership agreement, supply negotiations),
• whether the registered sign is identical or similar to the point of indistinguishability to the foreign mark,
• whether the foreign mark was known in Turkey or internationally before the registration date, or had at least been used in the country of origin for a considerable time with a certain intensity,
• whether the registrant actually intended to use the sign (or merely pursued blocking or extortion purposes).

Even where the invalidity action is decided swiftly, it is a civil case whose final judgment can take years; during this period the trademark owner can neither file a criminal complaint nor lodge a customs application, because the registered right formally belongs to someone else. For foreign companies planning to enter the Turkish market (or whose products are already manufactured in or transit through Turkey), the most effective strategy is therefore to invest in preventive registration rather than in subsequent anti-piracy measures: the trademark application should be filed before market entry – ideally long before the product launch.

What are the most common mistakes in practice?

• Distribution starts before the application is filed – and the Turkish partner registers the mark first.
• Only the word mark is protected; the logo, the Turkish transliteration and product lines remain unprotected.
• The choice of classes reflects only the current range and fails to block later expansions.
• Evidence of use is not archived – leaving no ammunition in revocation or opposition proceedings.
• Opposition deadlines are missed for lack of register monitoring; the later attack is more expensive and slower.
• Licences and assignments are not recorded and are unprotected against third parties.

What should foreign companies bear in mind in practice?

• Register the trademark in Turkey before market entry or before entering into a distribution relationship – not only after the first conflict.
• Consider separate applications for the Turkish transliteration, variant spellings where relevant, and the logo.
• Add clear trademark clauses to distribution, agency and manufacturing agreements: no-registration covenants, surrender obligations, consequences upon termination.
• Monitor the register (watch service) so that third-party applications can be opposed within the two-month opposition period.
• Archive evidence of use systematically and manage renewal deadlines centrally.

Conclusion

With Code No. 6769, Turkish trademark law offers a modern, EU-compatible protection system with effective civil, criminal and customs enforcement instruments. The decisive factor is timing: because of the first-to-file principle, the application should be filed before market entry and before disclosure to business partners; the two-month opposition period and the five-year use requirement call for continuous portfolio management.

For foreign companies, a Turkey-specific trademark strategy – from class selection and register monitoring to distribution agreements secured by trademark clauses – is the key to preserving the value of the brand in one of the region's most dynamic markets.

The IP/IT team at GEMS Schindhelm advises companies on the filing, administration and defence of trademarks in Turkey, in opposition, cancellation and infringement proceedings, and on the trademark aspects of distribution and licensing relationships.