TRADEMARKS

The protection starts as of the application date. The term of the legal protection of a trademark is 10 years.

It takes approximately 8 months to register a trademark in case of no opposition or office actions.

The primary legislation governing trademarks is the Industrial Property Code No. 6769, which entered into force on January 10, 2017.

Yes, Turkey is a party to the Nice Agreement and TURKPATENT classifies goods and services under the Nice Agreement.

Yes, multiclass applications are available under Turkish trademark law.

According to Article 4 of the IP Code: A trademark enables the goods or services of one enterprise to be distinguished from those of other enterprises and can be displayed in the registry in a way that enables a clear and precise understanding of the subject of the protection afforded to the trademark owner. Trademarks can consist of any signs, such as words including the name of persons, shapes, colors, letters, numbers, sounds, and the shape of goods or their packaging.

Signs which cannot be trademarks within the scope of Article 4, and which do not meet the requirements under Article 5 of the IP Code, cannot be registered as a trademark.

As a first route, an applicant can directly file a domestic trademark application in Turkey. Turkey is also a member state of the Madrid Protocol. Thus, as a second route, the applicant can file an international trademark application through WIPO designating Turkey.

Following documents are required for filing a trademark application:

• name and address of the applicant(s);
• representation of the mark in JPEG format;
• list of goods and services according to Nice Agreement;
• payment receipt of the official fee.

A Power of Attorney (POA) is not required for trademark filings. A POA is only required for the withdrawal of applications and partial renewals.

The applicant may claim priority for any subsequent identical application within 6 months, starting from the date of filing of the earlier application filed in a foreign country under the rule of the Paris Agreement. The priority right can also be earned through an exhibition. In this case, the applicant may claim priority right within 6 months from the date of the exhibition. The priority right should be requested and the relevant fee should be paid at the filing stage and the documents regarding this request and the priority document with the certified translation should be submitted to TURKPATENT within 3 months from the application date.

Yes. Applicants who do not have their residence or principal place of business in Turkey must be represented by a legal representative.

No, it is not possible to extend goods and services. If an applicant would like to add new classes of goods and services, then she should file a new application to cover the new classes.

Yes, but only spelling errors and clear material errors that do not include changes in the content, representation of the mark, or list of goods or services are corrected upon the request of the applicant.

At the filing stage, the fees consist of a basic application fee and fee to claim priority, if any. The basic application fee covers one class of goods and services. For each additional class, the same fee applies. If the registration process goes smoothly, the applicant pays the registration fee to get an electronic registration certificate.

If the fees regarding the granting or registration of an industrial property right are not paid in due time, the industrial property right application will be deemed to be withdrawn.
If the fees for transactions other than the granting or registration of an industrial property right are not paid in due time, the relevant request will be deemed to have not been issued.

In case of double or erroneous payments or overpayments, the applicant can receive a refund upon request.

No. The use of the trademark is not a prerequisite for its registration or renewal.

Yes. According to Article 9/1 of the IP Code, a trademark that is not used seriously in terms of the goods or services for which it was registered without a justifiable reason within five years from the date of registration, or whose use has been suspended for five years without a justifiable reason is decided to be revoked. Thus, parties with an interest may file a lawsuit for the cancellation of a trademark that meets the above conditions.

Yes, provided that the trademark of the opponent has been registered in Turkey for at least five years on the application or priority date of the application, upon the request of the applicant/defendant, it can be requested from the opponent to present evidence that he is using his trademark seriously in Turkey for the goods or services for which it was registered within five years before the application or priority date of the opposed application. If the opponent can not provide proof of use or valid reasons for non-use, the opposition is rejected.

If a trademark has been used before the application date and has gained a distinctive character in terms of the goods or services for which the application is filed, this trademark cannot be rejected (see Article 5/2 of the IP Code). Also, if a trademark has been registered even though it should not have been, but gained a distinctive character in terms of the goods or services for which it was registered as a result of its use, it cannot be invalidated (see Article 25/4 of the IP Code).

No, an accelerated examination is not available under Turkish trademark law.

There are two steps that TURKPATENT uses to review trademark applications:

• formality examination;
• substantive examination.

In the first step, TURKPATENT checks whether a filed application meets the filing requirements including the payment of the application fee. If positive, an application number and a filing date will be assigned. If the necessary documents are missing or incomplete, the applicant is given 2 months to correct the deficiencies. When the deficiencies are corrected, the application date becomes final as of the date, hour, and minute when the information or documents that correct the deficiencies are received by TURKPATENT.

In the second step, the application is subjected to substantive examination on absolute grounds for refusal which are listed in Article 5 of the IP Code. If no ground for refusal is found, the application will be published in the Trademark Bulletin.

If the application is partially accepted or refused, the applicant can appeal the decision of TURKPATENT within 2 months. In case the appeal is accepted, the application will be published totally or partially in the Bulletin. Following the publication, the application may be subject to further refusal following an opposition.

Third parties may file an opposition by paying the prescribed fee within 2 months from the publication of the application in the Trademark Bulletin regarding that a trademark application published in the Bulletin should not be registered according to the provisions of Articles 5 and 6 of the IP Code.

Opposition to publication is made to TURKPATENT by submitting a signed objection to the publication form, in which the reasons for the objection are written in detail by stating the relevant parts of the legislation. The relevant fee can be paid and the grounds for opposition can be submitted within the prescribed period of 2 months from the publication.
TURKPATENT gives the applicant 1 month to submit a response against the grounds stated in the opposition. TURKPATENT, if it deems necessary, may give the parties 1 month to make explanations regarding additional information, documents, and justifications. The parties may submit additional information and documents to support their opinions, claims, and justifications until a decision is made on the opposition.

Third parties may file an opposition against a trademark application based on absolute grounds according to Article 5 and/or relative grounds according to Article 6 of the IP Code.

Any party who is not satisfied with the decision may file an appeal before the Re-examination and Re-evaluation Board of TURKPATENT within 2 months from the notification date. Since this decision is the final decision of TURKPATENT, parties who are not satisfied with the decision have the right to challenge it before the court.

Yes. According to clause 3 of Article 5 of the IP Code: A trademark application cannot be rejected if a notarized document showing that the previous trademark owner has expressly consented to the registration of the application is submitted to TURKPATENT.

After the applicant pays the prescribed fee for registration, TURKPATENT will publish the registration of the mark on the Trademark Bulletin and issue a Registration Certificate.

Yes. Although Turkish law provides trademark protection through registration, it exceptionally accepts that the trademark right can also be acquired through first use without relying on registration. According to Article 6/3 of the IP Code, if a right has been obtained for an unregistered trademark used during trade before the application date or the priority date of a trademark application, the trademark application is rejected upon the objection of the owner of the unregistered mark.
In addition, unregistered trademarks are protected according to the unfair competition provisions of the Commercial Code.

Yes. According to Article 6/4 of the IP Code, “Trademark applications which are identical or similar to well-known trademarks in the context of article 6 bis of the Paris Convention, shall be refused in respect of identical or similar goods or services”. Even if a trademark with the status of "well-known trademark" according to the Paris Convention is not registered or used in Turkey, the well-known trademark can request the refusal of a subsequent trademark application in respect of the identical and similar goods or services before TURKPATENT or may file a lawsuit to invalidate a subsequent trademark registration in respect of the identical and similar goods or services before the court.

A trademark can be renewed for 10-year periods. The renewal application may be filed up to 6 months before the expiration date. Also, late renewal is possible within six months after the due date by payment of a penalty.

If the international application or registration in the office of origin becomes invalid for any reason, the trademark owner may request the conversion of the international registration to national registration. This request must be submitted to TURKPATENT within 3 months from the cancellation of the international registration with the following documents:

• request form;
• Turkish translation of the goods and services subject to the conversion process approved by a sworn translator;
• payment receipt of the official fee.

Any third-party opposition filed against an international trademark application in Turkey is not notified to the applicant unless the opposition is accepted. This may cause a loss of rights of an applicant to defend her trademark. It may be beneficial for the applicant to assign a representative in Turkey to receive notifications about oppositions and submit a response before TURKPATENT. There is no official deadline to file a response; however, any counterview should be submitted before the examiner gives his final decision.

Yes, according to Article 24/1 of the IP Code, a trademark right may be subject to a license for a part or all the goods or services for which it is registered.

Yes. Licenses may be granted as exclusive licenses or non-exclusive licenses. Unless
otherwise agreed in the contract, the license cannot be exclusive.
In the non-exclusive license contracts, the licensor may exploit the same trademark right or may grant licenses to third parties. An exclusive license means that licensor may not grant licenses to third parties, and unless the right has been reserved, may not use the trademark himself.

No. Unless otherwise agreed in the contract, a licensee may not transfer her rights arising from the license to third parties or grant sub-licenses.

It is not; however, according to Article 24/3 of the IP Code, the licensor is responsible for the quality of goods to be produced or services to be offered by the licensee. On the other part, the licensee must comply with the terms of the license contract. If the licensee fails to comply with the terms set, the trademark owner may claim his rights arising from the registered trademark against the licensee.

If the licensee received an exclusive license, then he can commence legal proceedings against an infringement. If the licensee has a non-exclusive license, the licensee may request the right owner to start the required legal proceeding with a notification. In case the right holder does not accept this request or does not file the requested legal proceeding within three months, the licensee will have the right to commence the legal proceeding.

The following documents are required for the registration and publication of the license in the Registry:

• request form;
• the licensing agreement stating the signatures and statements of the licensee and the licensor, the goods or services subject to the license, the trademark registration number, the license fee (if any), and the license period;
• if the licensing agreement is in a foreign language, its Turkish translation approved by a sworn translator;
• payment receipt of the official fee;

No, notarization or legalization of a licensing agreement is not required.