How To Apply
In Türkiye, trademark protection is granted according to the provisions of 6769 Industrial Property Code.
Who may apply for trademark protection in Türkiye?
The protection for trademarks in Türkiye is available to natural or legal entities domiciled or engaged in industrial or commercial activities within the borders of Republic of Türkiye, or to the persons who have the right of application according to the Paris Convention or Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization. Natural or legal persons other than those referred above, who are citizens of states which accord legal and de facto protection to the citizens of the Turkish Republic shall enjoy trademark protection in Türkiye according to the reciprocity principle.
What are the means of making an international application in order to enjoy trademark protection in Türkiye?
Basically, there are two ways of applying for a trademark protection in Türkiye:
1) Direct application to Turkish Patent and Trademark Office: The first way of making a trademark registration application is to file an application directly to Turkish Patent and Trademark Office.
Those who are domiciled outside the borders of Republic of Türkiye-except for those making an application through the Madrid Protocol- can only be represented by trademark attorneys who are authorized to act before the Office. (for the list of trademark attorneys: https://www.turkpatent.gov.tr/vekil-arastirma)
2) International Applications through the Madrid System: The second alternative for making a trademark application in Türkiye is to use the Madrid System which is administered by World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO). Madrid System is formed by two treaties complementing each other. These treaties are the Madrid Agreement and the Madrid Protocol. Türkiye is only a member of the Protocol. Therefore, it accepts applications from only the States which are party to the Protocol or from the States which are party to both the Agreement and the Protocol. In both cases, the governing treaty for the international applications filed to Turkish Patent and Trademark Office is the Madrid Protocol.
Who can benefit from the Madrid System?
An international application can be made by natural or legal persons who have a real and effective industrial or commercial establishment in a State party to the Madrid Protocol (or both the Protocol and the Agreement) or who are nationals of or domiciled in that State.
In order to obtain international registration, it is compulsory to have a registered trademark or a pending application for registration in the Office of Origin. The extension on the list of goods and/or services of the basic registration or basic application is not possible.
For detailed information about the international applications through the Madrid System, please follow the link http://www.wipo.int/madrid/en/.
Examination of Trademark Applications in Turkish Patent and Trademark Office
Trademarks Department of the Turkish Patent and Trademark Office carries out an examination system, which consists of procedural examination, examination for absolute grounds for refusal, publication, examination of oppositions and appeals.
Procedural examination: TÜRKPATENT shall formally examine the conformity of the application. In case it is decided that there are no deficiencies, the application shall finalize in date, hour and minute of its date of reception. In case there is a deficiency in the application, the applicant shall be given a period of two months to remedy the deficiency. Application whose deficiencies are not remedied within the prescribed period shall be cancelled. However, in case the application has been filed for goods or services covering more than one class and the nonpayment of the fee regarding classes is not remedied in the prescribed period, the application shall be examined for class or classes covered by the paid fee.
Examination for absolute grounds for refusal and publication: If the Office decides that the application does not have any formal deficiencies, it shall examine the application in accordance with Article 5 of 6769 Industrial Property Code. As a result of the examination, if it is concluded that the application may not be registered for some or all of the goods or services in the scope of the application, the application shall be refused for those goods or services. An application, which has fulfilled the conditions of application and has not been refused, shall be published in the Bulletin.
Letter of Consent: A trademark application may not be refused according to identically or indistinguishably similar to a trademark, if a notarial document indicating the clear consent of the prior trademark proprietor for the registration of the application is submitted to the TÜRKPATENT.
Examination of oppositions and appeals: If no grounds for refusal is found in the first examination, the application will be published in the monthly Official Trademark Bulletin. Third persons may file oppositions in 2 months time limit following the publication date of the Bulletin. If there are no oppositions filed within the abovementioned time limit, the application will be registered in the Trademark Register and it shall be published in the Official Trademark Bulletin. If the application is refused totally or partially in the first examination, the applicant may lodge an appeal to the TÜRKPATENT in 2 months time limit. In this case, the application should be re-examined regarding the appeal. If the appeal is found acceptable, the application will be published totally or partially in the Bulletin, this means that the application may be the subject of a further refusal following an opposition.
Evidence proving that the trademark been genuinely used:The Office shall request the applicant to submit his observations concerning the oppositions within the prescribed period. Provided that the trademark, which is the ground for opposition, has been registered for at least five years at the date of application or date of priority of the application for which the opposition is filed, upon the request of the applicant, it shall be requested from the opponent to submit evidence proving that he had genuinely used his trademark on the goods and services relating to the opposition during the five-years period before the date of application or the date of priority of the latter application or whether he has a proper reason for not using his trademark during that period. In case the opponent fails to prove the aforesaid, opposition shall be refused. If it is proven that the trademark, which is the ground for opposition, has been used only for some of the goods or services which are covered by registration, then the opposition shall be examined taking into account the goods or services whose use is proven.
For the examination of oppositions, TÜRKPATENT Trademarks Department has a separate division (oppositions division). Parties who are not satisfied with the decisions of this division can also appeal to the decisions before the Office.
Re-Examination and Evaluation Department is the final decision making body of the Office. A legal proceeding can be instituted against these decisions at Ankara Intellectual and Industrial Rights Civil Court within two months of the notification date of the decision.
Registration: An application; which have been filed without deficiency or whose deficiencies have been remedied; have been examined and published in the Bulletin, against which there has been no opposition or such opposition has been ultimately rejected, and all stages have been completed upon submission to the Office of missing documents within the prescribed period, including information demonstrating that registration fee is paid, shall be recorded in the registry by registration and shall be published in the Bulletin. In case of failure to deposit the fee concerning registration of the trademark and submitting to the Office the information concerning the payment within the prescribed period, the application shall be abolished.
Renewal: The term of protection for registered trademark is ten years from the date of application. This term shall be renewed for periods of ten years. Request for renewal needs to be made by the trademark proprietor within six months before the expiry of the protection date and the information regarding the payment of the fee needs to be submitted to the Office within the same period. In case no request is made or the information regarding payment of the renewal fee is not submitted to the Office within this period, renewal request may be made within six months after the expiry of the protection date, provided that an additional fee is paid.
The following flow chart shows the stages and related time limits that a trademark application follows in Turkish Patent and Trademark Office:
