The Industrial Property Code No. 6769 (the Code) gives a trademark owner two routes against a counterfeiter in Türkiye. One is a criminal complaint to the Chief Public Prosecutor under Art. 30; the other is a civil action before the IP courts under Arts. 149 and 159. Both require a trademark registered in Türkiye, and they can run side by side. Which comes first depends on what you want: a search and seizure, an injunction, compensation or all three.
The criminal route
The offence. Art. 30/1 of the Code makes it an offence to produce, offer, sell, import, export, buy for commercial purposes, possess, transport or store goods that infringe a trademark by reproduction or confusing imitation. The penalty is one to three years’ imprisonment and a judicial fine of up to 20,000 days. Three conditions matter. The mark must be registered in Türkiye (Art. 30/5). Investigation and prosecution depend on the right holder’s complaint (Art. 30/6). And a seller who discloses where the goods came from, so that the producer can be identified and the goods seized, is not punished (Art. 30/7).
How a complaint is filed. The complaint goes to the Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office for the district where the goods are sold or stored. A complaint that produces a warrant contains:
- the registration certificate and a power of attorney (notarised and apostilled for a foreign right holder);
- evidence of the sale: a test purchase with receipt, dated photographs, the address and, for online sellers, the listing and the delivery;
- a short technical comparison explaining why the goods are counterfeit, with photographs of genuine and fake side by side;
- a request for search and seizure at the named premises.
Search and seizure. A search of business premises needs a judge’s decision (Code of Criminal Procedure, CMK, Art. 119). Where delay would prejudice the investigation, the prosecutor can order it in writing, and the seizure must then be put to a judge within 24 hours (CMK Art. 127). In practice the prosecutor applies to the criminal judgeship of peace (sulh ceza hâkimliği), and the judge rules within days. The police or gendarmerie carry out the search, and we attend to identify the goods. Seized goods are counted and recorded. Where the quantity is too large for the evidence office, samples are kept and the rest transferred, and goods that are costly to store may be destroyed after a technical examination (Art. 163).
Timelines and outcomes. From a complete complaint to a search typically takes two to six weeks; some judges want a police report before they will sign. The indictment then goes to the Criminal Court for Intellectual and Industrial Property Rights (Fikri ve Sınai Haklar Ceza Mahkemesi) in Istanbul, Ankara or İzmir, or to the general criminal court elsewhere (Art. 156). First-instance trials commonly take about a year. Because the offence depends on a complaint, it falls within the reconciliation (uzlaştırma) procedure of the CMK. A reconciliation offer is normally made before trial, and withdrawing the complaint ends the case. Sentences are often converted to fines or suspended for first offenders. The practical result is the seizure, the destruction and the record.
When it fits. Physical stock in a shop, a warehouse or a workshop; a seller whose identity you do not yet know; resort towns and wholesale districts; and any case where the goal is to find the supplier.
The civil route
Civil cases go to the Civil Court for Intellectual and Industrial Property Rights (Fikri ve Sınai Haklar Hukuk Mahkemesi) in the larger cities, or to the civil court of first instance elsewhere (Art. 156). Three instruments matter.
Evidence determination (delil tespiti). Before suing, a right holder can ask the court to record the facts. A court-appointed technical examiner (bilirkişi) visits the premises or examines the goods and reports. It is quick, relatively cheap and useful where the infringer is a company that will not vanish, or where the question is whether the goods are fake at all.
Preliminary injunction (ihtiyati tedbir). Under Art. 159 the court can order, before or during the action, that the infringing acts stop and that the goods be seized “including at customs and in free zones”. It can also order security for the damages. The applicant must show that infringement is taking place or being prepared in Türkiye. Courts normally require a security deposit from the applicant and decide on the file, sometimes after hearing the other side. An injunction granted before the action lapses unless the main action is filed within two weeks. A 2025 review of practice notes that injunctions in trademark cases were granted in significant numbers, that earlier delays were largely overcome and that the standard of proof still varies between courts (Gün + Partners).
The infringement action. Art. 149 lists the claims. They include a declaration of infringement, an order to stop it, and seizure of the goods and the tools used to make them. They also include destruction or alteration, transfer of ownership of the seized goods, publication of the judgment, and damages. Damages under Arts. 150 and 151 cover actual loss and lost profit. The claimant may calculate lost profit in one of three ways: the income it would have earned without the infringement, the infringer’s net profit, or a reasonable licence fee. Infringing goods seized by customs can be included. The defendant may raise non-use of your mark as a defence (Art. 29/2).
Timelines. Civil IP cases are examined by a panel of technical examiners, usually three, whose reports are the main source of delay. First-instance judgments commonly take eighteen months to two years, followed by the regional court of appeal and, for larger cases, the Court of Cassation. The injunction obtained at the start stops the trade while the case runs.
When it fits. An identified company with assets, a dispute about whether the goods infringe at all (look-alikes rather than fakes), or a website where an injunction can also block access in Türkiye. Also any case where compensation is a real goal.
Using both routes
Most cases use both routes, in one of three sequences.
- Criminal first, civil second. The search seizes the stock and the file identifies the seller, the supplier and the quantities. That file, with its technical report, then becomes evidence in a civil damages claim.
- Civil first, criminal second. Where a judge refuses a search warrant, an injunction from the civil court can seize the goods, and the criminal complaint follows with the seizure record attached.
- Customs plus either. A detention at the border gives ten working days to obtain an injunction. The criminal complaint against the importer runs in parallel and does not need to meet that deadline.
Costs differ by route. A criminal complaint costs the preparation of the file, the test purchase and attendance at the search; there are no court fees. A civil action adds court fees proportional to the value claimed, the security deposit for an injunction and the technical examiners’ fees, part of which the losing side is ordered to reimburse. For a single shop the criminal route is far cheaper; the civil claim is what recovers money from an importer moving containers.
Damages and settlements
Turkish courts award compensation on evidence of quantities and prices, usually on the basis of the infringer’s profit or a licence fee, and the sums are modest against European awards. Moral damages for harm to the mark’s reputation are available (Art. 150/2) but small. A written undertaking with a penalty clause is often worth more than the award.
Most criminal and many civil cases end in a written settlement (sulh) in which the infringer:
- acknowledges the infringement and undertakes not to repeat it, with a penalty clause (cezai şart) that is payable without proof of loss;
- consents to destruction of the seized goods and pays the destruction and storage costs;
- discloses the supplier, with invoices, where Art. 30/7 applies;
- pays an agreed sum towards the right holder’s costs.
The right holder then withdraws the complaint, or does not oppose reconciliation. We keep the signed undertaking on file, because if the same seller appears again the case becomes a breach of contract with a fixed sum attached.
What to do next
Decide what you want from the case before choosing the route: stock off the street this month, the supplier’s name, an order against a company, or money. Most Turkish cases use two routes in sequence. Our litigation service prepares the complaint or the injunction application and runs both routes together where that is faster.