Every enforcement route in Türkiye starts from a registration that covers Türkiye. A customs application needs proof of a right registered here. The criminal provisions of the Industrial Property Code No. 6769 apply only where the mark is registered in Türkiye (Art. 30/5). The marketplaces ask for a TÜRKPATENT certificate before they act. For a brand building its portfolio, the first question is whether to file nationally with TÜRKPATENT or to designate Türkiye through the Madrid system. This guide covers both, and what a portfolio needs before it can be used at customs.

National filing with TÜRKPATENT

The Turkish Patent and Trademark Office (TÜRKPATENT) examines and registers marks under the Code. Applicants without a residence or establishment in Türkiye act through a trademark attorney registered with the Office (Art. 160/3). Steps taken without one are deemed not to have been taken.

The process runs in this order.

  1. Filing. The application names the mark, the applicant and the goods and services by Nice class. A fee is paid per class. Priority can be claimed within six months of a first filing abroad.
  2. Formal and absolute-grounds examination. The Office checks the formalities and the absolute grounds in Art. 5: distinctiveness, descriptiveness and deceptiveness. Since 2017 it also raises, on its own motion, identity or indistinguishable similarity with an earlier mark for the same goods. A refusal can be appealed to the Re-examination and Evaluation Board within two months.
  3. Publication and opposition. Accepted applications are published in the Official Trademark Bulletin. Third parties have two months from publication to oppose on absolute or relative grounds (Art. 18), and the period cannot be extended. The applicant replies within one month. If the opponent’s earlier mark has been registered for at least five years, the applicant may demand proof of genuine use in Türkiye in the preceding five years. Without that proof the opposition is rejected (Art. 19/2).
  4. Decision and registration. If no opposition is filed, or the opposition fails, the registration fee is paid and the certificate issues. Board decisions can be challenged before the Ankara Civil Court for Intellectual and Industrial Property Rights within two months (Art. 156/2).
  5. Term. Ten years from the filing date, renewable for further ten-year periods. The renewal request is filed in the six months before expiry.

Without objections or oppositions, a national application typically registers in six to ten months. An opposition adds six to twelve months at the Office, and longer if it goes to the Board and the court.

A national filing gives you a Turkish certificate in the owner’s name, which customs, prosecutors and platforms recognise without discussion. It also puts a Turkish attorney on record before an opposition, a detention or a complaint arrives.

Designating Türkiye through Madrid

Türkiye has been party to the Madrid Protocol since 1999. An international registration, or a subsequent designation, that names Türkiye is forwarded by WIPO to TÜRKPATENT. The Office examines it as it would a national application: absolute grounds, publication in the Bulletin and the same two-month opposition period.

Three things differ.

  • The refusal period is 18 months rather than 12, under Türkiye’s declaration under Art. 5(2)(b) of the Protocol. Where a refusal results from an opposition, it may be notified after the 18 months have run (WIPO). Silence from the Office within 18 months is therefore not the end of the examination.
  • A provisional refusal must be answered locally. The holder appoints a Turkish trademark attorney and files a response or an appeal within two months of the notification.
  • The evidence of your right is a WIPO document. For customs, prosecutors and platforms, the proof is the international registration extract showing protection in Türkiye, with a Turkish translation, rather than a TÜRKPATENT certificate. It is accepted, but it takes explaining, and the e-commerce rules and platform forms are written around the national certificate (KP Law in WTR, 2023).

The trade-offs are the usual ones. Madrid is cheaper per country, has one renewal date and one place to record changes, and the designation can be added to an existing portfolio in weeks. Against that, the international registration depends on the basic mark for five years, so a central attack at home removes Türkiye too. The goods list is fixed by the basic mark and cannot be adapted to what is actually counterfeited here, and the protection document is less convenient in practice. A common compromise is a Madrid designation for the core word mark plus national filings for the marks and classes that drive enforcement in Türkiye.

Building a customs-ready portfolio

When customs or a prosecutor asks for proof of your rights, what matters is the right classes, the right owner on the certificate and a certified copy to hand. Each of these is a filing or a recordal that can be done before the first notice arrives.

  • Classes that match the fakes. Apparel (25), leather goods (18), eyewear and phone cases (9), watches and jewellery (14), cosmetics (3), and retail services (35) for the shop signs. Resort-town fakes cross classes freely, and a gap in Class 9 means the sunglasses are released.
  • Word marks and logos separately. A word registration covers the misspellings and the plain-text listings. A logo registration covers the copied labels and hardware. Both are needed for a clean comparison in a complaint.
  • The owner that signs the power of attorney. Customs matches the applicant to the certificate. If the marks sit in a holding company and the power of attorney comes from the operating company, the file stalls. Record assignments and changes of name at TÜRKPATENT promptly, and keep the register current.
  • Certified copies and extracts ready. A certified register extract, with a sworn Turkish translation where the document is foreign, should be on file with your Turkish representative before the first detention notice.
  • Use of the marks in Türkiye. A registration that is not put to genuine use in Türkiye within five years of registration, or whose use is suspended for five consecutive years, can be revoked (Art. 9). Non-use can also be raised against you as a defence in an infringement action (Art. 29/2). Keep dated evidence of sales, invoices and marketing in Türkiye for each mark.

Watching for copycat filings

Third-party filings that mimic a brand are common in Türkiye, and the Office’s own examination catches only identical or indistinguishable marks. The rest is for the right holder to catch.

  • Watch the Bulletin. A watch service flags similar applications on publication, which starts the two-month opposition period. Oppositions on relative grounds (Art. 6) rely on your earlier Turkish registrations and, for marks well known in Türkiye, on reputation. Bad faith is also a ground.
  • Oppose first. An opposition at the Office costs a fraction of a court action and resolves most cases. If it fails, the appeal to the Board and then the Ankara IP court follows.
  • Invalidate registrations that got through. An invalidity action (hükümsüzlük) under Art. 25 lies before the IP courts against marks registered contrary to Arts. 5 or 6. An owner who knowingly tolerates a later mark’s use for five years loses the right to attack it, unless the later registration was made in bad faith, where no period applies (Art. 25/6).
  • Clear a blocking mark with non-use revocation. Since 10 January 2024, revocation for non-use (iptal, Art. 26) is an administrative procedure before TÜRKPATENT rather than a court action, with an appeal to the Ankara IP court. It is the usual answer to a blocking registration that has sat unused for five years, and it is filed before your own application for the mark concerned.

What to do next

Audit the Turkish portfolio against the products that are actually copied: the marks, the classes, the owner on the certificate and the evidence of use. Fill the gaps with national filings where enforcement will happen, keep the Madrid designations for breadth, and put a watch on the Bulletin. Our trademark registration service handles the filings, the oppositions and the recordals that keep the portfolio ready for customs.