Protecting and Preserving Geographical Indications in Turkey

You register a geographical indication in Turkey with the Turkish Patent and Trademark Office (TÜRKPATENT) under Industrial Property Law No. 6769, and once registered it has no expiry date and never needs renewal. A geographical indication protects a product whose quality or reputation is tied to a place — think Antep baklava, Aydın figs, Malatya apricots or Turkish coffee. This guide explains how foreign producers, exporters and investors register, use and enforce a geographical indication in Turkey, what it costs, how long it takes, and how Turkish names gain protection in the EU.

What Is a Geographical Indication?

A geographical indication (GI) is a sign used on products that come from a specific place and have a quality, reputation or other characteristic that is essentially attributable to that place. Unlike a trademark, which identifies the goods of a single business, a GI is a collective right: every producer in the defined region whose goods meet the registered specification may use it. No single company can own it.

In Turkey, geographical indications are governed by Industrial Property Law No. 6769 (Sınai Mülkiyet Kanunu), which entered into force on 10 January 2017 and consolidated and replaced the earlier decree-laws, including Decree-Law No. 555 on geographical signs. Registration and examination are handled by TÜRKPATENT.

The three categories work as follows:

• Designation of origin (menşe adı): the product's quality and characteristics come essentially or exclusively from the natural and human factors of a defined area, and all stages of production, processing and preparation take place within that area. Malatya apricots are a classic example.
• Geographical indication (mahreç işareti): a specific quality, reputation or other characteristic is attributable to the origin, and at least one stage of production, processing or preparation takes place in the defined area.
• Traditional product name (geleneksel ürün adı): a name that does not refer to a place but designates a product made by a traditional method or from traditional raw materials — protected separately under the same law.

Turkey runs one of the largest GI registers in the world, with roughly 1,700 to 1,800 registered geographical indications as of 2026. For a foreign producer, that scale matters: it signals a mature, actively enforced system, and it means many product names are already taken — so an early search is worth doing.

Why GI Protection Matters for Foreign Producers and Exporters

For foreign producers, exporters and the foreign businesses and exporters we act for, a Turkish GI registration is the gateway to protecting a product name in one of the largest consumer markets in the region. A registered GI stops local traders from free-riding on the reputation of your name, and it gives customs officers and courts a clear legal basis to act against counterfeit or mislabelled goods.

Foreign geographical indications can be registered in Turkey, but as a general rule the name must already be protected in its country of origin. Internationally, Turkey's GI protection runs through the WTO TRIPS Agreement — Turkey is a WTO member — and through bilateral and EU cooperation, rather than through the Lisbon Agreement. (Turkey signed the Lisbon Agreement but never ratified it and is not a contracting party, so it does not provide a route into Turkey.) European producers can therefore seek protection for names such as Champagne, Parma ham or Roquefort, while Turkish producers increasingly secure their names abroad.

Who Can Apply to Register a Geographical Indication

A GI cannot be owned by a single private business as its exclusive property. Under Law No. 6769, the right to apply belongs to bodies that represent producers or have a legitimate interest in the product, including:

• Producer groups, associations and cooperatives connected to the product or the geographical area;
• Public legal entities and professional organisations with public-institution status (such as chambers of commerce or industry);
• Associations, foundations and similar bodies whose objectives relate to the product;
• For foreign GIs, the natural or legal person who holds the registration in the country of origin.

The applicant administers and supervises the GI on behalf of all eligible producers but gains no private monopoly. Any producer in the defined area whose goods comply with the registered specification may use the sign. If you are weighing whether to lead a producer group, understand that you take on a supervision duty, not an ownership stake — a point we cover under inspection below.

The Registration Process at TÜRKPATENT

Registering a geographical indication is a documentation-heavy process. The file must prove the link between the product and the place and define the conditions for using the sign. The main stages are:

1. Prepare the specification. The application sets out the product name, the type of sign sought (designation of origin or geographical indication), the boundaries of the geographical area, the product's characteristics, the production method, and the inspection mechanism that will verify compliance.
2. File with TÜRKPATENT. The application is submitted with the official fee and supporting evidence. Foreign applicants generally act through a Turkish trademark and patent attorney or law firm.
3. Formal and substantive examination. TÜRKPATENT checks that the application meets the conditions of Law No. 6769 and that the name is not generic, misleading or in conflict with existing rights.
4. Publication and opposition. Accepted applications are published in the official Geographical Indications Bulletin. Third parties may file opposition within three months of publication.
5. Registration. If no opposition succeeds, the GI is registered, published and recorded in the register kept by TÜRKPATENT.

Unlike a trademark, a registered geographical indication does not expire after a fixed term and does not require renewal. Protection continues for as long as the product keeps meeting the registered specification.

Using, Supervising and Cancelling a Registered GI

Once a GI is registered, the producers entitled to use it must comply with the registered specification, and use of the sign is subject to ongoing inspection. The applicant body must ensure the inspection plan is carried out and that supervision reports are filed with TÜRKPATENT at regular intervals.

Registered geographical indications and designations of origin may be used together with the official GI logos. Correct use of the registered name and logo is part of preserving the indication: misuse, dilution or a failure to control quality can undermine the value of the sign and expose users to enforcement.

Why supervision is not optional

Supervision is the part foreigners most often underestimate. The body that holds the GI must audit producers against the specification and report on that audit. Persistent failure to supervise, or systematic non-compliance by producers, can put the registration at risk. If you lead a producer group, build a realistic inspection routine into your plan from the start — it is a continuing legal duty, not a one-off form.

Cancellation and invalidation

A GI is not necessarily permanent. Broadly, a registration can be challenged or cancelled where the conditions of Law No. 6769 were never met (invalidity), where the protected conditions no longer hold, or where supervision has broken down. Interested parties can ask the court to act, and the specialised IP courts decide these claims. Separately, a name that has become the generic term for a type of product — rather than a true indicator of origin — cannot function as a GI; that is one of the main reasons an application is refused or a registration is attacked.

Enforcement: Stopping Infringement and Counterfeiting

Law No. 6769 gives rights holders and entitled producers a range of remedies against infringement. Prohibited acts include commercial use of a registered name on products that do not meet the specification, any imitation or evocation of the protected name (even where the true origin is shown or the name is accompanied by words such as "style" or "type"), and any false or misleading use as to the product's true origin or nature.

Available measures include:

• Civil actions to establish and stop infringement, remove infringing goods from the market, and claim compensation for material and moral damages;
• Preliminary injunctions and seizure of infringing goods, available under the procedural rules of the Code of Civil Procedure No. 6100 (HMK);
• Customs measures — you can ask customs to detain suspected counterfeit goods at the border; our team can advise on customs detention of counterfeit goods and border applications;
• Criminal complaints where the conduct also amounts to a separate offence — for example fraud or deceiving the consumer under the Turkish Penal Code No. 5237 (TCK). Note that the dedicated criminal offences in Law No. 6769 are narrower for geographical indications than for trademark counterfeiting, so criminal exposure is assessed case by case.

Disputes are heard before the specialised Civil and Criminal Courts for Intellectual and Industrial Property Rights (Fikri ve Sınai Haklar Mahkemeleri) in the major cities, and before the general civil courts where no specialised court exists.

Geographical Indication vs Trademark: Which Do You Need?

Foreign businesses often confuse the two regimes. The distinction is fundamental: a trademark is a private, exclusive right you can own and trade; a GI is a shared, place-based right nobody can monopolise.

A place name cannot normally be monopolised as a trademark, and a GI cannot be converted into one company's private brand. That is why many producers protect both — a GI for the product's origin and a trademark for their own brand. For the exclusive-right side of that strategy, see our note on trademark rights and their legal implications. Choosing the right combination depends on your product, your market and your goals, and is best mapped out with a Turkish industrial-property lawyer.

If you are weighing your options, our team can advise on the full picture, from intellectual property in Türkiye to filing strategy. Get in touch to discuss your product.

The EU Dimension: Turkish GIs in Europe and European GIs in Turkey

If you are searching for how a geographical indication works between Turkey and the EU, this is the part that matters most. There is an active EU–Turkey cooperation track for GI registration, and it is moving quickly: dozens of Turkish geographical indications are now registered in the EU's own GI system, with more in the pipeline.

Two points keep clients out of trouble:

• Protection is product-by-product, not automatic. A Turkish GI is not blanket-protected across the EU just because it is registered in Turkey — each name has to go through EU registration on its own merits. The reverse is also true for EU names seeking protection in Turkey.
• The route is the EU's own system plus TRIPS and bilateral arrangements, not the Lisbon Agreement, which Turkey has not ratified.

Frequently asked questions