Trademark Law in Turkey: Rights, Protection and Enforcement for Foreign Owners

Trademark rights in Turkey are governed by the Industrial Property Code (Law No. 6769) and arise on a first-to-file basis, which means the party that registers a mark with the Turkish Patent and Trademark Office (TÜRKPATENT) generally holds the rights, even against a brand used for years abroad. This guide explains, in plain terms, how trademark rights are created, registered, transferred and enforced in Turkey, and the practical traps that catch foreign companies and investors. Many owners only discover the limits of their protection after a dispute begins, so it pays to understand the rules before you enter the market.

The legal framework: the Industrial Property Code

Trademark protection in Turkey is governed by the Industrial Property Code (Sınai Mülkiyet Kanunu), Law No. 6769, which entered into force in 2017 and replaced the earlier decree-law (KHK) regime. One statute now covers trademarks, patents, designs and geographical indications, and it brought Turkish practice closer to European Union standards.

The authority that examines and grants trademarks is the Turkish Patent and Trademark Office (TÜRKPATENT). Turkey is also party to the major international instruments that matter to foreign owners, including the Paris Convention, the Madrid Protocol (which lets you obtain an international registration designating Turkey) and the WTO TRIPS Agreement. The same Code also protects geographical indications, which we cover separately in our guide to protecting geographical indications in Turkey.

What can be registered as a trademark

Under Article 4 of Law 6769, a trademark may be any sign capable of distinguishing the goods or services of one undertaking from those of another and of being represented on the register clearly and precisely. Protectable signs include:

• Words, personal names and slogans
• Figurative elements, logos and devices
• Letters, numerals and combinations of them
• Shapes of goods or their packaging
• Colours, sounds and other non-traditional marks, where they are distinctive

A sign cannot be registered if it falls under the absolute grounds for refusal in Article 5 — for example, marks that lack distinctiveness, are purely descriptive of the goods, are deceptive, or are contrary to public order. Relative grounds under Article 6 — such as conflict with an earlier identical or similar mark for similar goods — are usually raised through opposition by an earlier rights holder rather than refused on the Office's own motion.

How registration works in practice

Securing a registered trademark in Turkey follows a defined sequence. Foreign applicants without a Turkish address must, as a rule, act through a registered Turkish trademark attorney.

1. Clearance search. Before filing, a search of the TÜRKPATENT register identifies earlier identical or confusingly similar marks in the relevant classes.
2. Classification and filing. Goods and services are classified under the Nice Classification, and the application is filed with TÜRKPATENT.
3. Examination. The Office reviews the application on absolute grounds and formalities.
4. Publication and opposition. An accepted application is published in the Official Trademark Bulletin. Third parties have two months from publication to file opposition (Article 18).
5. Registration. If no opposition succeeds, the mark is registered and a certificate is issued.

If TÜRKPATENT refuses an application, or if an opposition decision goes against you, the decision can be appealed to the Office's Re-examination and Evaluation Board (Yeniden İnceleme ve Değerlendirme Kurulu, YİDK). A YİDK decision can in turn be challenged before the specialised Ankara Civil Courts for Intellectual and Industrial Property Rights. Building this appeal path into your timeline matters, because a refusal is rarely the end of the road.

A Turkish registration lasts ten years from the application date and is renewable indefinitely for further ten-year periods (Articles 23 and following). Renewal fees are set by TÜRKPATENT's official tariff, which is updated annually. Missing a renewal, or leaving a mark unused, can expose it to loss of rights.

How much it costs and how long it takes

Two costs sit behind every Turkish trademark: the official fees set by TÜRKPATENT's tariff (filing, per-class fees, publication, registration and renewal), which are published and updated each year, and the professional fees of the trademark attorney who prepares and prosecutes the application. Official fees rise with the number of Nice classes you cover, so class strategy directly affects budget as well as scope.

On timing, a straightforward application that meets no objection and draws no opposition typically moves from filing to registration in a matter of months. Where the Office raises a refusal, or a third party files opposition, the timeline extends while those issues are examined and any appeal to the YİDK is resolved. Because every file is different, we give a fee estimate and a realistic timeline after a clearance search, rather than a one-size-fits-all quote.

The rights a trademark confers

Registration gives the proprietor an exclusive right to use the mark and to stop others using, in the course of trade, a sign that is identical or similar for identical or similar goods or services where there is a likelihood of confusion (Article 7). For marks with a reputation, protection can extend even to dissimilar goods where use of the sign would take unfair advantage of, or harm, the mark's distinctive character or repute.

Trademark rights are property rights. They can be assigned, licensed, pledged as security or transferred by inheritance, and these transactions should be recorded with TÜRKPATENT to take effect against third parties. A licence may be exclusive or non-exclusive; the agreement should set out scope, territory, quality control and royalties clearly. Because a registered mark is frequently one of the most valuable assets transferred in a deal, the chain of title and recordal of any assignment are checked closely as part of due diligence in a Turkish acquisition, and licence terms are best drafted alongside your trademark licence and distribution agreements.

Revocation vs invalidity: two different routes (and who decides)

People often say a mark was "cancelled" without distinguishing the two very different routes the Code provides. Getting this right matters, because the grounds, the decision-maker and the effective date all differ.

Invalidity (hükümsüzlük, Article 25) attacks defects that existed at the time of registration — for example, conflict with an earlier mark, lack of distinctiveness, or bad faith. Invalidity is decided by the specialised IP courts, and a successful action generally has effect back to the registration date, as if the mark had never been validly registered.

Revocation (iptal, Article 26) targets later, forward-looking grounds — most importantly non-use, but also a mark that has become generic or misleading through the owner's conduct. The important currency update for foreign owners is who now decides revocation.

Trademark infringement and enforcement

Article 29 of Law 6769 defines acts of infringement, which include using a registered mark without consent, imitating it, and selling, importing or stocking products that bear an infringing sign. When infringement occurs, the proprietor has a range of civil remedies under Articles 149 and following:

• Determination of infringement and a court order to stop and prevent the infringing acts
• Removal of the infringement, including destruction of infringing goods, packaging and the means used to produce them
• Damages — material and moral — and recovery of lost profit, calculated on bases set out in the Code
• Preliminary injunctions to halt ongoing harm while proceedings continue
• Publication of the judgment at the infringer's expense

Specialised Civil and Criminal Courts for Intellectual and Industrial Property Rights hear these cases, with general courts acting where no specialised court exists (Article 156). A damages judgment is only as good as your ability to collect it; turning a court award into actual recovery is a separate step, and our team can advise on enforcing a Turkish court judgment through execution proceedings.

Deliberate counterfeiting can also trigger criminal liability under Article 30. Producing, offering, selling or holding goods that infringe a registered trademark is punishable by imprisonment of one to three years and a judicial fine, and prosecution depends on a criminal complaint (şikâyet) by the rights holder. Note the registration requirement: the criminal route is not available for an unregistered mark, which is one more reason to register early.

For goods crossing the border, rights holders can record their trademarks with the Turkish customs authorities to seek detention of suspected counterfeit imports — an important tool against infringing supply chains, and one we coordinate alongside wider customs and international trade measures.

Bad-faith filings and brand squatting: a playbook for foreign owners

The single most common pain point for foreign brands entering Turkey is discovering that a distributor, agent or opportunist has already registered the brand locally. The Code gives you several distinct tools, and choosing the right one early is decisive.

• Bad-faith filing (Article 6(9)). If someone registered your mark knowing of your prior rights and intending to block or exploit you, bad faith is both an opposition ground and an invalidity ground. Bad faith is also well established in settled Yargıtay (Court of Cassation) practice.
• Unauthorised agent or representative (Article 6(3)). Where your own agent or distributor files the mark in their own name without consent, you have a specific ground to oppose or invalidate and to claim transfer of the registration.
• Earlier used unregistered rights (Article 6). Genuine prior use of a sign in Turkey before the other party's filing date can support opposition or invalidity, but it must be proven with dated evidence.

Practical steps: gather dated evidence of your prior use and reputation (catalogues, invoices, customs records, dated marketing and social-media material); check the TÜRKPATENT Bulletin promptly so you can oppose within the two-month window; and act fast, because the acquiescence rule above can erode an invalidity claim over time. Whether opposition, invalidity or an unauthorised-agent claim is the strongest route depends on the evidence and timing in your specific case.

Well-known marks, domain names and other conflicts

Well-known marks. Two overlapping protections exist. Under Article 6bis of the Paris Convention, well-known foreign marks can block confusingly similar later filings even without a Turkish registration, and Law 6769 gives marks with a reputation extended protection against dilution. TÜRKPATENT also keeps a register of recognised well-known marks ("tanınmış marka"). In practice, reputation is a question of evidence — market share, length and geographic scope of use, advertising investment and recognition surveys all help prove it.

Domain names, company names and social-media handles. A ".com.tr" domain, a registered company name or a social-media handle that mirrors your brand can collide with trademark rights. These conflicts are frequent for foreigners entering Turkey and are not resolved by trademark registration alone; they may need a combination of trademark enforcement, unfair-competition claims under the Turkish Commercial Code (Law No. 6102) and domain-dispute procedures. Securing the trademark, the domain and the corporate name together is the cleanest approach.

For a deeper look at how these rights fit within the firm's wider IP work, see our intellectual property law services.

Common pitfalls for foreign brand owners

Several recurring problems catch international businesses entering the Turkish market:

• Assuming foreign rights travel. An EU or US registration has no direct effect in Turkey. The mark must be registered locally or extended via the Madrid Protocol designating Turkey, where TÜRKPATENT acts as the designated office and a local agent is appointed for prosecution.
• Central-attack risk on Madrid filings. For the first five years, an international registration depends on the home (basic) mark; if that basic mark falls, the Turkish designation can fall with it, though it may be transformed into a national application.
• Wrong or narrow class coverage. Protection is limited to the registered classes; gaps leave room for others to register in adjacent classes.
• Neglected renewals and non-use. Missing a renewal deadline, or failing to use the mark for five years, can undo years of investment — and now exposes the registration to a non-use revocation request filed directly with TÜRKPATENT.

Because outcomes depend heavily on the specific marks, classes and evidence involved, a qualified Turkish trademark attorney should review your position before you file or litigate. You can speak to our IP and trademark team to discuss your strategy, or explore our full range of legal services for foreigners in Turkey.

Frequently asked questions