Intellectual Property Law in Türkiye

Who this page is for

This page is for the people whose business value sits in a brand, a product or a creative output, and who need that value protected under Turkish law. You may be:

• A foreign brand entering the Turkish market and wanting to secure your trademark before someone else does;
• A manufacturer or tech company protecting a patent, utility model or design;
• A rights holder facing counterfeits, copies or misuse of your name in Türkiye;
• An investor or buyer who needs IP due diligence before a deal.

Türkiye is a first-to-file country and an active manufacturing and transit hub. That combination makes early registration and quick enforcement decisive — and makes delay expensive.

The Turkish IP legal framework

Industrial property is consolidated in a single modern statute, the Industrial Property Law No. 6769 (Sınai Mülkiyet Kanunu), in force since 10 January 2017, which governs trademarks, patents, utility models, industrial designs and geographical indications. Copyright and related rights sit in a separate, older statute — the Law on Intellectual and Artistic Works No. 5846 (FSEK). Conduct that falls outside registered-IP scope, such as slavish imitation or the misleading use of a sign, is actionable as unfair competition under the Turkish Commercial Code No. 6102.

Knowing which regime applies decides everything that follows — how you protect the right, what you can claim, and which court hears the case.

Trademarks: registration and prosecution before TÜRKPATENT

Trademark protection in Türkiye is obtained by registration with TÜRKPATENT (the Turkish Patent and Trademark Office). The term is 10 years from the filing date, renewable indefinitely in further 10-year periods. We run clearance searches, file in the correct Nice classes, manage examination and any opposition, and keep the portfolio renewed.

For a step-by-step view, see our guide on how foreigners register a trademark with TÜRKPATENT, and our explainer on trademark rights and enforcement in Türkiye.

Patents, utility models and industrial designs

Law No. 6769 also governs technical and design rights. Patents protect new, inventive and industrially applicable inventions; utility models offer a faster, lighter route for certain inventions; and industrial designs protect the appearance of a product. Each has its own novelty requirements, filing route and protection term, and many benefit from claiming priority from an earlier foreign filing.

R&D-driven businesses should also weigh the incentives available through R&D and technology development zones, which interact with how IP is owned and exploited.

Copyright and related rights (FSEK No. 5846)

Copyright arises automatically on creation — no registration is required for protection — and covers literary, artistic, musical, audiovisual and software works, together with related rights of performers and producers. Voluntary recordal (for example of software and films) through the Ministry of Culture is available and helps prove ownership and date. We advise on ownership and assignment (critical for works made by employees and contractors), licensing, and online and offline infringement.

Licensing, assignment and IP transactions

IP earns its keep through transactions: licences, assignments, franchising and technology transfer. We draft and record these so the rights actually move and the royalties are protected, and so a licence survives a change of control. Recording a licence or assignment against the registration matters for enforceability against third parties. This works hand in hand with the wider IP and technology licensing agreements in your contract stack.

Infringement and unfair-competition actions

When your rights are infringed, Turkish law offers both civil and criminal routes. Civil remedies include preliminary and final injunctions, removal of infringing goods, destruction, and damages (actual loss, the infringer's profit, or a reasonable licence fee). Trademark counterfeiting can also be prosecuted criminally. Where the conduct is not a registered-IP infringement but still unfair — copying trade dress, misleading use of a sign — we pursue it as unfair competition under the Turkish Commercial Code.

Customs recordation and border measures

Türkiye is a major manufacturing and transit country, so the border is a powerful enforcement point. A rights holder can record its IP with the Turkish customs administration so that officers can detain suspected counterfeit or pirated goods at import or transit, giving you the chance to act before the goods reach the market. We set up and maintain customs recordation and handle detentions when they happen.

Where IP cases are heard

IP disputes go to specialised Civil and Criminal Courts for Intellectual and Industrial Property Rights (Fikri ve Sınai Haklar Hukuk/Ceza Mahkemeleri) in the larger cities, with general civil courts acting in their place elsewhere. Appeals run to the regional court of appeal (Bölge Adliye Mahkemesi) and, where open, to the Court of Cassation. Specialist judges and court-appointed experts are the norm, which rewards a technically precise case.

Handling it from abroad: power of attorney and priority

You do not need to be in Türkiye to file or enforce. With a power of attorney — notarised and apostilled abroad and translated, or signed at a Turkish consulate — we file applications, claim priority from your earlier foreign filings, prosecute, and litigate on your behalf. See our guide on granting a power of attorney for use in Türkiye. Most foreign clients run their entire Turkish IP portfolio remotely.

IP due diligence in deals

In an acquisition, investment or financing, a buyer's lawyers will test whether the company really owns what it claims to own. We run IP due diligence in M&A and investment deals — confirming registrations, chain of title, employee and contractor assignments, licences and encumbrances — so IP risk is priced and fixed before completion, not discovered after.

Common mistakes foreign businesses make

The losses we see most often come from a handful of avoidable errors: entering the market before filing the trademark (and finding a squatter got there first); registering in the wrong classes; relying on contractor-created works without a written assignment; letting a registration lapse for non-use; and waiting to enforce until the infringer is entrenched. Each is cheap to prevent and costly to undo — which is the case for getting the strategy right at the start.

How we protect your IP in Türkiye

Intellectual property in Türkiye — frequently asked questions