Trademark Application

A trademark application is filed with the Turkish Patent and Trademark Office (TÜRKPATENT). It contains the applicant’s details, a representation of the sign and the list of goods and services for which protection is sought. Applications can be filed online.

Before Filing

• Clearance search: Searching earlier identical or similar marks and applications helps anticipate refusals and oppositions.
• Distinctiveness: Terms that directly describe the product or are customary in the trade cannot be registered; see Distinctiveness.
• Goods and services: The list is prepared according to the Nice Classification. It should cover actual and planned activities without being unnecessarily broad, since unused goods and services are exposed to revocation after five years.

Examination and Publication

TÜRKPATENT first checks formalities and then examines the absolute grounds for refusal (IPL Article 5): whether the sign is distinctive, descriptive or misleading, and whether an identical mark is already registered for identical goods or services.

Applications that pass examination are published in the Official Trademark Bulletin. Interested parties may oppose within two months of publication; see Trademark Opposition. Relative grounds (IPL Article 6), such as a likelihood of confusion with an earlier mark, are examined only upon opposition.

Registration

If no opposition is filed, or oppositions are rejected, the mark is registered upon payment of the registration fee. Protection lasts ten years from the filing date.

Protection Abroad

A TÜRKPATENT application protects the mark only in Turkey. Protection abroad requires national filings or an international application under the Madrid Protocol. Priority may be claimed for foreign applications filed within six months of the Turkish application.