# Can a Trademark Be Inherited? How a Trademark Passes to Heirs in Turkey > A registered trademark can be inherited: it joins the estate on death and passes to the heirs. Recordal with a certificate of inheritance, multiple heirs and fee. - Canonical: https://www.webx.net.tr/en/blog/can-a-trademark-be-inherited - Language: en - Last updated: 2026-10-23 - Publisher: Webx Marka Patent ve Fikri Sınai Haklar Danışmanlık A.Ş. (https://www.webx.net.tr/) _Machine-readable copy of the page above. The canonical HTML page is authoritative; fees and regulations may change — check the last-updated date._ --- Yes, **a registered trademark can be inherited**. Turkey's Industrial Property Code (Law No. 6769) expressly provides that trademark rights can be transferred by inheritance. A trademark registered in the name of a natural person becomes part of the estate on the owner's death and passes to the heirs **automatically**; no separate assignment agreement is needed. What the heirs need to do is apply to TÜRKPATENT (Turkey's patent and trademark office) with the certificate of inheritance to **record the transfer by inheritance**; under the 2026 fee schedule that recordal costs TRY 5,550. Where heirs most often go wrong is in reading "automatic" as "no recordal needed". The right passes at the moment of death, but while the register still shows the former owner, renewal, oppositions and assignments stall, and the trademark's calendar keeps running in the meantime. Assignment by agreement is a separate subject; for that, see [How to Assign a Trademark in Turkey](https://www.webx.net.tr/en/blog/how-to-assign-a-trademark-in-turkey). ## First, Clarify Ownership: Whose Trademark Is It? Whether the trademark falls into the estate at all depends on whose name appears in the register. Most families miss this distinction: | Owner in the register | What happens on death? | | --- | --- | | Natural person (individual) | The trademark becomes part of the estate and passes to the heirs by inheritance | | Natural person who owns a sole proprietorship | The same — because the registration is in the person's name, the trademark becomes part of the estate | | Limited company / joint stock company | The trademark **stays with the company**; the heirs receive the deceased shareholder's share | In family businesses, the sign known as "my father's trademark" is very often registered in the company's name; in that case inheritance law applies not to the trademark but to the company shares, and the future of the trademark depends on decisions taken within the company's shareholder structure. Conversely, the trademark of a tradesperson who ran the business as an individual becomes part of the estate directly. There is a simple way to find out which situation you are in: look up the register record using the trademark number. ## How Does the Transfer by Inheritance Take Place? A transfer by inheritance works in a fundamentally different way from a contractual assignment. In an assignment, ownership changes hands through a notarised agreement; in inheritance, the transfer takes place **at the moment of death, automatically by operation of law**. The heirs are legally the owners of the trademark even before the certificate of inheritance has been issued. Recordal in the register does not create this transfer; it *documents* it. But ownership that has not been documented is practically unusable: as long as the register shows the former owner, transactions before the Office stall, notices go nowhere, and heirs who want to assign, license or defend the trademark have to prove their ownership separately at every step. That is why recording the inheritance, even though there is no legal deadline for it, is a transaction that should not be delayed. ## Recording the Inheritance with TÜRKPATENT: Step by Step ### 1. Obtain the certificate of inheritance The certificate of inheritance is obtained from a notary or from a civil court of peace; it shows who the heirs are and in what shares, and it is the basis for recording the transfer by inheritance. ### 2. Request recordal of the transfer by inheritance The request is made through EPATS (TÜRKPATENT's online filing system); the certificate of inheritance is attached to the file and the recordal fee for the transfer by inheritance, **TRY 5,550** under the 2026 fee schedule, is paid. Note the difference from an assignment: no notarised agreement is required, so there is no notary cost either. The fee is charged per trademark file. If the deceased owner had three trademarks, three separate recordals are processed. ### 3. The register is updated The Office processes the recordal and publishes it in the Official Trademark Bulletin; the trademark now appears in the names of the heirs. If the estate has not been divided, all the heirs are recorded together; if the trademark has been allocated to one heir by a partition agreement, the recordal can be made directly in that heir's name on the basis of that document. ## If There Are Several Heirs: The Joint Ownership Problem The rule of inheritance law with the greatest impact on a trademark is this: until the estate is divided, the heirs own the trademark **jointly** (in common among the heirs). In practice this is harsh. As a rule, no heir can alone assign the trademark, grant a licence, bring proceedings on behalf of the trademark or waive it; decisions are taken together. An assignment agreement signed by only one of three heirs has no effect without the participation of the others. That cannot go on for long. There are four ways out: 1. **Allocate the trademark to one heir.** Through a partition agreement, the trademark is left to the heir who actually carries on the business; this is the most common and the healthiest solution. 2. **Regulate co-ownership by contract.** If the trademark is to remain in the names of several heirs, the rules on use, sharing of income and decision-making should be set out in a written protocol. How a trademark with several owners works is the subject of [Can a Trademark Be Assigned to Multiple Owners?](https://www.webx.net.tr/en/blog/can-a-trademark-be-assigned-to-multiple-owners) 3. **Sell the trademark and divide the proceeds.** The heirs assign the trademark together to a third party; the ordinary assignment procedure applies. 4. **Assign the trademark to the family company.** If the business continues under a company umbrella, the trademark is also assigned to that company; the personal estate and the commercial asset are separated, and future transfers by inheritance become simpler. ## Can a Trademark Be Left by Will? Yes. A trademark owner can, by a testamentary disposition, leave the trademark to a specific heir or to a person who is not an heir. The limit is the rights of heirs entitled to a reserved portion; where the trademark makes up a significant part of the estate, the extent to which the disposition will stand depends on the circumstances of the specific case. For owners whose trademark carries serious value, the right practice is to carry out this planning during their lifetime and with expert support. A family dispute over the interpretation of a will also erodes the trademark's value in the market. ## Calendar Risks for Heirs The inheritance process can take months; the trademark's calendars, however, wait for no one: - **The renewal window.** The term of protection does not stop on death. If the window has opened, renewal must not be missed even if recordal of the inheritance has not yet been completed; the rules and deadlines are in our [renewal guide](https://www.webx.net.tr/en/blog/how-to-renew-a-trademark). - **The use requirement.** The five-year use period keeps running; if the business has in practice stopped with the owner's death, the risk of revocation of the trademark grows. The heirs need either to continue use or to take a deliberate decision. Details are in our article on the [five-year rule](https://www.webx.net.tr/en/blog/trademark-use-requirement-and-the-five-year-rule). - **Ongoing proceedings.** Oppositions filed by the deceased owner, response deadlines and court cases await the heirs' attention; an opposition whose deadline is missed does not come back. ## Renouncing the Inheritance and Estates in Debt A trademark is not always a welcome inheritance. If the estate is insolvent, the heirs can renounce the inheritance. Renunciation is not selective: an heir cannot say "I'll leave the debts and take the trademark", because renunciation covers the entire estate. The reverse also holds: as an asset with economic value, the trademark is on the radar of the deceased owner's creditors too; if the heirs divide the trademark among themselves and dispose of it before the estate's debts have been paid, this can open a new front of dispute with the creditors. In estates burdened with debt, the fate of the trademark should be planned as part of the inheritance process as a whole and with expert support. ## First Steps After the Transfer: The Heir's Checklist Once recordal in the register is complete, the trademark has been taken over legally; taking it over in practice requires the following steps: - Establish the renewal date: calculate the expiry of protection from the filing date and set a reminder. The deceased owner's calendar has usually not been handed over to anyone. - Make a decision on use. If the trademark will continue to be used, archive evidence (invoices, packaging, advertising) from the start of your own period of ownership; if it will not, look at selling or licensing without delay. - Put the Bulletin under watch. The right to oppose similar applications now belongs to the heirs, and only someone who spots the application in time can use it. - Domain names, social media accounts and platform registrations do not pass with the register; take over access to each one separately. - If the trademark has remained with several heirs, set out use and sharing of income in a written protocol rather than relying on a verbal understanding. ## With an Inherited Trademark, Time Is the Real Risk Legally, none of this is complicated: ownership is verified from the register, the certificate of inheritance is obtained and the transfer is recorded at TRY 5,550 per trademark. The hard part is agreeing on an ownership model when there are several heirs, without missing the renewal and use calendars along the way. Even if the heirs need longer to decide, do not hold back the recordal. A trademark still standing in the register in a deceased owner's name is a family asset losing value and an open door for competitors. If a trademark has been left to your family, we start by checking whose name the register record shows. Write to us through our [contact page](https://www.webx.net.tr/en/iletisim) with the trademark number and the stage the inheritance process has reached; we will check the upcoming renewal and use risks and handle the recordal of the transfer on your behalf. Our [legal protection team](https://www.webx.net.tr/en/hizmetler/hukuki-koruma) will plan the division and any later assignment or licensing structure with you. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### Can a registered trademark be inherited? Yes. Turkey's Industrial Property Code (Law No. 6769, SMK) expressly provides that trademark rights can pass by inheritance (Article 148(1) SMK). On the death of an owner who is a natural person, the trademark becomes part of the estate and passes to the heirs automatically; like a house, a car or a bank account, it is an asset with economic value. The same rule applies to trademark applications (Article 148(8) SMK). ### Is a trademark registered to a company also inherited? No, and this is a common misconception. A trademark registered in the name of a company, such as a limited or joint stock company, is part of the company's assets and stays with the company even if a shareholder dies; what passes to the heirs is not the trademark itself but the deceased shareholder's share in the company. Transfer by inheritance applies only to trademarks registered in the name of a natural person, such as a tradesperson who ran the business as an individual. ### What needs to be done for a trademark to pass to the heirs? The transfer by inheritance takes place automatically on death; no separate assignment agreement or notarial approval is required. What needs to be done is to obtain a certificate of inheritance and apply to TÜRKPATENT to record the transfer, filing the request form, the certificate itself or a notarised copy of it, and the fee (Implementing Regulation, Article 129). The register then shows the trademark's new owners, and the heirs can carry out transactions concerning the trademark. ### How much does recording a trademark inheritance cost? Under the 2026 fee schedule, recording a transfer by inheritance (item 02.01.08) costs TRY 5,550 per trademark; if the deceased owner had three trademarks, three separate recordals and fees are needed. Unlike an assignment, no notarised agreement is required, so there is no notary cost; the costs of obtaining the certificate of inheritance are considered separately. The schedule is updated every year, so check the current amount against the TÜRKPATENT fee schedule. ### Is there a legal deadline for recording the inheritance? No, the law sets no deadline for recording the inheritance; however, waiting is risky. Until the register is updated, the heirs have to prove their ownership separately at every step before the Office, and notices go to the old records. Meanwhile, the renewal window and the five-year use requirement counted from registration (Article 9 SMK) keep running without waiting for the inheritance process. ### If there are several heirs, who uses the trademark? Until the estate is divided, the heirs manage the trademark together rather than any single heir: they own it jointly and, as a rule, can dispose of it only together. An assignment or licence granted by one heir has no effect without the participation of the others. The lasting solution is to allocate the trademark through a partition agreement to the heir who actually runs the business, or to regulate co-ownership in a written agreement. ### Can the heirs sell the trademark? Yes. The heirs can sell the trademark to a third party through the ordinary assignment procedure: a written, notarised assignment agreement (Article 148(4) SMK) and recordal of the assignment, which costs TRY 5,960 under the 2026 fee schedule (item 02.01.06). In practice the inheritance is recorded first. If there are several heirs and the trademark has not been allocated to one of them by a partition agreement, the decision to sell must be taken together and the assignment made jointly. ### Can a trademark be left to a specific person by will? Yes. A trademark can be left by testamentary disposition to a specific heir or to a third party who is not an heir. The limit is the rights of heirs entitled to a reserved portion; where the trademark makes up a significant part of the estate, how far the disposition will stand depends on the circumstances of the specific case. Owners with several trademarks would be well advised to carry out this planning during their lifetime and with expert support. ### Is a trademark application that has not yet been registered also inherited? Yes. The rights arising from an application are also assets and become part of the estate; the rules on legal transactions, including inheritance, apply to applications too (Article 148(8) SMK; Implementing Regulation, Article 130). The heirs can continue the process where it left off, but deadlines do not wait: two months to oppose a published application and one month to respond to an opposition. If the registration fee is not paid in time, the application is removed from processing (Article 22 SMK). ### Can the inheritance be recorded without a certificate of inheritance? No. The basis for recording the inheritance is the certificate of inheritance or a notarised copy of it (Implementing Regulation, Article 129); if the certificate is in a foreign language, a Turkish translation certified by a sworn translator is also needed. Only this document officially shows who the heirs are and in what shares. It is issued by a notary or a civil court of peace, so the first step in the inheritance process is always obtaining the certificate. ### Does the owner's death change the term of protection? No, the owner's death does not change the term of protection; the ten-year term counted from the filing date and the renewal calendar run as before (Article 23 SMK). Renewal is due in the last six months before expiry; if that window opens while the inheritance process is under way, the heirs should not delay it. If it is missed, renewal is possible only within a six-month grace period with an additional fee; after that, the right ends. ## Related Resources - [Legal Protection](https://www.webx.net.tr/en/hizmetler/hukuki-koruma): Explains attorney support for bulletin oppositions, appeals against refusals, counter-statements and trademark infringement cases. - [Trademark Registration](https://www.webx.net.tr/en/hizmetler/marka-tescil): Explains how a trademark application is handled before TÜRKPATENT, from the preliminary search and class selection to the registration certificate. - [How to Assign a Trademark in Turkey: Step-by-Step Guide](https://www.webx.net.tr/en/blog/how-to-assign-a-trademark-in-turkey): A trademark is assigned in Turkey by a notarised agreement and recordal with TÜRKPATENT. Step-by-step process, contract terms, partial assignment and 2026 fee. - [Can a Trademark Be Assigned to Multiple Owners?](https://www.webx.net.tr/en/blog/can-a-trademark-be-assigned-to-multiple-owners): A trademark can be assigned to several people jointly (co-ownership in shares) or split by partial assignment. Rules, risks and the co-ownership protocol. - [Can a Trademark Be Assigned? Assignment, Inheritance, Licensing and Pledges](https://www.webx.net.tr/en/blog/trademark-assignment-and-inheritance): Can a trademark be assigned in Turkey? Yes: under SMK Art. 148 it can be assigned, inherited, licensed, pledged or attached. Routes, documents and 2026 fees. - [Trademark Renewal in Turkey: What It Is and When to Renew](https://www.webx.net.tr/en/blog/how-to-renew-a-trademark): A trademark is renewed every 10 years. The renewal window, six-month grace period, 2026 fees, partial renewal and the TÜRKPATENT renewal process step by step. - [How Should a Trademark Owner Prepare a Counterfeit Complaint on a Marketplace?](https://www.webx.net.tr/en/blog/counterfeit-complaints-on-marketplaces): Marketplace counterfeit complaints in Turkey: the 48-hour takedown under Law No. 6563 and its Regulation, the complaint file, seller objections and next steps. - [Requesting Revocation of an Unused Trademark: The TÜRKPATENT Procedure Step by Step](https://www.webx.net.tr/en/blog/trademark-revocation-for-non-use-request): How to request revocation for non-use in Turkey: the five-year count, the request form, 2026 fee and deposit, the owner's reply period, decision and appeal.