If you have discovered that your trademark is being used without permission, the first step is not litigation but evidence. The moment the other side is warned they may take the use down, and proving that the infringement existed becomes markedly harder.
The correct order is:
- Record the evidence — screenshots, product photographs, a test purchase
- Verify the scope of your right — which classes does the registration cover?
- Use the fast channels — marketplace and platform notices
- Send a cease-and-desist letter — most disputes end here
- Pursue civil and/or criminal routes
Step 1: Gathering Evidence
What to collect:
- Visual record: website, product label, signage, social media account, listing page — screenshots showing the date.
- A test purchase: buying the product with an invoice or receipt is the strongest evidence, and the seller details on the invoice also establish who the other party is.
- Seller identity: trade name, tax number, address, domain registration details.
- Extent: how many channels, for how long, at what volume — this becomes decisive at the damages stage.
For serious and continuing infringements, an application to the court for preservation of evidence is also possible, placing the evidence formally on record.
Step 2: Verify the Scope of Your Right
Before acting, check your own registration:
- Which classes is the mark registered in? Does the use you are complaining about fall within that scope?
- Is the registration in force? The renewal date may have passed.
- If five years have passed since registration, the other side may ask you to prove use. Prepare your own use evidence too.
This check is not idle: action taken against use outside your scope fails and gives the other side time to prepare.
Step 3: Fast Channels — Platform Notices
Where the infringement occurs online, this route operates independently of legal proceedings and usually produces the quickest result:
- Marketplaces run brand protection programmes; a notice supported by a registration certificate can result in a listing being removed.
- Social media platforms provide trademark infringement and impersonation reporting forms. See Social Media Handles and Trademark Rights.
- Search engine advertising also has trademark complaint mechanisms.
These channels do not exhaust your legal rights; they can run in parallel.
Step 4: The Cease-and-Desist Letter
A formal notice demanding that the infringement stop. It is not a precondition for litigation, but it serves three functions:
- A significant proportion of disputes conclude at this stage without proceedings.
- It documents that the other party knew of the infringement — continued use afterwards is then knowing use.
- It records the time and the information for the purposes of a criminal complaint.
When should you not send one? Where there is a real prospect that the other side will destroy evidence or clear stock rapidly, it may be better to consider preservation of evidence and interim relief first.
Step 5: The Civil Route
What a proprietor may claim:
- Cessation and prevention of the infringing acts
- Removal of the infringement; seizure and destruction of counterfeit goods and the means of production
- Pecuniary and non-pecuniary damages
- Publication of the judgment
- Interim injunction — halting sales before proceedings conclude
The competent court is the Civil Court for Intellectual and Industrial Property Rights; where none exists, the civil court of first instance designated for that purpose. For process and costs see How to File a Trademark Lawsuit.
Step 6: The Criminal Route
Trademark infringement is also an offence. Under Article 30 of the Industrial Property Code, a person who infringes a registered trademark right by identity or confusing similarity and produces, sells, imports or exports goods, or purchases or holds them for commercial purposes, is liable to imprisonment from one to three years and a judicial fine of up to twenty thousand days.
Two conditions matter:
- The mark must be registered in Türkiye. The criminal route is not available for unregistered marks.
- The offence is subject to complaint. If the complaint period is missed, the route closes.
The criminal route may be pursued alongside the civil one; they are not alternatives. See Criminal Penalties for Trademark Infringement.
If It Is Coming Across the Border: Customs
Where counterfeit goods are being imported, you may apply to the customs administration for the goods to be detained. This allows intervention before the product reaches the market: Customs Seizure of Counterfeit Goods.
Which Route, and When?
| Situation | Priority step | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Sold on a marketplace | Platform notice | Fastest result, low cost |
| Small-scale, local use | Cease-and-desist letter | Most files close here |
| Production or sale on a commercial scale | Criminal complaint + civil action | Search and seizure effect |
| Stock being cleared quickly | Interim injunction | Stops sales without waiting for judgment |
| Importation involved | Customs application | Before the goods reach the market |
| Impersonating social media account | Platform complaint | Removal of the account |
If Your Mark Is Not Registered
The infringement provisions and criminal protection apply to registered marks. For unregistered use, unfair competition provisions may be relied on, but the burden of proof is heavy and the criminal route is unavailable.
In that case the priority is to file for trademark registration before engaging with the infringement. For the legal framework of infringement see What Is Trademark Infringement?
Do Not Lose Time
Time works against you in two ways: evidence disappears and complaint periods run. Share the records you hold and your registration details, and our legal protection team will assess which channel will produce the fastest result.