Using an unregistered trademark in Turkey is neither a crime nor prohibited; however, your protection is weak. The owner of an unregistered mark cannot rely on the exclusive rights that Industrial Property Law No. 6769 (SMK) grants to registered trademarks (Article 7) or on the criminal protection for trademark offenses (Article 30(5)). Its rights can be enforced only through the unfair competition provisions of the Turkish Commercial Code No. 6102 (TTK) and through the prior-rights opposition and invalidation routes of the SMK, and each time only by proving its use.
Below we explain this legal position, the tools available to you and their limits, how an unregistered mark differs from a registered one across eight criteria, and how to build up evidence of use until you move to registration.
What Is an Unregistered Trademark?
An unregistered trademark is a name, logo, slogan or other sign used in trade without being entered in the register of TÜRKPATENT (Turkish Patent and Trademark Office). In practice it is also called a "de facto trademark": the sign works like a trademark in the market and customers recognize the product by it, but there is no registration behind it. The concept should not be confused with a trade name either: a trade name is protected in the trade registry, while a trademark is protected in the TÜRKPATENT register.
This situation is extremely common among small businesses and new ventures. A name is chosen, a logo is designed, a shop sign goes up and a social media account is opened; the application will be filed "later." We explained that registration is not a legal obligation in our article on whether trademark registration is mandatory; the subject here is which rights remain in your hands while you operate without registration.
Is a trademark with a pending application considered unregistered?
Technically yes; a trademark is not registered until the registration decision has been made and published. However, an applicant is in a much stronger position than a user who has never filed. The filing date fixes its place in line, and under Article 7(4) of the SMK, a claim for damages can be brought over acts committed after the application is published in the Bulletin, to be decided once the registration has been published. In this article, "unregistered trademark" mainly refers to signs for which no application has been filed at all.
Is It Legal to Use an Unregistered Trademark?
Yes, as a rule it is legal. No law requires a business to register the name it uses. The problem lies not in using a name but in which name you use.
If the name you choose is identical or confusingly similar to someone else's trademark registered in Turkey and is used for identical or similar goods and services, your use may constitute trademark infringement within the meaning of Article 29 of the SMK. The most common legal problem for businesses operating without registration is not failing to protect their own rights but unknowingly infringing someone else's.
The risk does not come only from registrations that predate yours. A person who registers your name after you started using it can also confront you with an infringement claim. In that case you will need to seek invalidation of the registration based on your prior use, and the strength of your defense will again depend on the evidence file you hold.
That is why a trademark register search is needed before you start using a name, even an unregistered one. The trade name check carried out when a company is formed does not replace this search; we explained the difference between the two registers in our article on company name search vs. trademark search.
What Legal Tools Does the Owner of an Unregistered Trademark Have?
The owner of a sign without a registration has three main tools: an unfair competition action, an opposition against a later application and invalidation of a later registration. What all three have in common is that the burden of proof is on you.
Unfair competition rules (TTK Article 54 et seq.)
Article 54 of the TTK declares deceptive conduct, or conduct otherwise contrary to good faith, that affects relations between competitors to be unfair and unlawful. Article 55(1)(a)(4) of the TTK expressly lists "taking measures that cause confusion with the goods, work products, activities or business of another" among the cases of unfair competition. Against a competitor that imitates your unregistered name known in the market, this provision is usually your basis.
Take a plainly fictitious example: a business that has sold handmade soap under the name "Nordika" for two years faces a new competitor using the same name and similar packaging. Because it has no registration, it cannot bring a trademark infringement action; but if it can prove that customers associate the name and packaging with it and that the competitor's use causes confusion, it can ask for the unfair competition to be stopped and its effects to be removed. Had the same business been registered, most of the dispute would have been settled from the outset by the register entry.
Under Article 56 of the TTK, you can seek a declaration that the conduct is unfair competition, an injunction, removal of the resulting state of affairs, compensation for material damage if there is fault and, where the conditions are met, compensation for non-pecuniary damage; Article 61 allows interim injunctions. For unfair competition committed intentionally, Article 62 of the TTK also contains a criminal provision that is subject to a complaint.
Watch the limitation period: under Article 60 of the TTK, these actions must be brought within one year of the day you learn that the right has arisen and, in any event, within three years of the day it arose.
Opposition against a later application and invalidation (SMK Articles 6(3) and 25)
If someone files the name you use as a trademark, the fact that you acquired a right in the sign you used before the filing date is, under Article 6(3) of the SMK, a ground for refusing the application upon your opposition. The opposition must be filed within two months of publication in the Official Trademark Bulletin (Article 18). If that period is missed and the mark is registered, invalidation can be sought in court on the same ground (Article 25). We discuss the theory behind these routes, namely why priority is determined by the filing date, in detail in our article on who owns a trademark in Turkey.
An additional ground against bad-faith filings
Against someone who knowingly files your name in order to block you or sell it back to you, Article 6(9) of the SMK (refusal of bad-faith applications upon opposition) provides an additional ground. Bad faith can also be raised in an invalidation action, and the five-year acquiescence rule in Article 25(6) of the SMK does not protect a registration made in bad faith.
Why Is Criminal Protection Reserved for Registered Trademarks?
Because the law expressly requires it. Article 30(1) of the SMK provides for imprisonment of one to three years and a judicial fine of up to twenty thousand days for anyone who infringes trademark rights by imitation or by creating confusion and who produces, sells, imports or holds goods. Under paragraph five of the same article, however, these penalties can be imposed only if the trademark is registered in Turkey.
A business without a registration therefore cannot file a criminal complaint for a trademark offense against an imitator. The unfair competition offense in Article 62 of the TTK is a separate route, but there too you must show that the act falls under one of the unfair competition cases in Article 55 of the TTK and was committed intentionally. If you encounter an imitator before registering, gather the evidence first and then consider a warning letter and an unfair competition action; filing your own application at the same time strengthens your position against later infringements. For the steps a registered owner follows, see our guide someone is using my trademark.
Registered vs. Unregistered Trademarks: An 8-Point Comparison
The fundamental difference between the two positions is the source of the right: one rests on a register entry, the other on actual use that has to be proven. That difference has concrete consequences in each of the eight criteria below.
| Criterion | Registered trademark | Unregistered trademark |
|---|---|---|
| Basis of the right | Registration and register entry (SMK Article 7(1)) | Actual use and the evidence of that use |
| Proof of the right | The register entry and registration certificate are sufficient | The date, intensity and continuity of use must be proven again in every dispute |
| Prohibiting use | Trademark infringement action (SMK Articles 7 and 29) | Unfair competition action (TTK); confusion and conduct contrary to good faith must be shown |
| Stopping a similar application | Opposition (Article 6(1)); identical or near-identical applications are refused by the Office of its own motion (Article 5(1)(ç)) | Only by opposition (Article 6(3)), provided the prior right is proven |
| Criminal protection | Trademark offense: one to three years' imprisonment and a judicial fine (Article 30) | No SMK criminal protection (Article 30(5)); TTK Article 62 subject to intent and a complaint |
| Platform complaints | The registration certificate gives access to brand protection programs | Programs mostly require a registration or pending application; complaints remain weak |
| ® symbol | May be used | May not be used; ™ may be used |
| Assignment, license, pledge | Recorded in the register and enforceable against third parties (Article 148) | No register entry; the transaction remains contractual and valuation becomes harder |
The Main Risks of Operating With an Unregistered Trademark
The biggest risk of operating without registration is that protection turns into a claim that has to be proven afresh every time. From a legal perspective, the main risks are:
- Someone else registering the name: If you do not monitor the Bulletin, the two-month opposition period passes unnoticed, leaving only a long and costly invalidation action.
- Facing an infringement claim: The person who registered the name can send you a warning letter or sue you. You remain on the defensive until you prove your prior use.
- Disadvantage on platforms: Marketplace and social media complaint processes run on register entries; a registered opponent can have your listings removed while you have no document to show.
- Obstacles to investment, franchising and licensing: Investors, buyers and franchise candidates ask what legal security backs the name they are taking on; without registration there is no clear answer.
- Cost of rebranding: If you lose the dispute, your shop sign, packaging, domain name and customer perception all have to change together.
We compiled the full list of the commercial side effects of operating without registration in our article on the 10 risks of not registering your trademark.
Can the ® Symbol Be Used With an Unregistered Trademark?
No. The ® symbol declares that the trademark is registered. Using ® on a sign with no registration is an untrue statement and may amount to unfair competition under Article 55(1)(a)(2) of the TTK, which covers "making untrue or misleading statements about oneself, one's business, one's business signs …". A competitor can seek a declaration, an injunction and compensation over such use.
The correct symbol during the unregistered period is ™: it makes no claim of registration and only announces that you use the sign as a trademark. We set out the correct use of the symbols at each stage in a table in our guide to the ® and ™ symbols.
How Should You Build Up Evidence of Use?
The most valuable asset of a business operating without registration is a dated, well-organized file of evidence of use. Evidence gathered only after a dispute arises is often incomplete; the file should be built up as part of day-to-day business.
- Fix the date of first use. Keep the first invoice, the first sales record and the opening or launch announcement in a separate folder. In disputes, the real question is who started first.
- Make sure the mark appears on invoices and contracts. An invoice that does not show the trademark proves only that trade took place, not that the mark was used.
- Keep records of packaging, labels and shop signs. Printing invoices, printer delivery notes and dated photographs show that the sign was used together with the product.
- Archive advertising and digital traces. Advertising invoices, campaign reports, social media posts, the domain registration date and web archive printouts document how widespread the use is.
- Have dates verified independently. A qualified electronic time stamp can be used for important digital documents; at critical moments, a notarial record or a court order for the preservation of evidence can be requested.
- Collect third-party sources. Press coverage, customer reviews, trade fair participation documents and industry publications are more persuasive than documents you prepare yourself.
- Organize the file every year. Prepare a short annual summary (sales volume, points of sale, advertising spend) and an index of documents.
This file is not only for today's disputes; it will also be the core source if distinctiveness or reputation becomes an issue in your trademark application later on.
How Do You Move From Unregistered Use to Registration?
The best transition is to run the search and complete the application without delay while use continues. Continuing to use the mark does not prevent you from filing; on the contrary, your evidence of use will also help with any oppositions that arise during the registration process.
When planning the transition, keep three points in mind: draft the application to cover the goods and services you actually offer and those you will enter in the near term; do not use ® until you are registered; and switch to ® only after the registration decision has been made and published. The choice of filing type for the word and the logo determines the scope of protection, so base that decision on how you actually use the sign. If the search reveals a conflicting entry, options such as narrowing the scope, obtaining consent or changing the name are assessed before filing. To choose the right moment for your business calendar, see our guide on when to register a trademark.
Working with trademark attorneys authorized before TÜRKPATENT, Webx handles trademark registration in Turkey from the clearance search through to the registration certificate; in that process we also plan together how your existing use is correctly reflected in the scope of the application.
Conclusion
Using a trademark without registration is a legitimate but hard-to-protect position. Key takeaways:
- Using an unregistered trademark is not a crime; the real risk is unknowingly infringing someone else's registered trademark.
- The owner of an unregistered mark cannot rely on the exclusive rights in Article 7 of the SMK or the criminal protection in Article 30.
- Your tools are the TTK unfair competition rules, opposition under Article 6(3) of the SMK and invalidation under Article 25; in each, the burden of proof is on you.
- Do not miss the one-year and three-year limitation periods for unfair competition actions.
- Use ™ until registration and build up dated, organized evidence of use.
Would you like to secure your unregistered trademark?
Send us the name you use and your field of activity through our contact page; together we will assess whether there are conflicting entries in the register, which classes you should file in and which gaps need to be filled in your existing evidence of use.
