Expert content, legal guides, industry news — everything you need to know to protect your brand.
The Webx blog explains trademark and intellectual property procedures the way they actually work in practice. The articles here cover every stage in the life of a trademark: pre-filing similarity research, choosing the right class, examination by TÜRKPATENT, opposition to publication and the routes available against a refusal, the use requirement after registration, renewal, assignment and licensing. Everything is written against Industrial Property Law No. 6769 and TÜRKPATENT's current practice, and articles are updated when the legislation or the office's practice changes.
The posts are grouped so you can find what you need quickly. Start with Guides to learn the process end to end, use Trademark Classes to decide where to file, turn to Refusals & Oppositions if your application was rejected or someone opposed your mark, read Legal for infringement and litigation, and see International for protection abroad. Questions specific to your sector or company structure live under By Industry and For Businesses, while budgeting is covered in Pricing.
These articles are general information and do not replace advice on your own file. If you want to know which route fits your brand, start with a free preliminary search.
Trademark registration for franchising means registering the chain's core mark in the franchisor's name and the right classes before any franchisee uses it. Legally, the trademark...
Customs seizure of counterfeit goods: at the request of an owner whose mark is registered in Turkey, customs suspends suspicious goods. Without a preliminary injunction within 10 business days of notice (3 for perishables), the goods are released. Application, deadlines, destruction and costs in one guide.
Getting an Instagram handle does not give you trademark rights: usernames are assigned first come, first served, cannot be reserved and cannot be transferred. Trademark rights come from registration. What Instagram needs in a trademark report, a scenario table, fake accounts, proof of use and in-house account security.
Trademark registration is not legally required to sell on Turkish marketplaces; on Trendyol, unbranded products can be sold under "Genel Markalar" (General Brands). To be recognized as the brand owner, use a brand in your store name and have other sellers asked for documents, you need a registration certificate.
In 2026, KOSGEB trademark support is not a standalone program; industrial property costs sit inside the Entrepreneur, Capacity Building and Global Competitiveness programs. The Entrepreneur rules list trademarks only for foreign registration, and the Ministry of Trade runs a separate grant for foreign filings.
A YİDK decision cannot be appealed within the Office; the route against the Board's final decision is a lawsuit before the Ankara Intellectual and Industrial Property Civil Court under Article 156(2) SMK. The law sets no express filing deadline. Who sues, who is sued, what is argued and the alternatives.
Colors, sounds and motion can be trademarks: Article 4 SMK accepts any sign that is distinctive and can be represented clearly and precisely in the register. A color needs an accepted color code, a sound a playable recording, a motion an image sequence. A single color is the hardest case.
Yes, slogan trademark registration is possible: in Turkey a slogan is filed with TÜRKPATENT as a word mark. A slogan that only praises or describes the product is refused for lack of distinctiveness or for being descriptive; to be registered, it has to point consumers to one particular business.
TÜRKPATENT does not refuse similar applications that create a likelihood of confusion of its own motion, nor does it notify earlier owners; such filings can only be stopped by an opposition filed within two months of publication. Trademark watching is the system that scans the Bulletin so you do not miss that window.
Likelihood of confusion is the risk that consumers confuse two marks or believe the goods come from linked businesses; under Article 6(1) SMK it is a ground for refusal upon opposition. Sign and goods similarity, attention level and the earlier mark's distinctiveness are weighed together.
A trademark license agreement lets you earn from your brand without giving up ownership. Under SMK Arts. 24 and 148, a license must be in writing but needs no notarization; an unrecorded license cannot be asserted against third parties acting in good faith.
Under Article 30 SMK, the penalty for trademark infringement in Turkey is one to three years in prison plus a judicial fine of up to twenty thousand days. The mark must be registered in Turkey and a complaint filed within six months. Covered acts, penalty table, liability, settlement and the process in one guide.
Turkish law protects well-known trademarks in two ways: marks well known under Paris Convention Article 6bis (Article 6(4) SMK), and marks protected even for different goods and services because of their reputation in Turkey (Articles 6(5) and 7(2)(c)). The status must be proven in each case.
A trade name is the name registered in the trade registry that shows a company's legal identity; a trademark is a sign registered with TÜRKPATENT that distinguishes goods and services. Business names, domain names, who prevails in a conflict and the right order of registration in one guide.
A trademark attorney in Turkey represents right holders before TÜRKPATENT in trademark, design, geographical indication and traditional product name matters, after passing the exam and joining the Register of Trademark Attorneys. One is optional for applicants resident in Turkey and mandatory for those resident abroad.
TÜRKPATENT's services on e-Devlet are filing, transaction, document and notice services; searching by name and tracking files happen on the search page on TÜRKPATENT's website, while you follow your own files on EPATS, which opens through an e-Devlet login, and in your electronic service mailbox.
EPATS is TÜRKPATENT's electronic filing system. You log in through e-Devlet, enter the applicant, the mark and a Nice-classified goods and services list, pay the fee and sign. The filing date is fixed when all four elements, including proof of payment, reach the Office; notices then arrive by electronic service.
A notarized letter of consent from the earlier trademark owner prevents refusal on the ground of an identical or indistinguishably similar earlier mark (Article 5(3) SMK); it does not overcome oppositions or other grounds for refusal. When to file it, what the form must contain and how to draft its scope.
A mark not put to genuine use in Turkey within five years of registration, or whose use has been suspended for five uninterrupted years, can be cancelled by TÜRKPATENT on request (Articles 9 and 26 SMK). How the period is counted, genuine use, justified reasons, partial cancellation and proof of use in oppositions.
Class 35 trademark registration protects advertising, business management, office functions and the bringing together of goods for sale (retail and wholesale); it does not protect the brand on the product you sell. Nice 2026 scope, the five TÜRKPATENT groups, fee item 02.01.34 and a scenario table.
A trademark protects the sign that shows where goods and services come from; a patent protects a technical invention. A utility model needs no inventive step and lasts 10 years versus 20 for a patent; a design protects appearance for up to 25 years, while a trademark can live indefinitely through 10-year renewals.
® is the registered trademark symbol; in Turkey it belongs only on a mark entered in the TÜRKPATENT register, for the goods and services it covers. ™ makes no registration claim and needs no filing. Using ® on an unregistered mark risks unfair competition and misleading advertising claims.
Want to see our trademark guides first in Google Search?
If you couldn't find an answer in our blog posts, our trademark experts will be happy to provide personal consultation.
