Appearance Protection

Industrial
Design Registration

7,691 customer reviews

The shape, form and pattern of your product can be copied by your competitors. Design registration records that appearance in the TÜRKPATENT register under your own name.

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  • Protection for up to 25 years in five-year terms
  • Multiple designs in the same class in a single application
  • A 12-month grace period for designs already on the market
  • Locarno classification and multiple-application planning
  • 17+ Years of Experience
  • TÜRKPATENT Authorized Attorney
  • GDPR/KVKK Compliant
  • Digital Client Portal

In short: What Is Design Registration?

Design registration is an industrial property right that protects, before TÜRKPATENT, the appearance of a product resulting from features such as its lines, shape, colour, texture and material. Under Article 56 of Industrial Property Law No. 6769 the design must be new and have individual character to be registered. Protection runs from the filing date in renewable five-year terms for a maximum of 25 years.

If you, or someone with your consent, have already disclosed the design to the public, you have a 12-month grace period from that disclosure in which to file.

What Is Protected?

A Trademark Shows Whose It Is,
A Design Protects How It Looks

In everyday speech every registration is called a "patent"; in law, however, separate rights protect separate things. Choosing the wrong type of application does not just waste fees — it leaves you unprotected.

  • Trademark

    Protects distinctive signs such as names, logos and slogans. Can be maintained indefinitely by renewing every 10 years.

  • Patent

    Protects an invention that provides a technical solution to a technical problem. Lasts 20 years in Türkiye and cannot be renewed.

  • Design

    Protects the external appearance of the product. Lasts up to 25 years in five-year terms.

  • Utility Model

    Faster and more economical protection with no inventive-step requirement. Lasts 10 years and cannot be extended.
Read How the Four Rights Differ

Products That Can Be Registered as Designs

  • Furniture silhouettes and shapes
  • Packaging and bottle shapes
  • Textile and surface patterns
  • Jewellery and accessory designs
  • Lighting products
  • Footwear and bag shapes
  • Toys and household goods
  • Graphical interfaces and icon sets
Almost any industrial or handicraft product with a distinguishable appearance can be the subject of a design registration. We assess whether your design qualifies free of charge.
Process

How Is a Design Registered?

We run the entire process end to end, from filing through to the renewal calendar.

  • 1

    Preliminary Design Assessment

    Your design images are examined for novelty and individual character. If the design has already been disclosed to the public, whether the 12-month grace period has expired is checked at the very first step.
  • 2

    Locarno Classification

    Your design is classified according to the international Locarno Classification used for industrial designs. If you have several designs falling in the same class, a multiple-application plan is drawn up.
  • 3

    Preparing the Application File

    Images are prepared in line with TÜRKPATENT's technical requirements, and the file is compiled so that every view defining the scope of protection is included.
  • 4

    TÜRKPATENT Filing and Follow-up

    The application is filed before TÜRKPATENT and every notification during the process is monitored; you are informed of any deficiency notice or opposition.
  • 5

    Registration and Renewal Calendar

    After registration your protection term is recorded in your customer panel, and automatic reminders are sent as each five-year renewal period approaches.
Who Is It For?

If How Your Product Looks
Is Your Competitive Advantage

  • Manufacturers

    Use registration to stop products you invested in tooling and shaping from being copied.

  • Packaging and Food Brands

    A bottle, box or packaging shape often becomes as recognisable as the brand itself.

  • Designers and Studios

    Record the patterns and shapes in your portfolio in the register under your own name.

  • Digital Product Teams

    Graphical interfaces and icon sets can also be the subject of a design registration.
If your design is already on the market, the clock is running
If you, or someone with your consent, disclosed the design, a 12-month grace period is granted for filing. Once it expires your own disclosure destroys novelty; the grace period gives no protection against a similar design independently published by someone else in the meantime.
Assess My Design
Client Testimonials

What Do Our Clients Say?

7,691 customer reviews
  • ★★★★★
    "Yeni yatırım öncesinde isim ve marka risklerini değerlendirmek istedik. Özellikle ambalaj tasarımını koruma altına almak istedik. Gerekli olduğunda tekrar bilgi alabildik. İhtiyacı..."
    B
    Burak M.
    Verified Client
  • ★★★★★
    "Ürün görünümümüz için tasarım başvurusu yaptık. müşterimiz yeni bir marka adıyla çıkış yapmadan önce araştırma tarafını kontrol ettirdik. Süreç boyunca gerekli yerlerde bilgilendir..."
    N
    Nihan Ç.
    Verified Client
  • ★★★★★
    "Ürün çizimlerinin başvuruya uygunluğunu kontrol ettik. marka işi nasıl oluyor bilmiyordum telefonda anlattılar. Gerekli olduğunda tekrar bilgi alabildik. İletişim tarafı yeterliydi..."
    E
    Esra J.
    Verified Client
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FAQ

Frequently Asked
Questions

Ask us anything you want to know about design registration.

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  • Design registration is an industrial property right that legally protects, before TÜRKPATENT, the appearance of a product resulting from features such as its lines, shape, colour, texture and material. A trademark protects whose product it is and a patent protects how it works, while a design registration protects how it looks. Registration requires novelty and individual character (SMK Article 56), and protection lasts up to 25 years through five-year renewals.

  • Design registration protects a product's external appearance, while a patent protects how it works technically. A patent protects an invention that provides a technical solution to a technical problem, requires an inventive step and lasts 20 years in Türkiye without renewal. Design registration requires novelty and individual character and protects for up to 25 years in five-year terms. Both can be obtained for the same product: the mechanism by patent, the appearance by design.

  • Design registration requires two conditions: novelty and individual character (Article 56 of Industrial Property Law No. 6769). Novelty means the identical design has not been disclosed to the public before; individual character means the overall impression it produces on an informed user differs from that of earlier designs. If you, or someone with your consent, disclosed the design to the public, there is a 12-month grace period to file.

  • Yes, in most cases a design already on the market can still be registered. Under SMK Article 57(2), disclosure of the design by you or by someone with your consent does not affect the novelty or individual character of an application filed within 12 months of that disclosure. The grace period only covers your own disclosure: a similar design developed independently and published by someone else in the meantime can still stand in your way. If you miss the 12 months, your own disclosure destroys novelty, so file without delay.

  • A registered design is protected for 5 years from the filing date and, through renewal in five-year terms, can be protected for a maximum of 25 years (SMK Article 69). If the renewal request is not submitted on time, protection ends; for Webx clients renewal periods are flagged through the panel. An unregistered design, by contrast, is protected for only 3 years from the date it was first made available to the public in Türkiye.

  • The Locarno Classification is the international system that groups industrial designs by product type. It differs from the Nice classification for trademarks in one important way: under SMK Article 61(3), the product name, class and description given in the application do not affect the scope of protection; the scope is set by the design shown in the visual representation. The class still matters, because in a multiple application all designs (except ornamentation) must belong to the same class.

  • Yes, several designs falling within the same Locarno class can be registered under one application, known as a multiple application; ornamentation is exempt from this same-class requirement. For companies that want to protect every variation in a product family, this is an advantage in both process and cost. At the preliminary assessment your designs are classified and, where appropriate, a multiple application plan is drawn up.

  • Almost any industrial or handicraft product with a distinguishable appearance can be registered as a design. Examples include furniture silhouettes, packaging and bottle shapes, textile patterns, jewellery, lighting products, toys, footwear shapes, and graphical interfaces and icon sets. Registration requires the design to be new and to have individual character; we assess its suitability free of charge.

  • If your logo indicates commercial origin, that is, whose goods or services they are, the right protection is trademark registration. Trademark protection can be renewed every 10 years and maintained indefinitely, whereas design registration lasts a maximum of 25 years through five-year renewals. For graphic elements the two can also be combined; which one takes priority depends on how you intend to use it.

  • No, a design registration is not valid abroad. Like trademarks, design rights are territorial; a registration obtained before TÜRKPATENT protects you only in Türkiye. For protection abroad you need to file separately in the target countries. If you have an export plan, the filings in your target markets should be planned together with your Turkish application.

  • The cost of design registration is not fixed; it depends on the number of designs, whether a multiple application is used and the Locarno class coverage. TÜRKPATENT official fees are a separate item from the service fee and are updated every year; a renewal fee is also payable every 5 years while protection continues. Once we have reviewed your designs we send you a clear, itemised quote.

  • Yes, a design application can be refused. TÜRKPATENT can refuse applications that do not fit the definition of a design, are contrary to public order or are found to lack novelty (SMK Article 64). Lack of individual character is not a ground the Office raises on its own; it comes up through third-party opposition within three months of publication of the registration, or in an invalidity action. Webx gives no guarantee of outcome, as stated in its service agreement; we measure the risk before filing and report it transparently.

  • For a design application you should prepare sharp, high-resolution images of every relevant view of the product against a plain background. The scope of protection is set by the images, not by the product name, class or description (SMK Article 61(3)). Missing or low-quality images can lead to a deficiency notice or a narrow scope of protection; during file preparation the images are arranged to meet TÜRKPATENT's technical requirements.

  • An unregistered design does have protection, but it is narrow and short. A design first made available to the public in Türkiye is protected for three years from that date (SMK Articles 55(4) and 69(2)). This protection only works against copying and does not stop similar designs developed independently (Article 59(2)); in an infringement, the burden of proving the disclosure date and the copying falls on you. Registration, by contrast, protects for up to 25 years without having to show copying, and makes infringement action and seizure at customs workable.

  • If your design is imitated, you can send a formal warning letter for infringement of your registered design right, claim to stop the infringement and for damages (SMK Articles 149–151), and seek seizure at customs. If the imitation has been registered and published in someone else's name, an opposition can be filed within 3 months of publication; Webx handles this opposition as the registered agent. At the court stage, Webx works with partner lawyers or with your own lawyer.
The protection terms and registrability conditions on this page are based on Industrial Property Law No. 6769. Official fees are updated annually by TÜRKPATENT; the current amount is provided to you after a free preliminary assessment. Design Registration Service Agreement
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