Trademark Registration System
The Turkish Republic is a member to the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property and is also party to Madrid Agreement and Protocol. The international classification of goods is followed; and Turkey is a signatory country to the Nice Agreement, and the revision of class 42 with the creation of classes 43 to 45 has been adopted as of January 1, 2002. Multiclass applications are possible for both goods and services.
Once a trademark application is filed, it is examined as to its registrability. Upon examination, if the Trademark Registrar rejects a mark an appeal maybe submitted within two months from the date of rejection. Once a trademark application is accepted by the Registrar it is published in the Official Gazette. Any interested party may file a notice of opposition to the registration of the mark within three months from the publication date. The Registrar’s decision concerning the opposition may be appealed to a special committee and the committee’s decision to the competent court. In the absence of opposition, a trademark is registered and the relative certificate of registration is issued.
A trademark registration is valid for 10 years as from the date of filing the application, renewable for similar periods. The renewal fees of a trademark registration can be paid during the last six months of the final year of the protection period. Upon payment of a fine a grace period of 6 months is allowed for late renewal.
The ownership of a registered trademark can be assigned with or without the goodwill of the commercial enterprise. Unless an assignment has been recorded in the register and published in the Trade Mark Journal, the assignment shall have no effect vis-à-vis third parties. Changes in the name and/or address of the registrant must be recorded in order to protect rights. Registered user agreements, licenses, and amendments which do not substantially affect the identity of the mark, limitation of the list of goods and/or services covered by a trademark registration can be recorded as well.
Use of a trademark is not compulsory for filing application for registration nor for maintaining the registration in force. However, any interested party may request the court to cancel a trademark registration if the owner fails to use such a trademark in Turkey for 5 consecutive years from the date of registration.
Illegal use of a registered trademark by an unauthorized person, use of a forged or counterfeit trademark, application to one’s goods a registered trademark belonging to another party in bad faith, dealing in products bearing a forged or counterfeited trademark, rendering services under a forged or counterfeit trademark, and use of a trademark that falls under certain categories of unpredictable marks are offenses penalized under the law in Turkey.
Trademark / Service Mark, Collective Marks Applications
1. A simply signed power of attorney.
2. A certified copy of the corresponding home registration, if any, or a certificate of activity issued by the chamber of commerce at the applicant’s domicile.
3. The list of the goods/services and the classes pertaining thereto.
4. Twenty prints of the trademark. (Not required for wordmarks)
5. A certified copy of the priority document must be submitted within three months in case it is claimed.
Renewal Registrations
1. A simply signed power of attorney for each application.
2. The number and date of the registered trademark/service mark.
3. The name, address, and nationality of the applicant.
4. Twenty prints of the trademark. (Not required for wordmarks)
Patent Registration System
As of January 1996, Turkey has become a member to the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property and a party to the Patent Convention treaty, while as of November 1, 2000, it gained membership to the European Patent Convention.
Once an application for the grant of a patent is filed, it is examined with respect to compliance with formalities and patentability provided for under the Patent Law including the novelty, inventiveness (state of art) and industrial application. Authorities examine the compliance of the application to the formal requirements. Should the examination results reveal that the application suffers formal deficiencies, or that the invention is not subject to patent protection, the examination procedure is suspended and the applicant is requested to remedy the deficiencies or to notify the Institute of his objections within the period set forth in the Regulations. Should the examination conducted by the Institute show no deficiency as to formal requirements, or when any such deficiency has been duly remedied and completed in accordance with the requirements, the Institute shall inform the applicant that the request, if not filed earlier, for conducting the Search on the State-of-the-Art, is to be filed within 15 months from the filing date. In the absence of opposition, the letters-patent or the utility certificate is issued.
Within 15 months from the date of filing the application, the applicant shall request the Institute to conduct the Search on the State-of-the-art. Where priority is claimed, such period (15 months) runs as from the date of priority. There is one month grace period after the expiration of this period to request the Search. Failure to take action causes the lapse of the application.
After receiving the Search report, the applicant must decide within three months whether to proceed with substantive examination or to request the grant of a patent without - or as a result of deferred-examination for a period of seven years. The patentee of a non-examined patent or any third party may request before the expiration of a seven-year term (from the filing date), that the prosecution for the substantive examination resume in order to obtain a patent for a duration of twenty years.
Should the applicant request a Substantive Examination, the applicant shall request the Institute to conduct the examination after the six months following the publication of the State-of-the-art Search Report, when third parties may raise objections to the grant of the patent. The Institute shall notify the applicant of the examination report it has established as to the deficiency or meeting of patentability requirements of the application, and shall grant the applicant six months for him to rectify the deficiency, or to amend the claim(s) or object to it. Amendment of Claims to rectify obvious errors such as spelling errors, providing incorrect / inappropriate documents, the claim(s) is possible only during the prosecution of the granting procedure. Also transformation a Patent application into a utility model application is possible.
The Institute shall reach its final decision after examining the applicant’s observations and, if any, the amendments made in the application. The decision of the Institute may consist of granting the patent for all or part of the claims. The application shall be open to the public upon its publication, after elapsing of a period of eighteen months from the date of filing the application or, if any, from the date of the claimed priority.
A patent is valid for 20 years and a utility certificate is valid for 10 years. Annuities are to be paid during the final three months of each year of the protection period. However, late payment of the annuities with a surcharge is allowed within 6 months from the lapse of the annuity due date. It is possible to pay the annual fees in advance to cover the whole or a part of the validity period in advance.
The right to a patent may be assigned or licensed. An assignment shall have no effect against third parties unless it has been recorded at the Patent Office and published in the Official Gazette.
Patent Applications
A simply signed power of attorney.
Deed of Assignment (or proof of assignment) from the investors to the applicant.
The particulars of the corresponding foreign application.
Specification, claims and abstract (in about 100 words) in the Turkish language. One copy in English, French or German is needed for translation purposes.
Formal drawings, if any. (3 sets)
A certified copy of the basic application as filed along with its translation if priority rights are to be claimed.
Note: As per the current practice of the Turkish Patent Institute (TPI), the report on the State of the Art (RSA) must be requested within fifteen (15) months as of the application date or priority date. The search on the State of the Art is carried out in an office accepted as searching authority.
For PCT applications entering the national phase in Turkey, a copy of the PCT application and examination report must be submitted with the application.
Patent Annuities
A simply signed power of attorney for each application. (If we are not the agents on record)
The number and date of filing of the patent / design.
The name, address, and nationality of the applicant.
Design and Industrial Models Registration System
Designs and industrial models are protectable in Turkey through registration with the competent office. The international Classification of Locarno is effective in Turkey as of November 1997.
Once an application for the grant of a design is filed, it is examined with respect to compliance with formalities and patentability provided for under the Design Law including the novelty, and distinctiveness. (According to law, novelty is applicable if, before the date of application or priority (if any), no identical design has been made available to the public anywhere in the world.)
Examination is conducted only in form by the Turkish Patent Institute prior to the registration. Designs allowed for registration are published and thereby become open to opposition for a period of six months. However, at the request of the applicant, the publication may be postponed for up to thirty months from the filing date. If opposition by third party is justified, the design is not registered.
The registered design is protected for five years as from the filing date. This period may be renewed four times and the protection period is twenty-five years in total. The renewal application may be filed during the last six months of the five years period of protection. However, it may also be renewed with fine, within six months from the expiration of the protection period.
The registration, assignment and cancellation of design and industrial model registrations are published in the Official Gazette and entered in the register.
Design Applications
A notarized power of attorney.
The information on how the applicant has acquired the right to apply for a design from the designer.
A notarized signature circular where the applicant is a legal person (if possible).
Description related to the design and products to which the design is to be incorporated.
Drawing(s) or painting(s), graphic, photographic or other similar representations of the designs suitable for reproduction and reflecting all of its features, 20 pictures 8x8 cm size.
Priority document. If priority is claimed, number, date and country of the prior application.
In case of multiple applications, separate descriptions and representations of the design should be submitted.
Design Annuities
A simply signed power of attorney for each application. (If we are not the agents on record).
The number and date of filing of the patent / design.
The name, address, and nationality of the applicant.
Assignment or Merger Applications
A notarized power of attorney signed by the assignee.
The original Trademark Certificate for endorsement purposes.
A duly legalized deed of assignment signed by the assignor and the assignee, merger document.
The number and date of registered trademark / service mark.
The name, address, nationality, and profession or nature of business of the assignee.
License Applications
A simply signed power of attorney by the licensee.
A notarized license agreement executed by both parties.
A signature circular (if possible).
The original trademark certificate for endorsement purposes.
The name, address, nationality, and profession or nature of business of the licensee.
Change of Name/Address Applications
A simply signed power of attorney.
A notarized certificate of the change of name or address.
The number and date of registered trademark / service mark.
Original Trademark certificate for endorsement purposes.
Copyright Registration System
The Copyright Law No. 5846 in 1951 amended by Law No. 4630 on February 21, 2001, allows for copyrightable works in general and computer software in particular. Turkey is also a party to the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, (PARIS Acts) and the TRIPS. Original works of literature, art and science, regardless of type, importance or purpose are protected. This includes works of art expressed in writing, sound, drawings, photography and motion pictures, such as books, writings, speeches, oral works, plays, dramatic works, musical compositions, films, phonographic works, applied art, 3-D works and computer programs are protected for the lifetime of the author plus 70 years following his/her death. In order for protection to be effective, the work of art has to be original and includes personal efforts, innovation and new arrangement.
Any enforcement of the law is made through the Courts of Turkey.
Domain Name Registration System
Any legal entity that is established in any country can apply for a domain name in Turkey. There is no limit to the number of the names that an entity can register as long as it is able to provide the documentation needed to register the domain names. Only a second-level name can be registered (i.e., com.tr, net.tr, mil.tr, gov.tr, edu.tr, etc). The requirements are: a copy of the Trademark/name registrations as well as a simply signed Power of Attorney. These documents should be submitted within (15) days from the filing date in order to avoid the cancellation of the domain name registrations.
A Trademark application can be also acceptable for applying to a domain name, provided that both applications have to be identical. In case of any rejection of a Trademark application, the domain name shall be canceled within 30 days from that event.
The applications are done online, through the web page:
http://www.dns.metu.edu.tr/
Entities are also allowed to reserve the domain names by writing “reserve” to the name server and IP number fields on the application form. The form may be amended for an active use of the name later on.
A domain name may include a maximum of (12) and a minimum of (2) characters containing letters, numbers and/or dash. There is a period of one year opposition to a new domain name registration.
It is worth noting that the party requesting registration of this name certifies that, to his/her knowledge, the use of this name does not violate trademark or other statues. Registering a domain name does not confer any legal rights to that name and any disputes between parties over the rights to use a particular name are to be settled through normal legal methods.