Design means the appearance of the whole or a part of a product resulting from the features of, in particular, the lines, contours, colours, shape, texture and/or materials of the product itself and/or its ornamentation.
Product means any industrial or handicraft item, including parts intended to be assembled into a complex product, products like packaging, presentations of more than one object perceived together, graphic symbols and typographic typefaces, but excluding computer programs.
Complex product means a product which is composed of components which can be replaced or renewed by disassembly and reassembly of the product.
The design of a part of a complex product is considered to be new and to have a distinctive character:
a) if the component part is mounted to the complex product, remains visible during normal use of the complex product;
b) if the visible features of the component part fulfil the requirements as to novelty and individual character.
Yes. The use of the design of a component part used for the purpose of the repair of a complex product so as to restore its original appearance within three years after design is released to the market for the first time is not deemed as an infringement of the design right provided that no misleading information is given about the source of those parts. However, the use of equivalent parts published by the Ministry of Science, Industry and Technology within three years after the design is released to the market for the first time is not considered as infringement of the design right.
A design must be new and have an individual character for having protection.
There are two kinds of protection: unregistered design and registered design.
An unregistered design is a design which provides protection up to 3 years as from the first public disclosure of the design. To have unregistered design right, the design should be have been firstly disclosed to the public in the Turkish jurisdiction, which means that the first disclosures in other jurisdictions are out of consideration in terms of unregistered design registration.
A design is considered as new if no other identical design has been made publicly available before the filing date or priority date. Making available to the public means releasing on the market, use, description, publication, promotion or so on by means of exhibition and sale. Disclosure to a third person under conditions of confidentiality is not considered as making available to the public.
Yes. There is a grace period of 12 months to file design application in Turkey. In other words, novelty is not destroyed where disclosure of the design has been made by the rights owner(s) or someone abusing his relation with the designer within “12 months” (grace period) before the filing or priority date of the design application.
The designs can be represented by photos or drawings for design applications. The representations should be in JPEG format and have at least the sizes of 8X8cm, 8x16cm, or 16x16cm and at least a resolution of 300 DPI.
If the designs will be represented by photographs, they should be represented on a plain surface and background. and there should be no accompanying objects therewith.
In case that the designs are represented by drawings, the drawings should have been drawn by use of electronic means, and represented three-dimensionally using shades and parallel lines.
It is voluntary but not mandatory to describe the designs. In other words, it is possible to file design application without submitting description.
Yes. Designers can ask their name not to be disclosed.
Yes. Applicants can ask that the publication of the designs be deferred up to 30 months as from the filing date or as from the priority date if any priority is claimed.
Yes. Multiple design application covering more than one design is possible provided that the products to which the design is applied belong to the same Locarno class and additional fees are paid for each additional design.
Yes, the maximum number of designs, which can be claimed under one multiple design application, is limited to 100 designs. If more than 100 designs are claimed, TURKPATENT issue office action and asks that the application should be divided for the parts exceeding 100 designs.
Yes, a graphic user interface (GUI) is protectable in Turkey under Locarno Class 14.04. Turkey adopts the common practices determined for the graphic user interfaces (GUI) by the European Trade Mark and Design Network (ETDM). The designs of the graphic user interfaces (GUI) are handled under the document issued by the ETDM, which is accepted by Turkey as well.
Yes, it is allowed to file one design application claiming the design of a set of products as a set of tableware including dishes, bowls and plates.
The Locarno Classification, which is the international classification system for industrial designs that is administered by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), is used for design applications.
A design application should cover at least one view. There can be further views without subject to limitation.
Yes but it can be said that Turkish Patent and Trademark Office is loosely performing novelty examination (mostly through on-line search tools of the search engines and the DesignView database of EUIPO. If TURKPATENT considers that the design is not novel, it can refuse the application. In that case, the applicant can file appeal against the refusal decision.
In the case that a direct national application is filed, the registration proceedings takes approx. 6 months (examination of 2 months, publication of 3 months and registration of one month) provided that no ex-officio refusal is issued and/or no opposition is filed.
In the case that the design application is based on an international designation under Hague System, registration of a design application will take place within 4 months approx from the receipt of the international application of Turkish Patent and Trademark Office (TURKPATENT) if no opposition is filed (Please additional consider the process and time before the International Bureaus of WIPO before the receipt of the application by TURKPATENT).
Yes, third parties can file opposition within 3 months from the publication of the design application in the Official Design Bulletin.
An opposition can be filed based on one or more of the following instances:
No, the oppositions are handled by a Board of Examiners and the decisions issued by the Board is final. On the other hand, any party can take legal action, namely revocation action, against the decision before the IP Court within 2 months from the official receipt of the notification of the decision.
A registered design is initially valid for 5 years from the filing date and can be renewed for 5-year periods, up to a maximum of 25 years. An unregistered design only grants protection for 3 years from the date of its first public disclosure within the Turkish jurisdiction.
Do you have further questions about design registrations in Turkey? Please contact us. We will answer your questions as soon as possible.