A typical trademark application takes 6-8 months from filing till registration (2 months examination stage, 2 months publication stage, 2 months decision phase if no opposition is filed, 1-2 months registration and certification stage). In case of an opposition or ex-officio rejection, each may take 6-8 months plus the same for the appeals.
The followings should be submitted to obtain filing date.
If any of the above requirements are not met, the formalities officer issues and sends a deficiency letter requesting to complete the missing item within 2 months of the notification of the deficiency letter. The filing date will be amended to the date on which all obligatory information is complete, including the payment.
Yes, the applicants can file and claim goods and services in more than one class (multi-class trademark application).
There is no limitation for the classes to be claimed, i.e. the applicants can claim all the classes (45 classes) within the scope of the same trademark application. In that case, the applicants are required to pay official fee for each claimed class.
The official fees are calculated based on the number of the classes. The applicants should pay for each claimed class. The amount changes based on the number of classes covered by the application. The official fees for the first and second class are the same, and the official fees for the third class and each additional class are slightly higher than the official fees paid for the first and second class.
The number of items or headings claimed within each class or the type of the trademark application (color, device, word, 3-D etc.), or type of the entity, legal or natural, does not affect the amount of the filing fee.
National registration does not prevail on international registration, namely the protection provided by an international registration is the same as the one provided by the national registration.However, Madrid designations have the following disadvantages compared to the local applications.
However, Madrid designations have the following disadvantages compared to the local applications:
Turkey is using Latin alphabets in the written language. Therefore, the trademarks of foreign origin expressed in the Latin alphabets are registered as they appear in the language of origin.
Turkish Trademark Law does not require the disclosure of the meaning of the trademark, therefore, no translation of the trademark into Turkish in foreign language, whether such trademark is written in Latin characters or not, is required.
Whereas, if a trademark is expressed in the alphabets other than that in Latin alphabets, e.g. in Cyrillic, Japanese or Chinese characters etc., the transliteration of the trademark into Latin characters are required by Turkish Patent and Trademark Office (TURKPATENT).
Trademark is defined in Turkish Industrial Property Code as follows:
Trademarks may consist of any signs like words, including personal names, figures, colors, letters, numbers, sounds and the shape of goods or their packaging, provided that such signs are capable of distinguishing the goods or services of one undertaking from those of other undertakings and being represented on the register in a manner to determine the clear and precise subject matter of the protection afforded to its proprietor (Article 4 (1) IPC).
Yes, it is possible to register non-traditional trademarks (3-D, odor, sound or motion) in Turkey according to Turkish Industrial Property Code. Whereas the Code makes it possible, the registration proceedings are extremely challenging.
It should be expected that the application be refused at the first place and the applicants should file an appeal against the refusal and prove that the applied-for non-traditional mark has acquired distinctiveness in the Turkish market.
Whereas color can be registered in Turkey per se in view of the definition of the trademark in the Law; in practice, it is extremely difficult to register a color as a trademark. Therefore, when filing a mark of a single color, it is most likely that the application would be refused and it would be necessary for the applicants to prove that the color has acquired distinctiveness in the market in respect of the goods or services for which registration is requested.
It is not possible to obtain protection for a color if the color is registered with a combination of words or figurative elements or images. In other words, for obtaining a registration, color should be claimed per se without any further components within the trade mark.
As the color is registered in Turkey, the relevant public in Turkey should be considered and the public should be able to distinguish that the color is originated from the applicant.
When filing a trademark application claiming “color” only, it should be expressly indicated in the application form and the color code (pantone code) should be provided.
No, it is not required to describe a trademark when filing.
It makes sense especially in terms of thegenuine use of a trademark.
Turkey has accepted the Common Practice issued by the European Trade Mark and Design Network EUIPO with regards to black and white (B&W) or grayscale marks as compared with colored versions of the same mark.
The said practice especially brings clarification how the genuine use of a trademark is handled with the following evaluation criteria.
A change only in color does not alter the distinctive character of the trademark, as long as the following requirements are met:
For establishing genuine use, the principles applicable to trade marks in B&W also apply to grayscale trademarks.
The trademark applications are published for 2 months for the oppositions of the third parties in the Turkish Trademark Bulletin.
Anyone, natural or legal entity, who is resident in Turkey, can take any actions (filing, opposition, appeal etc.) before Turkish Patent and Trademark Office without having to appoint trademark agent.
Natural or legal entities who are not resident in Turkey should be represented by a Turkish trademark agent for all the proceedings before Turkish Patent and Trademark Office.
Priority may be claimed of one or more previous trade mark applications filed by the natural or legal entities, who are national or resident of the States party to the Paris Convention or WTO agreement or have established business in those States. The priority may be claimed during the 6 months following the first filing.
The priority claim (including the number, date and country of the previous application) should be filed together with Turkish trademark application and the specific fee for priority claim should be paid. The original priority certificate with its translation into Turkish approved by a sworn translator should be submitted within 3 months from the date of filing of the Turkish trademark application.
Nice Agreement Concerning the International Classification of Goods and Services is used for the classification of the goods and services of the trademark applications.
There are two different ways to designate the goods and services for the trademark applications. The applicants can designate the goods and services under the standard heading of each class specified by Turkish Patent and Trademark Office in accordance with the Nice Agreement. Please click here for the list of goods and services with standard headings in each class for trademark applications in Turkey.
The applicants can also specify their own list of goods and services without depending on the standard headings. In the case of the specific list of goods and services created by the applicants, the goods and services should be very specific and clear and not cover any general terms in respect of the claimed goods and services. Otherwise, it should be expected to receive office action asking the applicants to specify the goods and services by specific terms or remove any lack of clarity regarding the specific goods and services, which will substantively prolong the registration process. In the formation of the specific list of goods and services, it is advisable to use the TMclass tool or Madrid MSG tool.
In the practice, the applications of standard headings proceed to faster than the applications of specific list of goods and services.
Yes, it is not accepted to use broad terms in respect of the goods or the expressions such as “variety of goods” under Class 35. The goods should be specified. Take the following:
Inappropriate: The bringing together, for the benefit of others, a variety of goods enabling customers to conveniently view and purchase those goods (said services provided with retail, wholesale stores, electronic medias, catalogues and other similar methods).
Appropriate: The bringing together, for the benefit of others, of the goods “…” enabling customers to conveniently view and purchase those goods (said services provided with retail, wholesale stores, electronic medias, catalogues and other similar methods).
Spelling errors and obvious errors can be corrected upon request. The corrections such as to change the trademark specie, the trademark or list of goods and services are not allowed.
Yes, Turkish Patent and Trademark Office perform ex-officio examination based on the absolute grounds.
The examination based on the absolute grounds also covers identicalness or similarity examination. If Turkish Patent and Trademark Office find earlier identical and confusingly similar trademark, it refuses the applied-for trademark.
In the practice, the similarity examination is loosely performed unless the trademarks in conflict are highly similar. In other words, the examiner in charge allows the applied-for trademark to be published if the similarity is highly contestable. The strict similarity examination is performed during the examination based on relative grounds if any opposition is filed by third parties.
The following signs are not allowed for registration under the absolute grounds:
a) Signs which may not be trademark according to Article 4;
b) Signs which are devoid of any distinctive character;
c) Signs which consist exclusively or includes as an essential element of signs or indications which serve in trade to designate the kind, type, characteristics, quality, quantity, intended purpose, value, geographical origin, or the time of production of goods or of rendering of the services or other characteristics of goods or services,
ç) Signs which are identical to or indistinguishably similar to a trademark, which has been registered or which has been applied for registration, relating to identical goods and services or to goods and services of the identical type,
d) Signs which consist exclusively or includes as an essential element of signs or indications used by everyone in the trade area or which serves to distinguish members of a particular professional, vocational or commercial group from others.
e) Signs which consist exclusively of the shape or another characteristic which results from the nature of the goods themselves or the shape or other characteristics which is mandatory to obtain a technical result or gives substantial value to the goods;
f) Signs which would deceive the public, for instance, as to the nature, quality or geographical origin of the goods or service;
g) Signs which shall be refused pursuant to Article 6ter of the Paris Convention;
ğ) Signs other than those covered by Article 6ter of the Paris Convention but which are of public interest, and which contain historical, cultural values, and emblems, badges or escutcheons for which the consent of the competent authority has not been given,
h) Signs that contain religious values or symbols;
ı) Signs which are contrary to public policy or to accepted principles of morality;
i) Signs which consist of a registered geographical sign or which contain a registered geographical sign.
Yes, if a trademark has been used before the application, and through this use, has acquired distinctive character in respect of the goods and services subject to the application, the registration of this trademark may not be refused in accordance with subparagraphs (b), (c) and (d) of the first paragraph of the clause regarding the absolute grounds in Turkish Industrial Property Code (see absolute grounds).
Yes, it is possible to overcome the said refusal by filing a letter of consent granted by the holder of the earlier trademark or trademarks.
Yes, the consent should be provided by a special form issued by Turkish Patent and Trademark Office. The form should be notarized (legalized by apostil in the case of the non-residents in Turkey).
The consent should be provided without any conditions or reservations. The form should be filed together with the application. If the form is not submitted with the application and the application is refused due to earlier identical or confusingly similar trademark, the applicant can file an appeal against the decision and file consent form with the appeal to overcome the refusal.
Letter of Consent should be submitted for each trademark application separately.
Yes, if the trademark application is refused ex-officio based on the absolute grounds, the applicant can file appeal with all the arguments and evidences within 2 months (non-extendable) from the notification of the decision of refusal. The fee for appeal should be paid within the same time limit. After filing appeal, no further arguments or evidences are allowed to file.
The registration fee should be paid within 2 months from the decision for registration.
The registration certificate should be expected within approx. 2 months from the payment of the registration fee. The certificate is issued electronically only and no printed copy is provided.
The term of protection for registered trademark is ten years from the date of application. This term may be renewed for periods of ten years (see FAQs on the renewals ).
No, there is no requirement to file Declaration of Use or Excusable Non-Use, or similar document to prove the use or excuse the non-use of a registered trademark and keep it alive (see the non-use effects under Trademark Oppositions in Turkey and Trademark Cancellation Actions in Turkey)
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