How to do trademark search in Turkey
Turkish Patent and Trademark Office (TURKPATENT) provides online trademark search feature in both Turkish and English languages on this link
The trademark searches can be performed based on one criteria or in combination with more than one criteria. The search criteria are as follows:
- Trademark Type (Well-known marks, WIPO protection, Protection Marks, Geographical Marks, Sound Marks, Motion Marks)
- Trademark Name
- Applicant Name
- Trademark Publication Bulletin Number
- Trademark Registration Bulletin Number
- Client No
- Nice Classes (possible to make search in more than one class)
When you click on this search link, you will see three tabs on the search screen, Trademark Search and File Tracking:
- Trademark Search tab is the actual search page,
- File Tracking provides possibility for direct inquiry for a specific trademark application or registration by use of the trademark application or registration number or international trademark registration number.
Most used search criteria are trademark name, applicant name and Nice classes.
If you want to view all types of trademarks, you can leave the trademark type selection blank, which is the default search option preferred by most users, unless you need to conduct a targeted search for a particular type of trademark.
Trademark name searches can be conducted using "contains," "starts with," or "equal" search criteria, but fuzzy search is not an available option. It's only possible to search for word marks and not logos or devices. If you need to search for logos or devices, you can use various fee-based trademark databases that are primarily utilized by Turkish trademark attorneys or agents.
Another important criterion for conducting a trademark search is the applicant search, which allows you to search for trademarks held or applied for by a specific applicant or holder using the "starts with" or "equal" options.
If you want to conduct a search within specific Nice classes, you can select the "Selected Classes" option and enter the class numbers, separated by a space. For single-digit classes, you should include a leading zero (e.g., use "01" instead of "1").
Once you have entered your search criteria, you will be presented with a list of trademarks on your screen.
You can click on the red button "Details" of each list item, which prompts a pop-screen, and thereby view the trademark's always-kept-up-to-date details (trademark extract page), i.e. Turkish trademark application number and date, Turkish trademark registration number and date, international registration number (for designations through Madrid System), publication date, classes, list of goods and services, Turkish trademark attorney or agent (not viewable unless trademark application published), applicant's name and address (not viewable unless trademark application published), and status history of the trademark.
If you have a Turkish trademark application or registration number on hand and would like to directly inquire about that trademark, you can directly click on the File Tracking tab instead of Trademark Search tab and do the search on that tab. The same details are available on the File Tracking Search tab as fetched on the trademark search tab.
When you are viewing the details of a specific trademark on the trademark extract page, the status history is provided in Turkish only (at least on the date of this article), whereas you can use machine translation to understand the content of the trademark status details, or contact a Turkish trademark attorney (agent ) for more details since the status information can be a bit complicated in some cases and need to be explained in details.