Article 19
(1) The Office shall request the applicant to submit his observations concerning the oppositions within the prescribed period. The Office, if it considers necessary, may request the parties to submit additional information and documentation. If observations or requested additional information and documents are not submitted to the Office within the prescribed period, the opposition shall be examined in accordance with the existing information and documents.
(2) Regarding oppositions filed in the scope of the first paragraph of Article 6, provided that the trademark, which is the ground for opposition, has been registered for at least five years at the date of application or date of priority of the application for which the opposition is filed, upon the request of the applicant, it shall be requested from the opponent to submit evidence proving that he had genuinely used his trademark on the goods and services relating to the opposition during the five-years period before the date of application or the date of priority of the latter application or whether he has a proper reason for not using his trademark during that period. In case the opponent fails to prove the aforesaid, opposition shall be refused. If it is proven that the trademark, which is the ground for opposition, has been used only for some of the goods or services which are covered by registration, then the opposition shall be examined taking into account the goods or services whose use is proven.
(3) As a result of the examination, if it is concluded that the trademark should not be registered for some or all of the goods or services for which application is filed, the application shall be refused concerning these goods or services. Otherwise, the refusal of the opposition shall be decided.
(4) The Office, if it considers necessary, may encourage the parties for reconciliation.
For matters related to the friendly settlement, the provisions of Turkish Mediation Act on Civil Disputes dated 7/6/2012 numbered 6325 shall be applied.
(5) Procedure and rules relating to the opposition against publication shall be determined by regulation.