Intellectual and Industrial Property Law

The matters we handle within the framework of the Industrial Property Law No. 6769 and the Law on Intellectual and Artistic Works No. 5846:

• Trademark applications, registration procedures and oppositions before the Turkish Patent and Trademark Office
• Actions for the invalidity and revocation of trademarks, including revocation for non-use
• Patent and utility model applications and invalidity actions
• Design registration and protection of unregistered designs
• Copyright, authorship and enforcement of economic and moral rights
• Geographical indications and traditional product names
• Licence, assignment and technology transfer agreements
• Software licences and arrangements for the protection of source code
• Protection of trade secrets and know-how, and confidentiality agreements
• Domain name disputes and actions against bad-faith registrations
• Actions for ascertainment, prohibition, removal and compensation due to infringement
• Criminal proceedings concerning intellectual and industrial property rights
• Requests for interim injunctions, preservation of evidence and customs seizure
• Arrangements concerning service inventions and employee inventions

In our work in this field, the provisions of the Industrial Property Law No. 6769 and the Law on Intellectual and Artistic Works No. 5846 are taken into account. Not only the resulting product is examined, but also who developed it, when it was made available to the public, the classes and scope of registration, how use can be proved and the contracts between the parties.

In trademark matters, we provide legal support in interpreting trademark searches, preparing the list of goods and services according to the actual business plan, checking trade names and domain names, and in oppositions before the Turkish Patent and Trademark Office. An application that is too narrow may leave gaps in protection as the business expands, while one covering classes that will not be used may later face a non-use defence.

For designs, patents and utility models, the type of protection is assessed before a product is exhibited at a trade fair, published online, presented to investors or placed on the market, as this may affect the novelty assessment and the filing strategy. We conduct proceedings concerning design infringement, invalidity, ownership of inventions, joint development projects, employee inventions and the confidentiality of technical information; where technical filings or specifications are required, coordination with authorised patent attorneys may be arranged.

Within the scope of copyright, we advise on authorship, the transfer and licensing of economic rights, and publishing, translation, adaptation, production and digital use contracts. Payment to a designer, agency or software developer does not necessarily mean that all economic rights have been transferred automatically and without limitation; the rights covered, the term, territory and media, modification rights and sublicensing should each be set out.

We also prepare and review licence, assignment, franchise, co-branding, joint development, confidentiality and technology cooperation agreements, as well as software development, SaaS, API, maintenance and integration contracts, in light of the commercial model. Exclusivity, territory and term, quality control, minimum sales obligations, registration and renewal costs, the handling of infringement claims and the position on termination are among the matters addressed.

Among the disputes most frequently encountered in intellectual and industrial property law are trademark infringement and unfair competition claims arising from the use of identical or similar signs on products, packaging, advertising, websites, marketplaces or social media accounts. Not every similar use constitutes infringement; the scope of registration, the nature of the sign, the relationship between the goods and services, likelihood of confusion, prior use, exhaustion and descriptive use are assessed.

Requests for revocation based on non-use or other grounds under the Industrial Property Law and actions for the invalidity of a trademark are not the same legal route; whether a request is directed to the Turkish Patent and Trademark Office or to the court depends on the nature of the dispute. In design disputes, the overall impression on the informed user is examined, while in patent and utility model files the scope of the claims, the technical features and the prior art are decisive.

In software projects, a common source of dispute is the confusion between ownership of the delivered product and the usage rights granted to the customer. Disputes also arise where a former employee takes source code or customer information, where licence limits are exceeded or where rights are claimed over a jointly developed product; in such cases, digital evidence must be preserved unaltered and the technical examination conducted with the right questions.

Online infringements, such as the registration of a trademark as a domain name or social media username by a third party, fake accounts, imitation websites or the use of a mark in competitors' advertising, may engage trademark, trade name, personality rights and unfair competition provisions at the same time. Since online content can be changed quickly, a screenshot alone is not always sufficient, and URLs, dates, account holders, sales links and payment channels should be properly preserved.

The process begins with an examination that looks beyond the registration certificate or the allegedly infringing image. The legal nature of the intellectual asset to be protected is determined, registration and use records are researched, and the origin of the right, actual ownership, the chain of contracts and the likely defences of the other party are assessed together.

Where an infringement is identified, prompt action is important; however, a formal notice sent without examining its basis, or an overly broad request for interim measures, may give rise to a damages claim by the other party. Registration certificates, contracts, use records, product samples, invoices, the creation dates of design and software files and online records are reviewed to determine whether the infringement falls within the scope of protection and which request would be proportionate.

Before an action is brought, it may be necessary to purchase product samples, arrange a notarial or expert determination, preserve internet records, notify marketplaces and identify sales channels. Formal notice, administrative application, negotiation, interim injunction, preservation of evidence, product recall and litigation are compared, and a criminal complaint is considered only for acts defined as offences by law, after ownership, the elements of the offence, the complaint period and the evidence have been examined.

In compensation claims, calculation methods such as the right holder's loss, the profit obtained by the infringer or a hypothetical licence fee are assessed according to the specific file. For a party facing an infringement allegation, the validity of the registration, the manner of use and whether the right holder's requests exceed the scope of protection are examined. On matters requiring technical expertise, coordination is established with trademark or patent attorneys and relevant specialists.

Throughout proceedings before the Turkish Patent and Trademark Office and the courts, deadlines, submissions, expert examinations and hearings are closely monitored. The client is regularly informed about the stages of the process, the possible risks and the legal remedies that may be pursued.