Trademark Registration Process

What the trademark registration process is

The trademark registration process records the name, logo, or symbol a business uses to identify its products or services in the registry. The process puts the mark under legal protection and prevents unauthorized use by others.

Trademark registration has legal requirements. In Turkey, trademark registration runs through TÜRKPATENT (the Turkish Patent and Trademark Office). The application process covers similarity review, suitability assessment, and any legal opposition procedures. Those stages guarantee that brand owners operate within the legal framework without infringing others' rights.

Steps in the trademark registration process

The first important step before filing is prior search. That step matters because it identifies whether the mark you want to register is already on the registry. Prior search assesses the distinctiveness of the mark and catches potential legal problems early, saving time and cost before filing.

The trademark application can be filed directly through EPATS or through an attorney firm. When filling out the application form, detailed information about the use, type, and class of the mark has to be provided.

Applications prepared completely and in line with the law and the regulations
are processed by the office from the date, hour, and minute of filing

2. Formal examination

To confirm registration in line with the law, TÜRKPATENT first examines the application formally. If the formal examination flags any deficiency, the applicant is given two months to fix the deficiencies and errors. Applications where the deficiency is not fixed within that period lapse under the regulations, or the office continues processing without considering the pending request.

2.1. Absolute grounds for refusal

After the formal examination, the trademark application is examined by TPE experts in terms of the goods and services covered. This review is conducted under absolute grounds for refusal. Absolute grounds summarize as follows: they require rejection of signs that cannot be trademarks. Under Article 4 of the Industrial Property Code, a sign must meet three basic conditions to be a trademark:

1. It must be a sign.
2. It must have the abstract capacity to distinguish an enterprise's goods or services from those of other enterprises.
3. It must be capable of representation in the register in a way that allows the subject of the protection granted to the owner to be understood clearly and precisely.

If any of the absolute grounds apply, the application is rejected in full or in part for the goods and services covered.

Against decisions of the office, brand owners can file a written, reasoned objection directly or through an attorney firm within two months of notice of the decision.
Objections filed with the office are reviewed by the Re-Examination and Evaluation Board (YIDD)
.

2.2. What partial refusal is

During the similarity phase of the examination, the experts look at the requested goods or services class. If one or more of the goods, services, or sub-items in the class for which the mark is filed is found similar to a registered mark, those classes or items are removed and the rest is published. That decision is called a partial refusal.

3. Publication in the official bulletin (Official Gazette)

If the experts approve the trademark registration, it is published in the Official Gazette and the bulletin.
Within 2 months of publication, interested parties can file objections against the registration. The scope and subject of the objection can include various legal grounds based on the existing trademark registration.

An objection can be filed on the grounds that a similar application to the objector's mark has been filed and that there is a risk of confusion from the consumer’s perspective. In that case, the applicant prepares a response to the objection, providing evidence that the objector seriously used the objection-basis mark in Turkey within the five years before the application date for the goods or services cited, or justifiable reasons for not using it. If the experts find the response compelling, the objection is rejected.

Another path is for the office to invite the parties to conciliation during its review of the objection, under the provisions of Mediation in Legal Disputes Law No. 6325.

4. Completing the registration fee

When everything goes smoothly, TÜRKPATENT approves the trademark registration. The REGISTRATION COMPLETION FEE the office requests is paid, and the registration closes.

5. Trademark registration certificate

After the application is filed, a formal examination is run. Applications filed completely, or whose deficiencies are fixed, pass the examination. If no opposition is filed during the 2-month publication period in the official bulletin, or all oppositions are conclusively rejected, and the required registration completion fee is paid, the application is registered, entered in the registry, and the TRADEMARK REGISTRATION CERTIFICATEis delivered.

Sistem Patent provides professional support and advisory services for your trademark registration process. To put your mark under legal protection, get in touch with our expert team.