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Eight service areas covering the full life of an industrial property right: searches and filing strategy, prosecution before TÜRKPATENT, international registration through Madrid, the PCT, the Hague System and EUIPO, watch and renewal programmes, recordals, domain names and geographical indications.

Court proceedings and advisory work: Devin Law & IP →

01TrademarksA trademark file is decided long before a dispute begins: in the class list, in the wording of goods and services, in the evidence kept from the first day of use.

Trademarks

A trademark file is decided long before a dispute begins: in the class list, in the wording of goods and services, in the evidence kept from the first day of use. We handle searches, filings and oppositions before TÜRKPATENT with a team trained in law, so that every choice made during registration still holds when the mark is later challenged or relied upon.

Most trademark problems are visible before filing. A proper clearance search reads the register the way an examiner and an opponent will read it: not only identical marks, but earlier applications, series marks, marks with a reputation, and trade names in the same commercial field. We report what we find with an assessment of risk rather than a list of hits, and we say plainly when a mark should be adjusted, split into several applications, or abandoned in favour of a stronger sign.

The list of goods and services is drafted with the future dispute in mind. Wording that looks convenient at filing can later defeat a claim of use, invite a non-use defence, or narrow the scope of protection exactly where the business earns its revenue. We build the Nice specification around what the client actually sells and intends to sell, keeping the core activity in unambiguous terms and avoiding class padding that produces registrations impossible to defend five years later.

Refusals and oppositions are answered with reasoning, not with form letters. An absolute ground objection is met by showing how the sign is perceived in its own sector; a relative ground opposition turns on the overall impression, the distance between the goods, and the evidence of use the other side can actually produce. Petitions to the YİDK are written the way a court submission is prepared, with the settled case law behind each argument, because the same file may later be read by a judge.

After registration the work continues: renewals, recordals of assignment and licence, watch services, proof of use files kept current, and consent letters or coexistence terms negotiated where two undertakings can live side by side. Where a matter has to leave the register and go to court, invalidity and revocation actions, infringement and damages claims, or the annulment of a YİDK decision, it is conducted by our law firm Devin Law & IP at devinlaw.com.tr, and we hand over a file that is already evidenced.

Strategy at this stage decides how much the registration will be worth later. We look at the sign, the market it will be used in and the earlier rights already on the register, then set the classes, the wording and the filing route together rather than one after the other. A file built this way costs less to defend and is far harder to attack.

Availability Searches
  • Identity and similarity searches across the TÜRKPATENT register and pending applications
  • Screening of trade names, domain names and unregistered signs in the same sector
  • Assessment of earlier marks with a reputation beyond their registered classes
  • Review of series marks and defensive filings held by the same proprietor
  • Written risk opinion ranking each obstacle as high, moderate or manageable
  • Search reports for EUIPO, WIPO and selected national registers before export
  • Recommendations on redesigning or splitting the sign where the risk is real
Class & Specification Strategy
  • Nice classification mapped to the actual and the planned commercial activity
  • Wording drafted so that proof of use will be possible later
  • Avoidance of class padding that cannot survive a later non-use defence
  • Separate filings where different product lines carry different risk profiles
  • Coverage for retail, distribution and online services alongside the goods themselves
  • Terminology checked against office practice on unclear or overbroad terms
  • Priority claims and exhibition priority calculated against the filing calendar
Filing Programmes
  • National applications before TÜRKPATENT with complete supporting documents attached
  • Madrid Protocol applications built on a stable and defensible basic mark
  • EUIPO filings and direct national filings compared on cost and risk
  • Multiple applications and series filings organised under one portfolio plan
  • Budget and deadline calendar covering the whole filing programme for the year
  • Collective and certification marks filed with their technical regulations prepared
  • Power of attorney, priority documents and translations handled end to end
Search before the design is finalA search run while the sign can still be changed is worth more than one run after packaging is printed. We prefer to see two or three candidate marks early and to tell the client which of them can realistically be cleared.
Descriptive elements and disclaimersSigns built on descriptive words may pass examination and still fail to stop competitors. We identify which element of the mark actually carries distinctiveness, and we say when a figurative version protects far less than the client assumes it does.
Domestic filing or Madrid routeThe choice depends on the number of countries, the stability of the basic mark and the local opposition practice. A central attack on the basic registration can bring down the whole international registration, so we test that risk before the route is fixed.
Evidence kept from day oneInvoices, catalogues, dated advertisements and sales figures are simple to collect while they are current and almost impossible to reconstruct five years later. We set up a use file at filing so the proof exists before anyone asks for it.

Prosecution is where a file is either strengthened or quietly weakened. Deadlines before TÜRKPATENT are short and largely unforgiving, and a response written in general terms rarely moves an examiner. We answer each ground on its own facts, keep the evidence file complete as the case develops, and tell the client early what the realistic outcome is.

Examination & Office Actions
  • Responses to absolute grounds objections supported by market and sector evidence
  • Arguments on acquired distinctiveness built from sales, advertising and survey material
  • Limitation or division of the application where that saves the core classes
  • Formal deficiency notices answered within the statutory period without loss of rights
  • Correspondence with the examiner documented and reported to the client in writing
  • Publication checked against the filed specification before the opposition period opens
  • Reinstatement requests where a deadline was missed for a justified reason
Oppositions
  • Watch reports reviewed weekly so no publication passes the two month window
  • Oppositions grounded on likelihood of confusion, reputation, bad faith or prior use
  • Evidence files assembled with dated invoices, catalogues and advertising material
  • Counter statements answering the opponent point by point rather than in general terms
  • Requests for proof of use where the earlier mark is over five years old
  • Settlement talks and withdrawal terms explored before the costs escalate further
  • Decisions read against comparable office practice and reported with the next steps
YİDK Appeals
  • Appeals prepared with the reasoning of the contested decision addressed directly
  • Submissions supported by settled Court of Cassation and office precedent
  • New evidence introduced where the procedure at that stage still permits it
  • Assessment of the prospects of success before the appeal fee is committed
  • Coordination with parallel oppositions and applications in the same mark family
  • Board decisions analysed for their effect on the wider portfolio and strategy
  • Clear advice on when the register stage is exhausted and litigation follows
Absolute grounds are not automaticAn objection based on descriptiveness is decided by how the relevant public in that sector reads the sign, not by a dictionary. Evidence of how the term is actually used in the trade often changes the result more than argument does.
The non-use defence cuts both waysAn opponent relying on a registration older than five years can be asked to prove use, and often cannot prove it for every class claimed. The same request will one day be made against our client, which is why the use file is kept from the start.
Bad faith needs factsAllegations of bad faith fail when they rest on suspicion alone. Prior dealings, a broken distribution relationship, a pattern of filings covering marks belonging to others, or timing that cannot be explained commercially are what make the ground succeed.
Where the register stage endsA YİDK decision closes the administrative route. Annulment of that decision, together with invalidity, revocation and infringement claims, is court work carried out by Devin Law & IP at devinlaw.com.tr, and we transfer the file with the full record already organised.

A registration is not a finished result but a right that has to be kept in condition. Renewals fall due, ownership changes, the way a mark is used drifts away from the way it was registered, and neighbouring rights appear. We keep the register accurate, the evidence current, and the client informed before each deadline rather than after it.

Renewals & Recordals
  • Renewal calendar maintained for every mark with early reminders to the client
  • Assignments, mergers and name changes recorded promptly in the register
  • Licence recordals drafted so the licensee position is clear on the file
  • Pledges and security interests entered where financing arrangements require them
  • Address and representative changes kept current across all national offices
  • Portfolio reports showing status, deadlines and cost for each mark family
  • Pruning of marks no longer used so the portfolio remains defensible
Proof of Use
  • Use evidence collected annually rather than reconstructed under deadline pressure
  • Invoices, catalogues, packaging and dated advertising indexed class by class
  • Assessment of whether use as made matches the mark as registered
  • Guidance on altered forms that still count as use of the mark
  • Coverage checked class by class so gaps are found before the other side does
  • Sales and market data prepared for reputation and well known status claims
  • Recommendations to refile where the sign used in the market has drifted
Coexistence & Consent
  • Consent letters drafted with clear limits on goods, territory and presentation
  • Coexistence terms negotiated where two undertakings genuinely operate apart
  • Assessment of whether consent solves the objection or only postpones it
  • Prior rights holders approached discreetly before an opposition is filed
  • Withdrawal, limitation and delimitation agreements documented for the register
  • Group company arrangements structured so internal marks do not conflict
  • Follow up so the agreed limits are honoured in later filings too
Renewal is not only a paymentA renewal is a good moment to review whether the classes still match the business, whether unused classes invite a revocation claim, and whether new activities have grown outside the specification and now need a fresh application of their own.
Recordals decide who can actAn assignment that never reached the register leaves the new owner unable to renew, to oppose, or to act against an infringer without first proving title. Recording the change when it happens costs little; proving it years later costs a great deal.
Consent is a commercial instrumentA consent letter can unlock a refusal, but a loosely drafted one hands a competitor room in the same market for good. We set out the goods, the territory and the manner of use precisely, and we advise when consent should not be given at all.
When the mark is copiedWatch notices, marketplace takedown requests and customs recordals are handled here. If the matter has to become an infringement action, a damages claim or a criminal complaint, it is taken forward by Devin Law & IP at devinlaw.com.tr, with the record we have kept.

Insights on this area

TrademarkProof of Use in Turkish Trademark Oppositions: The Five-Year Test28 August 2026TrademarkTrademark Licence Agreements under Turkish Law: Exclusive and Non-Exclusive Licences Compared28 August 2026TrademarkBad-Faith Trademark Filings in Türkiye: The True Owner's Toolkit28 August 2026TrademarkProtection of Well-Known Trademarks in Türkiye: When Does Protection Cross Class Boundaries?28 August 2026TrademarkTrade Name versus Trademark in Türkiye: Two Registries, One Market28 August 2026E-Commerce & IPTrademark Protection on E-Commerce Platforms: From Complaint Mechanisms to the Power of Registration28 August 2026