Trademark Squatting in Türkiye and How to Fight It

Discovering that the mark you have used for years was registered months earlier by someone else is a common scenario in Türkiye — often a distributor, a former employee, a supplier, or a professional squatter who systematically registers foreign brands. Turkish law treats such filings as made in bad faith, which is a ground for both opposition and invalidation.

Indicators of bad faith

• The applicant knew of your use — through a distribution, agency, supply or employment relationship.
• An offer to sell, license or assign the mark followed the filing.
• The applicant has never used the mark and shows no preparation to do so.
• The same party holds many well-known signs across unrelated sectors.
• The filing followed news of your planned entry into the Turkish market.

Agent and representative filings

The most frequent pattern is a Turkish distributor registering a foreign principal’s mark in its own name. Turkish law addresses this specifically: a filing made by a commercial agent or representative without the proprietor’s consent is refused on opposition and can be invalidated. Showing the relationship is often enough, which makes this an easier route than general bad faith.

Foreign brands entering through a distributor should therefore include express clauses prohibiting registration and requiring assignment of any existing filings.

Prior use rights

Even without a registration, genuine use predating the application can defeat it. Everything turns on dated evidence: invoices, web archives, domain registration dates, advertising records, dated correspondence and trade fair documentation.

Do not wait five years

Bad faith is an exception to the acquiescence bar, but relying on that exception is risky because bad faith is hard to prove. Act as soon as you become aware of the later mark.

See our articles on invalidation and well-known marks, or contact us about a squatted mark.

General information only, not legal advice.