Challenging a Registered Design in Türkiye

The Office examines novelty when registering a design, but that examination cannot survey every design in the world. It is therefore entirely possible for a product already on the market to be registered by someone else. The response has two stages: opposition, then invalidation.

The three-month opposition window

Accepted designs are published in the Bulletin, and third parties may oppose within three months of publication — a different period from the two months that applies to trademarks. Grounds include lack of novelty or individual character, failure to qualify as a design or product, and disputes over entitlement.

Everything turns on dates

To show a design is not new, you must prove the same design was made available to the public before the filing date. Dated catalogues and price lists, trade fair records, e-commerce listing histories, web archives, and production or supply documents carry the argument — and none of them can be manufactured after the fact.

If the window has closed

Invalidation before the courts remains available but is slower and more expensive, and in the meantime the registrant can assert the design against you and seek to stop your sales. That is why the opposition window matters beyond its cost.

If your own registration is challenged

• Show that any pre-filing disclosure was your own and fell within the twelve-month grace period.
• Produce design process records: sketches, dated file versions, designer correspondence.
• Test whether the date of the earlier design relied on can actually be proven.
• Argue the designer’s limited freedom where the field is technically constrained.

See our article on design registration, or contact us.

General information only, not legal advice.