Turkish State Support for Foreign Trademark Registration

Registering a trademark abroad is expensive: every office charges its own fees, most require a local attorney, and the bill multiplies with each country. Türkiye operates a state support scheme that refunds a substantial share of that cost, and it remains surprisingly under-used.

The legal basis is Decision No. 5973 on Export Supports. Article 4, “Foreign Trademark Registration Support”, covers the expenses companies incur registering and protecting abroad the marks they already hold in Türkiye.

Rate: 50% base, higher in target markets

The base rate is 50% of the expenditure. Registrations in countries on the Ministry’s target list attract a 20 point uplift, and a further 5 points apply where the applicant also falls within a target sector — so up to three quarters of the spend can be recovered. Because those lists are revised periodically, the choice of jurisdiction is a financial question as much as a commercial one.

What is covered

• Official filing fees charged by foreign offices.
• Fees of foreign attorneys and agents.
• Expenditure on protecting the mark abroad, including renewals.
• Fees relating to international applications under the Madrid Protocol.

The decisive condition: a Turkish registration first

Support is available for marks that already hold a domestic registration certificate. Spending on a mark that is not registered in Türkiye falls outside the scheme. In practice this dictates the sequence — secure the Turkish right first, then file abroad. Companies that reverse the order forfeit the benefit without realising it.

Applying: a six-month window

Applications are made through the Support Management System (DYS) to the exporters’ association the company belongs to, within six months of the date on the payment document. Miss that window and the entitlement for that expenditure lapses.

Annual caps are re-indexed every January

The support is capped per company per year, and the cap is revised at the start of each calendar year by the average of the consumer and domestic producer price indices. Figures quoted in older articles are therefore always out of date; check the current limits table published by the Ministry of Trade.

See the official page for the decision and current circulars, and our comparison of the Madrid, EUTM and national routes.

We plan filing programmes around the support calendar — get in touch.

General information only; not legal, tax or incentive advice. Rates, caps and target lists are revised by the Ministry of Trade — always work from the decision and circular in force.