What Is Industrial Design Registration?
A design is the appearance of all or part of a product resulting from features such as its lines, contours, shape, colors, materials, texture or ornamentation.
Design registration protects the external appearance of a product and the visual impression it creates, rather than its technical features.
Furniture, packaging, textiles, machine parts, jewelry, lighting, electronic device housings, graphic symbols, typographic characters and many other products may qualify for design protection.
Registration with the Turkish Patent and Trademark Office gives the design owner important rights against unauthorized use by others within the defined scope of protection.
Long-Term Design Protection
A registered design is initially protected for five years. Protection can be renewed in five-year periods for a total of up to 25 years.
Registered and Unregistered Designs
Registration is not the only route to design protection. Designs first made available to the public in Türkiye may also qualify for unregistered design protection under certain conditions.
Registered designs offer longer-term, register-based protection, so timely filing matters for original designs with commercial value.
Why Register a Design?
Creating a new product takes time, ideas, development work and investment. Copies or similar products appearing after launch can undermine the design owner’s commercial advantage.
Design registration provides a strong basis for protecting an original product appearance and managing its commercial value with greater confidence.
It helps the owner enforce their rights if a registered design is made, offered for sale or used commercially without authorization.
An original design can distinguish a company’s products from competitors and add to its brand value.
Registered design rights can be assigned or licensed to third parties under agreed terms.
After the initial five-year term, renewals can extend design protection for a total of up to 25 years.
Public disclosure can affect the filing strategy. Assessing protection options before a product is offered for sale or promoted is a prudent approach.
Industrial Design Registration with Marka Patents
At Marka Patents, we support the preparation of your application, review of images, selection of product name and class, filing with TÜRKPATENT and monitoring of post-registration matters.
Before filing, we assess the design and your protection goals to develop an appropriate application strategy.
Requirements for Design Protection
To qualify for design protection, a design must meet the requirements set out in the law, especially novelty and individual character.
Novelty
An identical design must not have been made available to the public anywhere in the world before the filing date or, where applicable, the priority date.
Designs differing only in immaterial details may be considered identical.
Individual Character
The overall impression a design creates on the informed user must differ from that of designs previously made available to the public.
The assessment considers the design’s overall impression, rather than a single detail in isolation.
Which Appearance Features Can Be Protected?
Designs That May Fall Outside Protection
Designs that do not meet the definition of a design or product, lack novelty or individual character, or conflict with public order or morality may be excluded from protection.
Protection may also be unavailable for features whose appearance is solely dictated by the product’s technical function.
Design Registration Process
Initial Assessment
We assess the design’s appearance, the type of product and the intended scope of the application.
Preparing the Images
We prepare visual representations that clearly show the design for which protection is sought.
Determining the Product and Class
We identify the product incorporating the design and prepare the appropriate details under the Locarno Classification.
Application to TÜRKPATENT
The design application is filed electronically with the required information and images.
Examination
TÜRKPATENT assesses the application against formal requirements and the relevant protection criteria.
Publication and Registration
An eligible design is published, and once registration procedures are completed it is entered in the register.
Documents Required for Design Registration
The details required for a design application depend on its nature and any priority claim or multiple-design request.
A standard design application generally requires the following information and materials.
Visual representations that show the design for which protection is sought clearly and accurately.
The name, business name, address and necessary contact details of the individual or legal entity applying.
An appropriate description of the product incorporating or bearing the design.
The required information about the person or people who created the design.
The information required for the electronic design application.
Official fees based on the type of application and number of designs.
If priority is claimed, the necessary priority document and, where required, a Turkish translation.
The applicant may choose to include an explanatory description of the design.
The scope of protection is closely linked to the visual representations submitted. Preparing them carefully before filing is essential.
Multiple-Design Application
Where the requirements are met, an applicant may seek protection for several designs in a single application. This is known as a multiple-design application.
Deferred Publication
If a product is not yet ready for launch, publication of its design may be deferred for a specified period. A request for deferred publication must be made when filing.
Design Registration Renewal
A registered design is initially protected for five years. It must be renewed at the end of each five-year period to maintain protection.
Renewals can extend a registered design’s protection for a total of up to 25 years.
Share your design images and product details with us, and we’ll plan the next steps for filing and registration together.
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