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CategoryTrademark
Published28 August 2026
Authors
Uğurcan TekinPartner
İnci ÖzçilsalAttorney at Law

Bad-Faith Trademark Filings in Türkiye: The True Owner's Toolkit

Turkish trademark law is built on the registration principle: as a rule, the right belongs to whoever registers first. That principle, however, was never meant to let the registration system be used contrary to good faith. Article 6/9 of the Industrial Property Code No. 6769 expressly provides that trademark applications filed in bad faith shall be refused upon opposition. Where registration has already taken place, the same ground supports an invalidity action under Article 25 of the Code.

Bad faith is not defined in the Code; it is assessed in each case on the totality of the circumstances at the filing date. Whether the applicant knew or should have known of the sign, the absence of any commercial logic behind the filing, and an intention to block or bargain rather than to use, are the principal factors weighed in the assessment.

The bad-faith assessment examines the totality of the circumstances at the filing date.

Typical Patterns

In practice, bad-faith filings appear in a few familiar shapes. The first is the pre-emptive registration of marks used abroad but not yet registered in Türkiye. The second is registration, by a party to a distributorship, dealership or similar business relationship, of the mark it came to know through that relationship. Article 6/2 of the Code provides a dedicated opposition ground here: where a commercial agent or representative seeks to register the mark in its own name without the proprietor's consent, the proprietor may oppose. The third pattern consists of stockpiling applications filed with no intention to use, aimed at selling the mark back to the true owner or blocking its market entry.

The True-Owner Opposition

A bad-faith claim is usually raised together with a claim of true ownership. Under Article 6/3 of the Code, a person who acquired rights in the sign before the filing date may oppose the later application. A party that has made the sign distinctive and known in the market through unregistered use is protected even without a registration of its own. Success on this ground depends on proving the earlier use with dated evidence.

“The registration principle is not a rule of first come, first served; it is a rule of honest come, first served.”

If the Opposition Window Is Missed: Invalidity

Where the opposition period has been missed and the bad-faith application has matured into a registration, the true owner still holds the invalidity action. In invalidity proceedings, loss of rights through acquiescence can normally arise: a proprietor who has knowingly tolerated the use of a later mark for five consecutive years may no longer invoke its own mark as a ground of invalidity. The Code, however, attaches a critical exception: where the later registration was obtained in bad faith, the acquiescence period does not run, and invalidity may be sought at any time. In this respect, bad faith is a defect that even time cannot cure.

A Protection Strategy

The cheapest way to fight bad-faith filings is not to become their target. Businesses planning to enter the Turkish market should complete their trademark filings before actual entry; distributorship and similar agreements should contain express prohibitions on registering the mark; and the trademark bulletin should be watched systematically so that similar applications are opposed in time. In portfolios without bulletin watch, bad-faith filings are usually noticed only after registration, which multiplies the cost of the fight.

Key Principles

  • Applications filed in bad faith are refused upon opposition; once registered, they are subject to invalidity actions.
  • Bad faith is assessed on the totality of the circumstances at the filing date.
  • The proprietor has a dedicated opposition ground against unauthorised filings by its commercial agent or representative.
  • A true owner who acquired rights in the sign before the filing date may oppose the later application.
  • The five-year acquiescence period does not run against bad-faith registrations.
  • Bulletin watch and contractual safeguards are the most effective protection against bad-faith filings.

Devin Patent provides attorney services for trademark bulletin watch and opposition proceedings. Invalidity actions based on bad faith are handled by our partner firm, Devin Law & IP.

Sources

  • Industrial Property Code No. 6769, Articles 6 and 25 (mevzuat.gov.tr)
  • Turkish Patent and Trademark Office, guidelines on opposition proceedings (turkpatent.gov.tr)
Related practice areaIndustrial Property Law→

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