Within the scope of the “Regulation Amending the Regulation on the Implementation of the Industrial Property Code,” published in the Official Gazette dated 15 March 2025 and numbered 32842, the procedures related to the authority to cancel trademarks — which was transferred to the Turkish Patent and Trademark Office (TÜRKPATENT) on 10 January 2024 — have been clarified.
Key aspects of the administrative cancellation procedure are as follows:
• A separate request must be filed for each individual trademark.
• The goods/services subject to cancellation must be clearly specified.
• The owners of the trademarks subject to cancellation must prove genuine and serious use of the mark in Türkiye in relation to the specified goods/services.
• The cancellation request fee to be paid at the time of filing consists of two components: the official TÜRKPATENT processing fee and a deposit fee. Both are collected in a single payment.
• The deposit fee shall be refunded (upon request within 10 years of final decision of TÜRKPATENT) under the following conditions:
- If the request is entirely accepted, the fee is paid to the requester;
- If the request is entirely rejected, the fee is paid to the trademark owner;
- In case of a partial acceptance, no refund is made to either party.
• The cancellation request may be withdrawn before TÜRKPATENT issues a decision. In such cases, the deposit fee held in escrow is refunded to the requester upon request. With the publication of this regulation, administrative cancellation procedures have been clarified. TÜRKPATENT, which began accepting cancellation applications in the middle of 2024, is expected to commence substantive examination of cancellation applications in the near future.
