Documents Required to Register a Trademark in Turkey: Power of Attorney and Formalities
An ordinary Turkish trademark filing needs no notarisation, no apostille and no certificate of incorporation. A simple signed power of attorney sent as a scan, the applicant's exact legal name and address, an image of the mark and a list of goods and services are enough to file the same day. Formalities appear later and only for specific acts: withdrawal of an application or an opposition, partial renewal and assignment recordals require a notarised power of attorney or notarised underlying documents. This guide sets out exactly what is needed at each stage, including priority documents and Madrid Protocol designations.
Short answer: to file an ordinary trademark application in Türkiye you need very little. There is no notarisation, no apostille and no consular legalisation for the power of attorney, no certificate of incorporation, no specimen of the goods and no evidence of use. A simple power of attorney signed by an authorised signatory, sent as a scan, together with the applicant's exact name and address, a clean image of the mark and a list of goods or services, is enough to file the same day. Formalities only appear later, and only for particular acts: withdrawal of an application, withdrawal of an opposition, partial renewal and assignment recordals do require a notarised power of attorney or notarised underlying documents.
English language sources contradict each other badly on this point, some saying an apostilled power of attorney is mandatory and others that no power of attorney is needed at all. Both are describing part of the picture. The rule is that the filing itself is formality light and specific later acts are not, and the table below sets out which is which.
What TÜRKPATENT Actually Needs in Order to File
| Item | Required? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Applicant's full legal name and address | Yes | Exactly as it appears in the company register. This becomes the register entry. |
| Nationality, and tax or registration number where available | Yes | Foreign applicants are identified by their home jurisdiction details. |
| Representation of the mark | Yes | A clean image file for figurative marks; plain text for word marks. Colour claims must be deliberate. |
| List of goods and services with Nice classes | Yes | See our guide to the Nice Classification. The list defines the scope of the right. |
| Power of attorney, simple signature | Yes, for foreign applicants | Scan accepted. No notary, no apostille, no legalisation. |
| Notarised or apostilled power of attorney | No | Not for an ordinary application. Required for specific later acts, see below. |
| Certificate of incorporation or extract from the commercial register | No | Not part of a trademark filing. |
| Evidence of use, specimens, samples | No | Türkiye is a first to file system. Use matters later, not at filing. |
| Home registration or base mark | No | Only relevant if you file through the Madrid Protocol instead. |
| Certified priority document | If priority is claimed | Filed shortly after the application. See below. |
Nothing in that list needs to leave your office in paper form. A filing can be prepared and submitted electronically on the day the instructions arrive, which matters in a first to file country where an intervening application by a third party takes priority over yours.
The Power of Attorney: What It Must Contain
The document is short and there is no prescribed international form, but four things need to be right.
- The principal's name exactly as it will appear on the application. A power of attorney in the trading name and an application in the registered company name is the most common formality objection we see.
- The attorney's identification. Name and TÜRKPATENT register number of the trademark attorney appointed.
- The scope of authority. A general authority to act in trademark matters before TÜRKPATENT covers filing, prosecution, responses, oppositions and renewals. Certain acts need to be named expressly, which is the point of the next section.
- A signature by someone entitled to bind the company, with their name and position printed underneath. Nobody asks for a board resolution, but an unreadable signature with no printed name creates avoidable friction.
A power of attorney already on file with TÜRKPATENT, if it covers the act in question, does not have to be filed again; a reference to the earlier document is sufficient. For a portfolio owner filing several marks in a year, one properly drafted power of attorney at the start of the relationship can serve the whole portfolio.
When a Notarised Power of Attorney Is Required
This is the part of the answer that gets lost. Under Article 124(4) of the Regulation implementing Law No. 6769, certain acts require the attorney to produce the original or an officially certified copy of a power of attorney that expressly confers that specific authority. These are acts that give up a right, so the Office wants formal proof that the client really authorised them.
| Act | Formality |
|---|---|
| Filing an application, responding to office actions, filing or answering an opposition, appealing to the Board, full renewal | Simple signed power of attorney, scan accepted |
| Withdrawing an application or surrendering a registration | Notarised power of attorney, or certified copy, expressly conferring the authority |
| Withdrawing an opposition already filed | Notarised power of attorney, or certified copy, expressly conferring the authority |
| Partial renewal, dropping some goods or services | Express authority for partial renewal in the power of attorney |
| Recording an assignment | Assignment agreement executed before a notary; recordal fee payable |
| Recording a licence or a pledge | Written agreement, formalities depending on the transaction; recordal fee payable |
The assignment point catches groups mid restructuring. A trademark assignment must be executed before a Turkish notary to be valid; an ordinary signed transfer agreement between two companies abroad, however carefully drafted, will not by itself move a Turkish registration on the register. That the transfer must be explicit is not a technicality either, as our case note on a business transfer that did not expressly assign the trademark shows: the claim failed because the right had never moved.
The practical drafting answer is to put the express authorities into the power of attorney at the start of the relationship, so that a withdrawal or a partial renewal three years later is not held up while a notarised document is prepared under deadline.
Claiming Priority
If you filed the same mark for the same goods in another Paris Convention or WTO member within the previous six months, you can claim that earlier date in Türkiye. The claim is made at filing, and the certified priority document from the office of first filing has to be submitted within the short period set by the Law, three months from the Turkish application date. Miss the document deadline and the priority claim falls away, leaving the application with its actual filing date.
Priority is worth real money in a first to file country. What is at stake is set out in our guides to the right of priority and, in a decision where the margin was literally a single day, this case on filing dates.
Madrid Protocol Designations
If you reach Türkiye by designating it in an international registration, WIPO handles the paperwork and there is nothing to file locally at the outset. A Turkish attorney becomes necessary the moment the designation runs into something: a provisional refusal, an opposition, or a request for a limitation. At that point Article 160 applies as it does to any foreign party, and a power of attorney is needed for the local act. The trade offs between designating Türkiye and filing directly are set out in our guide to the Madrid Protocol and Türkiye, and if you hold an EU trademark, note that it does not extend to Türkiye at all, as explained in EUTM versus a Turkish trademark.
Get the Name and Address Right the First Time
Two entries on the register do more work than anyone expects: the applicant's exact legal name and the address for service. The name determines who owns the right and whether a later assignment is even necessary. The address determines where TÜRKPATENT's notifications go, and Turkish trademark deadlines are counted from notification, not from receipt.
- Use the registered legal name, including the company form, not the brand or the trading style.
- Record changes of name, address and mergers promptly. A registration standing in the name of a company that no longer exists complicates renewal, enforcement and any transaction.
- Keep one attorney of record who actually watches the file. Service on the attorney counts as service on the client, so an attorney of record who is a stranger to you means notifications that reach nobody.
Language, Signatures and Practicalities
- The procedure is conducted in Turkish. Your attorney prepares the filing; you do not need Turkish language documents. Supporting evidence in other languages may need translation when it is submitted in contested proceedings.
- The list of goods and services must be in Turkish and drawn from accepted terminology. A literal translation of a home country specification is a frequent source of objections.
- Scanned signatures are accepted for the simple power of attorney. Originals are requested only where the Office considers them necessary or where the act requires notarisation.
- There is no filing window to wait for. Applications can be submitted electronically on any working day, and the filing date is what counts.
A Checklist to Send Your Client
For law firms instructing us on behalf of a client, this is the whole request, and it usually comes back in one email.
- Applicant's exact legal name, address and country, as registered.
- Mark: word mark text, or a high resolution image file for a figurative mark, and whether colour is claimed.
- Goods and services, with your home specification as the starting point.
- Any earlier filing you want to claim priority from, with country, number and date.
- Signed power of attorney, returned as a scan.
Everything else, classification into Turkish accepted terms, the availability search, the filing and the deadline diary, sits on our side. Our page for law firms sets out how we work as a correspondent, and the process from filing to registration is described in our guide on how to register a trademark in Türkiye. Whether you need a Turkish attorney at all is answered in our guide on when the law requires one.
Working With Elçi Patent
Elçi Patent is run by Hakan Elçi, a trademark attorney entered on the TÜRKPATENT register under number 2732. We act for foreign brand owners and for overseas law firms: clearance searches, filing, prosecution, oppositions and Board appeals, renewals and recordals, and coordination with Turkish litigation counsel when a matter reaches the courts. We correspond in English and handle the Turkish language procedure end to end.
Need our power of attorney form?
Ask and we will send the form, drafted with the express authorities that avoid notarisation problems later, together with a fixed fee quote. WhatsApp +90 507 404 35 24, telephone +90 216 606 56 58, or use the contact form. TÜRKPATENT attorney registration number 2732.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does a power of attorney for a Turkish trademark application need to be notarised or apostilled?
No. For an ordinary trademark application a simple power of attorney signed by an authorised signatory is sufficient, and a scanned copy is accepted. Notarisation, apostille and consular legalisation are not required to file. They become relevant only for particular later acts, such as withdrawing an application or an opposition, partial renewal and assignment recordals.
What documents do I need to register a trademark in Turkey?
The applicant's exact legal name and address, a representation of the mark, a list of goods and services with their Nice classes, and, for a foreign applicant, a simple signed power of attorney. No certificate of incorporation, no evidence of use and no specimens are required, and everything can be submitted electronically.
Which acts before TÜRKPATENT require a notarised power of attorney?
Under Article 124(4) of the Regulation implementing Law No. 6769, acts such as withdrawing an application or a registration and withdrawing an opposition require the original or an officially certified copy of a power of attorney that expressly confers that authority. Partial renewal requires express authority, and an assignment must be executed before a notary to be valid.
Do I need a Turkish company or address to own a Turkish trademark?
No. A foreign company can own a Turkish trademark in its own name without a branch, subsidiary or office in Türkiye. What it does need is a Turkish trademark attorney as its representative, because Article 160 of Law No. 6769 requires parties without a domicile in Türkiye to act through an attorney on the TÜRKPATENT register.
How long do I have to file the priority document?
The priority claim itself is made when the Turkish application is filed, within six months of the first foreign filing, and the certified priority document must be submitted within three months of the Turkish application date. If it is not filed in time, the priority claim is lost and the application keeps its actual filing date.
Can I use one power of attorney for several trademarks?
Yes. A general power of attorney covering trademark matters before TÜRKPATENT can serve an entire portfolio, and where a suitable document is already on file it does not need to be resubmitted, a reference to it is enough. It is worth including the express authorities for withdrawal and partial renewal at the outset.
Does the trademark application have to be in Turkish?
The procedure is conducted in Turkish and the list of goods and services must be filed in Turkish using accepted terminology, but you do not need to provide Turkish documents. Your attorney prepares the filing from your English instructions. Evidence in contested proceedings may require translation.
Do I need a power of attorney for a Madrid Protocol designation of Turkey?
Not at the outset, because WIPO transmits the designation and no local filing act is needed. A power of attorney becomes necessary when a local act is required, for example when responding to a provisional refusal, defending an opposition or requesting a limitation.
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