Design Renewal in Türkiye

Term and renewal

Protection lasts five years from the filing date and is renewed for further five-year periods, up to 25 years in total. The renewal is requested in the six months before the term ends; if that is missed, it can still be requested within the following six months with an additional fee.

Multiple registrations

Where one registration covers several designs, each can be renewed separately, so you pay only for the designs you still use.

International registrations

A Hague international registration designating Türkiye is renewed centrally at WIPO. We keep both kinds of renewal in one calendar.

Why keep a design in force

A design registration lets the owner act against products that use the protected design without permission. Infringement is a civil matter decided by the specialised Intellectual and Industrial Property Rights Civil Courts, and a registration in force can also support an application to customs to suspend the release of imitations at the border. Licences and distribution agreements may rely on the registration too, so a lapse can affect more than one business relationship. Each renewal is therefore a decision about the products, markets and agreements that still depend on the design.

Points to check before renewing

• The owner's name and address on the register. If the company has changed its name, moved or sold the design, the change should be recorded at TÜRKPATENT; we can file the recordal together with the renewal.
• Which designs in a multiple registration still matter for your products, licences or any dispute.
• Whether the same design is also covered by a Hague international registration, which is renewed separately at WIPO.
• Which term the registration is in, since protection cannot go beyond 25 years from the filing date.

The cost depends on the number of registrations and of designs renewed in each, whether the renewal falls in the six-month period with its additional fee, and whether a recordal is filed at the same time. Official and professional fees are quoted separately in writing before we file.

A worked example

For example, imagine a lighting manufacturer that registered six lamp designs in one multiple registration in Türkiye almost five years ago and now sells only three of them. We send a reminder before the renewal window opens and check the register. The registration still shows the company's old address, so we prepare the recordal of the new address.

The manufacturer decides to renew the three designs it still sells and to let the other three lapse. It confirms this instruction in writing, and we check the deadline and the design numbers before filing. We file the renewal for those three designs in the six months before the term ends, pay the official fee and file the recordal. Once TÜRKPATENT confirms the new term, we send the confirmation and enter the next renewal date in the calendar. The three designs that were not renewed lapse at the end of the current term.

When protection ends

If neither the renewal window nor the six-month period after it is used, the registration lapses and no longer protects the design. A lapsed design cannot simply be filed again as new: it has already been published, and disclosure before filing can destroy novelty. If a deadline has passed, contact us at once so we can check what can still be done.

After 25 years from the filing date, no further renewal is possible. If the product is still important to your business, we can review with you whether another right may apply, for example copyright where the product is also a work, or a trademark where its appearance itself distinguishes your goods. The answer depends on the individual case.

Legal basis

Industrial Property Law No. 6769 (SMK), Book Three (designs).