Industrial Design Registration in Türkiye

Industrial design protects the appearance of a product — its shape, contours, lines, colours, texture and material. It is not a name protection but a product-form protection. It is critical for Kayseri OSB furniture manufacturers because copied designs cause heavy financial losses.

§1 What it protects, what it does not

Protects: furniture form, packaging artwork, typographic design, surface patterns on a product, the sole of a shoe, a phone casing, a chair frame design…

Does not protect: the product's technical function (within patent scope), its brand name (trademark scope), creative content (copyright scope).

§2 Locarno classification

Designs are classified internationally under the Locarno system (different from the Nice classification used for trademarks). There are 32 main classes and 200+ subclasses. Furniture sits in class 06, packaging in class 09, textile products in class 02.

§3 Filing process

1. Image preparation — product photographs or drawings from 7 angles (front, back, sides, top, bottom, perspective)
2. Locarno classification — at Asil we determine the correct class
3. EPATS filing — fee paid, filing date secured
4. Formal examination — response to any deficiency notice (1 month)
5. Novelty examination — TÜRKPATENT review (~3 months)
6. Bulletin publication — 3-month opposition window
7. Registration certificate — issued; 5-year protection begins

Total: 6–9 months.

§4 Renewal

Renewable in 5-year periods up to 5 times → maximum 25 years' protection. Unlike a patent's 20-year cap.

§5 Anonymised case

A furniture maker in Mimarsinan OSB did not register a new chair-frame design. 18 months later an İstanbul manufacturer placed the same frame on the market. The client was not working with us; we took on the file later. Within the Court of Cassation's prior-use case law, partial prior-use rights were preserved, but the process took 24 months and a major damages claim. Had the design been registered on time, the process would have lasted 2 months and the competitor would have been stopped by a preliminary injunction.

— Salih Aksebzeci, from a 2023–2025 file (anonymised)

§6 State support

Under the Turkish Ministry of Trade's Design Support programme, design work can receive funding for consulting, design-studio services and prototyping.

§7 FAQ

Does each view of the product require a separate registration? · What happens if I choose the wrong Locarno class? · Should I file trademark + design together? · How do I protect abroad (Hague system)? · What are my rights when a design right is infringed? · Why should design registration be a priority in Kayseri OSB?

Sources

1. SMK No. 6769 arts. 55-72 (designs)
2. Locarno Classification Agreement
3. Turkish Ministry of Trade — Design Support Communiqué

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Author: Salih Aksebzeci · TÜRKPATENT Agent Registry No. 188 · Last updated: 2026-05-14