Every April 26, World Intellectual Property Day serves as more than a calendar note. It is a reminder of why the value created through human intellect, effort, and creativity deserves protection. The 2026 theme, ‘IP and Sports: Ready, Set, Innovate!’, highlights how deeply the world of sports is intertwined with the broader IP ecosystem, from patents on performance equipment to trademark protection for team identities and copyright over broadcast rights.
This article was written to answer the questions most commonly asked about intellectual property. It is intended as a reference for those new to the subject and for those already navigating a dispute in this space.
What Is Intellectual Property?
Intellectual property refers to the full set of legal rights a person or organization holds over products created through their mental effort. Just as a land registry protects physical property, IP rights protect intangible creations: inventions, brands, works of authorship, and designs.
The foundation of IP law rests on a single question: how can an idea, a design, or an invention be protected? The answer depends on what type of right is involved.
Types of Intellectual Property
Patent
A patent grants its holder an exclusive right over a new and industrially applicable invention. During the protection period, the patent owner can prevent others from using, manufacturing, or selling the invention without authorization. In Turkey, patent applications are filed with the Turkish Patent and Trademark Office (TURKPATENT). The protection term is 20 years from the filing date.
One important clarification: there is no such thing as a world patent. A separate application is required in each country where protection is sought. However, the PCT (Patent Cooperation Treaty) system simplifies the process by allowing a single application to cover multiple jurisdictions simultaneously.
Trademark
A trademark is any sign that distinguishes the goods or services of one business from those of others. Words, shapes, color combinations, sounds, and even scents can be registered as trademarks. In Turkey, trademark registration is handled by TURKPATENT. Protection lasts 10 years and is renewable indefinitely. Unregistered marks can also receive protection under certain conditions, but the burden of proof is significantly higher than for registered marks.
Copyright
Copyright arises automatically at the moment a work is created; no registration is required. In Turkey, Law No. 5846 on Intellectual and Artistic Works (FSEK) protects books, musical compositions, films, software, photographs, and architectural works. Protection lasts for the lifetime of the author and 70 years after their death.
Design
Design rights protect the appearance of a product: its shape, color, texture, and form. They are divided into registered and unregistered designs. In Turkey, registered designs can be protected in five-year increments for a total of up to 25 years.
Geographical Indication
Geographical indications protect the link between a product and its place of origin. Turkey has become one of the leading countries in geographical indication registrations in recent years. Antep pistachios, Maras ice cream, and Bursa chestnuts are among the well-known examples.
Trade Secret
Any information that is not publicly known, gives a business a competitive advantage, and for which reasonable steps have been taken to maintain secrecy can qualify as a trade secret. Formulas, customer lists, and manufacturing processes are common examples. Trade secrets require no registration; what they require is active maintenance of confidentiality.
IP Law in Turkey: Key Legislation
In Turkey, intellectual property is governed by two separate legislative frameworks. Patents, trademarks, designs, utility models, and geographical indications fall under the Industrial Property Law No. 6769 (SMK). Copyright is protected under Law No. 5846 on Intellectual and Artistic Works (FSEK).
Turkey is party to the majority of international IP agreements, including the TRIPS Agreement, the Paris Convention, the Berne Convention, and the PCT. This means that rights obtained in Turkey are recognized internationally, and foreign rights can be enforced in Turkey under the applicable frameworks.
How to Obtain Intellectual Property Rights
Rights That Require Registration
Patent, trademark, and design protection all require an application to TURKPATENT. The process involves a formal examination, a substantive examination, and a publication stage. Applications can now be submitted digitally through integration with Turkey’s e-government platform.
For international protection, different mechanisms apply depending on the type of right. The Madrid System covers trademarks, the PCT covers patents, and the Hague System covers designs. Turkey participates in all three.
Rights That Do Not Require Registration
Copyright and trade secrets do not require registration. Copyright arises at the moment of creation. For this reason, establishing a documented record of authorship, particularly for digital content, is important for evidentiary purposes in the event of a dispute.
What Constitutes an IP Infringement?
IP infringement occurs when a protected element is used, copied, manufactured, or commercialized without the rights holder’s permission. Common forms of infringement include:
- Manufacturing or selling counterfeit products (trademark infringement)
- Unauthorized reproduction, broadcast, or distribution (copyright infringement)
- Manufacturing or selling a patented invention without authorization
- Violation of software license agreements
- Domain name theft and cybersquatting
Infringement is not always straightforward to establish. In digital content, software, and trademark similarity cases, the line between ‘infringement’ and ‘inspiration’ frequently becomes the subject of serious legal dispute.
What Can Be Done in an IP Dispute?
Cease and Desist Letter and Interim Injunction
When an infringement is identified, the first step is typically sending a formal cease and desist letter to the other party. This serves both as official notice and as an important document for any subsequent legal proceedings. In urgent situations, a court can be asked to grant an interim injunction, temporarily halting the infringing activity while the matter is resolved.
Litigation
In Turkey, IP disputes are heard by specialized Intellectual and Industrial Property Courts. Claims for damages, injunctions against continued infringement, and the seizure of infringing products can all be pursued through litigation. Criminal sanctions may also apply in certain cases.
Litigation carries significant costs. Cases can last for years. By the time a final ruling is reached, the parties and their commercial relationships have often sustained lasting damage, reputational harm has spread through the industry, and the market dynamics that gave the dispute its original significance have frequently shifted beyond recognition.
Alternative Dispute Resolution: Why It Is Increasingly Chosen
The 2025 figures from the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center tell a striking story: the Center administered 1,461 IP disputes in 2025, a 70 percent increase over the previous year. Copyright and digital content accounted for 71 percent of cases; trademarks for 23 percent.
This growth is not coincidental. IP disputes are particularly well suited to alternative resolution methods, because most of them arise within long-term commercial relationships where confidentiality is essential and the relationship itself has value worth preserving.
The advantages that mediation and Med-Arb offer over litigation can be summarized as follows:
- Confidentiality: Court proceedings are public. Trade secrets, licensing terms, and business strategies can enter the public record. In mediation, nothing discussed leaves the room.
- Speed: IP cases are known to take years in court. In an environment where technology cycles run 12 to 18 months, the relevant product or technology has often been superseded by the time a judgment is handed down.
- Expertise: In mediation and Med-Arb, a neutral with specialized IP knowledge can be appointed. In court, a judge with deep expertise in IP law is not guaranteed.
- Preserving the relationship: In licensing disputes, joint R&D projects, or long-term supply relationships, parties often want to continue working together after resolving a disagreement. Litigation rarely makes this possible.
- Creative outcomes: A court can only order compensation or prohibition. Mediation opens the door to solutions the parties shape themselves: licensing arrangements, revenue sharing, co-use agreements, and others.
The WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center: How Many People Know It Exists?
The WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center (WIPO AMC), operating within the World Intellectual Property Organization, is one of the world’s leading institutions specializing in the international resolution of IP disputes. Since 1994, it has been involved in over 5,200 disputes.
The WIPO AMC offers mediation, arbitration, expedited arbitration, and expert determination. It is particularly valuable in disputes where the parties come from different countries, providing a neutral forum that neither side can claim as home territory.
WIPO also operates a dedicated mechanism for domain name disputes: the UDRP (Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy). In 2024, trademark holders from 133 countries used this mechanism. Turkish is among the ten languages in which WIPO domain name proceedings are conducted.
Artificial Intelligence and Intellectual Property: The New Questions Everyone Is Asking
Who owns the content produced by artificial intelligence? This has become one of the most actively debated questions in IP law today.
Can AI-Generated Works Be Protected by Copyright?
Under current legal frameworks, copyright requires the presence of human creativity. Content generated solely by AI cannot claim copyright protection in most jurisdictions. However, works produced through collaboration between a human and an AI tool remain a contested area, and the law has not yet settled on a consistent approach.
Does Training AI on Copyrighted Material Constitute Infringement?
The use of copyright-protected works to train large language models and image generation systems has already given rise to dozens of cases worldwide. Courts are reaching different conclusions; no standard has emerged. This is one of the areas of legal uncertainty where mediation and Med-Arb are particularly well positioned to offer resolution without waiting for the law to catch up.
Who Owns Content a Employee Creates Using AI?
The vast majority of employment contracts have not yet addressed this question. Establishing clear policies and contract provisions around AI-assisted production has become an urgent priority for employers and employees alike.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does IP registration take?
Trademark registration in Turkey takes an average of 12 to 18 months. For patents, the process can extend to two to four years. Opposition proceedings and additional examinations can lengthen the total timeline. For international applications, the timeframes vary significantly depending on the jurisdiction and the type of right.
Can an unregistered trademark be protected?
Yes, under certain conditions. If a trademark has been used extensively and continuously in the market despite not being registered, a use-based claim may be possible. However, the burden of proof is substantially higher than for a registered mark. Registration should therefore always be the first choice.
Is a trademark I registered abroad valid in Turkey?
No. Under the principle of territoriality, IP rights are valid only in the country or region where registration was obtained. To secure protection in Turkey, a separate application must be filed with TURKPATENT, or Turkey must be designated through an international application under the Madrid System.
Someone has copied my trademark. What can I do?
The first step is a formal cease and desist letter that documents the situation and gives official notice to the other party. An opposition proceeding can then be initiated before TURKPATENT, or an application can be made to the courts. Alternatively, the parties may be able to reach a faster and more confidential resolution through mediation. The most appropriate path depends on the nature of the dispute and the relationship between the parties.
Is mediation mandatory in IP disputes?
Turkish law does not impose mandatory mediation for IP disputes in the same way it does for certain commercial and employment matters. However, parties can make mediation mandatory through their contracts. Voluntary mediation is always available and in many situations proves to be the most effective path to resolution.
Why is IP critical for startups?
A startup’s most valuable assets are often intellectual rather than physical: source code, algorithms, brand identity, design language. Leaving these unprotected weakens investor confidence and creates space for competitors to enter the market with similar products. In acquisition and investment processes, an IP portfolio is assessed during due diligence and directly affects valuation.
Intellectual Property and ADRIstanbul
IP disputes are technically complex, require strict confidentiality, and frequently put long-term business relationships at risk. These characteristics, taken together, make mediation and facilitation a compelling alternative to litigation.
At ADRIstanbul, we support parties in IP-related conflicts including licensing disputes, trademark use disagreements, software copyright matters, and disputes arising from joint R&D projects. We provide structured negotiation and mediation services tailored to the specific dynamics of each case.
If you would like to understand which method is best suited to your dispute, you can request a preliminary assessment.
References
WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center. (2026). WIPO ADR Highlights 2025. wipo.int/amc.
WIPO. (2026). World IP Day 2026: IP and Sports, Ready, Set, Innovate. wipo.int.
TURKPATENT. (2026). Turkish Patent and Trademark Office Annual Data. turkpatent.gov.tr.
Industrial Property Law No. 6769. mevzuat.gov.tr.
Law No. 5846 on Intellectual and Artistic Works. mevzuat.gov.tr.
WIPO. (2025). World Intellectual Property Indicators 2025. wipo.int.
European Commission IP Helpdesk. (2026). WIPO ADR Highlights 2025. intellectual-property-helpdesk.ec.europa.eu.
Global Arbitration Review. (2024). Recent Trends in WIPO Arbitration and Mediation. globalarbitrationreview.com.
