Criterias for a trademark registration in Turkey ? Following signs shall not be registered as a trademark:

a) signs which do not conform with the provisions of Article (meanly not having a distinctive character)
b) trademarks identical or confusingly similar with a trademark registered earlier or with an earlier filing date for registration in respect of an identical or same type of product or services,
c) trademarks which consist exclusively of signs or indications which serve in trade to indicate the kind, characteristics, quality, intended purpose, value, geographical origin, or designate the time of production of the goods or of rendering of the service or other characteristics of goods or services,
d) trademarks which consist exclusively of signs and names used to distinguish specific groups of craftsmen, professionals or tradesmen or have become customary in the current and established practices of the trade,
e) signs containing the shape of the product which results from the nature of the good, which is necessary to obtain a technical result or which gives substantial value to the good,
f) Trademarks which are of such a nature as to deceive the public, such as to the nature, quality, place of production or geographical origin of the goods and services,
g) Trademarks which have not been authorized by the competent authorities and are to be refused pursuant to Article 6 of the Paris Convention,
h) trademarks containing badges, emblems or escutcheons other than those covered by Article 6 of the Paris Convention which have not been authorized by the competent authorities and are of particular historical and cultural public interest,
i) Well known marks according to 6 of the Paris Convention, use of which are not permitted by their owners,
j) trademarks which contain religious symbols,
k) trademarks which are contrary to public policy and to accepted principles of morality.

The provisions of (a), © & and (d) can not be invoked to refuse the registration of a trademark which has been used before the registration and has acquired through this usage distinctive character in respect of the goods and services for which it is to be registered. At the beginning of 1999, Turkey become also member to Madrid Protocol. International applications can be made and accepted via Madrid Protocol.