Design: twelve-month disclosure exception

Türkiye: practical decision and evidence

For Turkish design protection, examine the twelve-month disclosure exception against the actual disclosure date, person and circumstances. Retain dated catalogues and launch records. Do not treat this exception as a safe worldwide filing strategy; other countries can apply different rules.

Worked file: a designer launched a catalogue before filing and proposes foreign protection. Record the first public date, who authorised it and each target country. Ask whether the Turkish exception applies to this disclosure and separately check foreign law before copying the Turkish answer abroad.

Design protection conditions

Design protection depends on novelty and individual character, considering the informed user’s overall impression and the designer’s freedom. Compare dated earlier appearances. Mere novelty in a product name does not establish a protectable appearance.

Confidentiality before patent filing

Before patent filing, control public presentations, offers, websites and disclosures to partners. Keep a dated disclosure chronology and signed confidentiality terms. A later confidentiality agreement cannot erase an earlier public disclosure; investigate the applicable country rules before relying on an exception.

Deferring design publication

Design publication deferment is a filing-stage confidentiality choice subject to the applicable maximum period and office conditions. Schedule the eventual disclosure and required fees. Deferment does not extend the protection term or erase disclosure that already occurred elsewhere.

Official filing and support

This guidance concerns Turkish rights unless a section expressly names another jurisdiction. Kayra can coordinate research, document preparation and follow-up. Registration, opposition and grant decisions belong to the competent office. Verify any required representative’s registration and authority before appointing them; court proceedings require appropriately qualified legal representation. The enquiry form requests consultancy, and does not itself file an official application.

Primary official sources

• TÜRKPATENT — Design applications and procedures
• WIPO Lex — Türkiye — Industrial Property Law No.6769
• TÜRKPATENT / ePATS — Official electronic application system
• TÜRKPATENT — Patent and utility-model procedures