E-commerce leads way in trademark registrations

Investment trends of entrepreneurs and small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) guiding the Turkish economy are rapidly moving toward virtual environment. Turkish Patent Institute's (TPE) latest data indicate that "e-commerce" led the way in trademark registrations with 159,926 applications.

Intellectual property rights managed by decrees since 1995 will have its own law for the first time. Parliament is expected to enact the Intellectual Property Law in October. Accordingly, Destek Patent conducted a study to see the table of Turkey's branding journey from 1995 to 2016. According to Turkish Patent Institute's 18-year "trademark registration" figures, the sector that desired branding the most became advertising and e-commerce during this period with 159,926 applications, followed by electronic devices with 77,358 and inner and outer clothing with 74,066 registrations.

Interpreting the figures, Destek Patent Chairman Kemal Yamankaradeniz said the interest in trademarks keeps gradually increasing. "Therefore, both the procedures will speed up with a legislation offering better security for local and foreign investors to protect their brands, patents and designs," he said.

Highest number of applications from Istanbul

There were a total of 619,412 brands registered between 1995 and 2016, of which 323,595 applications were made from Istanbul, followed by Ankara with 45,954 applications, İzmir with 37,940, Bursa with 26,704 and Antalya with 14,984 applications. The least number of applications were made in Bayburt with only 53 trademark registrations.