Design Registration: Novelty and Public Disclosure Dates

The date and circumstances of a product's first public disclosure can affect design protection. A catalogue, exhibition, sales listing or social media post may be relevant. Recording these events before preparing a design application helps identify risks that a visually attractive set of application images cannot resolve on its own.

What is assessed?

Design protection concerns the appearance of a product or part of it, including shape, lines, colour and texture. Novelty and individual character are central requirements. The overall impression on the informed user matters; a small difference in one detail does not automatically establish a protectable design. Features dictated solely by technical function require separate consideration.

Understand disclosure exceptions carefully

Turkish law provides a twelve-month exception for certain disclosures originating from the designer or related circumstances. Its application depends on the facts, the source of disclosure and the dates. It should not be assumed that the same exception applies in every foreign market. Filing before launch remains a useful precaution when an international strategy is being considered.

Build a disclosure timeline

Keep the first catalogue, exhibition records, invoices, website publications and dated social posts. Preserve originals and explain which version of the product appeared at each event. Compare this history with the applicant, designer and ownership documents. A professional review can then consider the relevant exceptions and available filing routes.

Prepare consistent images

Show the same appearance from clear, consistent views and distinguish visual choices from technical necessities. Registered Turkish designs can be renewed in five-year periods up to twenty-five years. Unregistered design protection involves different conditions and should be assessed separately. Özgel Patent assists with the images, disclosure history and filing preparation, without treating a preliminary search as a guaranteed registration or litigation result.

Prepared by Özgel Patent · Content reviewed: 3 November 2026. Official reference and current information. This is general information; current requirements and the facts of each file need individual assessment.