The designer or his legal successor in title (e.g. an assignee); the joint designers. The designer must be named in the application for registration. The designer is entitled to be mentioned as such in the publication of the registration and the priority documents, and any transfer or renunciation of this right will be null and void.

Foreigners may apply for and obtain protection if they are a national of or have their domicile or a real and effective industrial or commercial establishment in a Paris Convention member country, or if they have application rights resulting from the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works or from the Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization (WTO), or if they are a national of a State according legal or de facto protection to nationals of Turkey. Applicants not residing or established in Turkey must appoint a registered design agent in Turkey.

Employee’s designs: The rights to a design made by an employee in the performance of his duties belong to the employer (except if agreed upon otherwise in the employment contract or where this would follow from the nature of the work). Also will belong to the employer the rights to a design made where the making thereof was not required by the employment contract, but with the use of information and equipment available to the employee in the course of his work, but in such case the employee will be entitled to a remuneration the amount of which is to be established taking into consideration the merits and significance of the design; the amount of this remuneration is to be established by the Court in the absence of agreement of the parties thereon. In case of a design made under a service contract not being an employment contract, the rights to the design will belong to the client, except if the contract provides otherwise.

For designs made by teaching staff engaged in scientific work at the universities and schools, the right thereto will belong to the member of the staff concerned. If the educational institute concerned would have borne the costs of certain equipment and supplies, it must be informed when the design is exploited and the designer must on the institute’s request furnish information on the means of exploitation and the revenue acquired. The institute may then within three months claim an appropriate share in the revenue, provided its amount may not exceed the expenses incurred by the institute.

In case of a design owned by two or more persons jointly, each co-owner may use the design after having informed the other owners, and may take infringement action provided the other co-owners are informed within one month from start of the proceedings so as to enable them to take part therein. Licensing of the co-owned design is possible only with the approval of all co-owners (but, if justified by the circumstances, the Court may allow one of the co-owners to grant a licence). If a co-owner desires to transfer his share in the co-owned design to another party, the other co-owners shall have a purchase option; the transfer of the share shall be made by a written statement and recorded in the Register, whereafter the Patent Institute will within two months inform the other co-owners who may then within one month exercise their purchase option.