Intellectual property is the structural backbone of every modern technology, brand, and creative business — and the architecture under which IP is created, owned, protected, monetized, and defended determines whether innovation produces durable economic value or evaporates at the first competitive challenge. Vircon Legal advises founders, growth-stage operators, and corporate groups on the full IP lifecycle: from clean ownership at inception through enforcement at maturity and commercialization at exit.
Our IP practice covers:
- Patent strategy and prosecution. Filing strategy, prior-art assessment, claim drafting, and international portfolio management for both software and hardware-driven inventions, including coordination with foreign patent counsel.
- Trademark portfolio management. Clearance searches, multi-jurisdictional filings, opposition and cancellation proceedings, brand-enforcement campaigns, and Madrid Protocol coordination across target markets.
- Copyright and design rights. Authorship assignments, license structures, work-for-hire frameworks, and industrial design registrations — particularly relevant for SaaS products and consumer brands.
- Software IP and open-source compliance. Source code ownership, contributor agreements, SPDX inventory, dual-licensing strategies — integrates closely with our SaaS & IT Contracts practice.
- Trade secrets and confidential information. NDA frameworks, employee invention assignment, departing-employee protocols, and trade-secret protection programs.
- IP in M&A and financing transactions. Diligence, representations & warranties, IP carve-outs, and licensing structures — coordinated with our M&A and fund teams.
- AI and training data IP. Output ownership, training data licensing, generative AI commercial frameworks — see AI & Algorithm Law.
- Enforcement and dispute resolution. Cease-and-desist campaigns, customs interventions, civil and criminal IP enforcement, and platform takedown procedures.
For founders preparing fundraising rounds, IP cleanliness is one of the first items on every investor’s VC Due Diligence Checklist. We work with portfolio companies of leading venture funds and corporate venture units across Türkiye, the US, and Europe — ensuring that IP holdings are both defensible and commercially flexible. Our glossary covers core IP terminology used in these workflows.
Other Practice Areas
Frequently Asked Questions
How do we protect software IP in Türkiye?
Source code is protected automatically as a literary work under the copyright statute (FSEK) — no registration needed, though optional registration helps evidence. Patents cover software only where there is a technical effect beyond the program as such. In practice the strongest protection stack is copyright plus trade-secret discipline plus airtight assignment agreements.
Should we register a trademark before launch?
Yes — Türkiye is first-to-file, so a later applicant can block the brand you built. File in the right Nice classes before going public, consider the Madrid system for international coverage, and run a clearance search first: oppositions and re-branding after launch cost far more than filing early.
Who owns inventions made by employees?
Service inventions belong to the employer if claimed properly under Industrial Property Code procedures, with compensation rights for the inventor. Contractor and freelancer work does not transfer automatically — written assignment is essential. University and TÜBİTAK-funded projects carry their own ownership rules, so funded startups should check grant terms early.