Background & Partners

Revised April 2006



Celal Derviş Deriş opened his general practice law office in Istanbul in 1912. Principally operating in trade related matters, including trademarks, with the passing years, the office became more and more active within the IP sector. Ethem Derviş Deriş (Celal's son), specializing in unfair competition and industrial property fields, further expanded the practice after World War II. Alongside the law office, which continued to provide all legal services including litigation and contractual matters, Deriş Patents and Trademarks Agency was established by Mr. Ethem Derviş Deriş in 1959 to provide the full range of agency and representation services for Industrial Property.

M.N. Aydin Deriş graduated from the University of Geneva, Faculty of Law in June 1968 and joined the firm in July 1971. Benefiting from the experience of the firm and his father, M.N. Aydin Deriş actively served foreign and Turkish clients as legal counsel for matters involving litigations and court proceedings, as well as for matters involving the establishment, licensing and follow-up of industrial/intellectual property rights in Turkey and abroad. Since the early 1980’s, he has been an active member of many commissions engaged in the preparation of the new legislation for patents, trademarks, designs, and geographical indications.

Deriş has evolved from a small practice of five employees and two lawyers into a group of 59 that includes eightattorneys-at-law, fourteen chartered trademark, patent and design agents among which eight are European patent attorneys and three legal counsels. Even with a growing staff, we still emphasize teamwork and collaboration, both internally and in fostering client relationships.

N. Serra Coral and Kerim Yardimci, the niece and nephew of M.N. Aydin Deriş continue the family tradition of commitment to IP into a 4th generation. N. Serra Coral graduated from the Faculty of Law at the University of Geneva, joined the firm in 1994, and has been active in trademarks, patents, opposition and litigation matters. Kerim Yardımcı, joined the firm in 2002, having graduated with a double major in Business Administration and Law from the University of Geneva.