UZBEKISTAN · INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
Intellectual Property in Uzbekistan
Trade marks, patents and industrial designs in Uzbekistan are protected only once registered with the Ministry of Justice. Its state institution, the Intellectual Property Centre, carries out the examination. Copyright and software are protected from creation, without registration. Foreign applicants act through a patent attorney registered with the Ministry. Licences and assignments of patents and trade marks must be in writing and registered, or they are void (Civil Code, Articles 1088, 1089 and 1106). Uzbekistan is party to the Paris Convention, the PCT, the Madrid Protocol, the Hague Agreement and the Berne Convention, so foreign rights can be extended to Uzbekistan through the international systems.
This guide covers the legal framework, registration of trade marks and patents with fees and timelines, copyright and software, registration of licences, and enforcement in the courts and at the border. It is for foreign brand owners, technology companies and investors bringing intellectual property into an Uzbek business.
Legal Framework
| Instrument | Subject |
|---|---|
| Law No. 267-II of 30 August 2001 on Trade Marks, Service Marks and Appellations of Origin | Registration, term, use, licensing, non-use, fines |
| Law of 6 May 1994 on Inventions, Utility Models and Industrial Designs, restated by Law No. 397-II of 29 August 2002 | Patents, examination, terms, patent attorneys |
| Law No. ZRU-42 of 20 July 2006 on Copyright and Related Rights | Works, software as a work, terms, employee works |
| Law No. 1060-XII of 6 May 1994 on Legal Protection of Computer Programs and Databases | Software and databases, optional registration |
| Civil Code, Part Two, Section V (Articles 1031 to 1111) | Licence agreements, form and registration of transfers, remedies |
| Law No. ZRU-600 of 6 January 2020 on State Duty, annex, items 10 and 12 | Patent and trade mark fees |
| Customs Code approved by Law No. ZRU-400 of 20 January 2016, Chapter 56 | Border measures and the customs register |
| Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court No. 19 of 23 June 2023 | Court jurisdiction and remedies in IP cases |
The Ministry of Justice is the authorised body for trade marks and industrial property. It accepts applications, registers rights and contracts, keeps the state registers and publishes the official bulletin. Its state institution, the Intellectual Property Centre, examines applications. Appeals against examination decisions go to the Ministry's Appeals Council (Trade Marks Law, Articles 7 and 16; Inventions Law, Articles 3 and 4).
International Treaties
| Treaty | In force for Uzbekistan |
|---|---|
| Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property | 25 December 1991 |
| Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) | 25 December 1991 |
| Nice Agreement (classification of goods and services) | 12 January 2002 |
| Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works | 19 April 2005 |
| Patent Law Treaty | 19 July 2006 |
| Madrid Protocol (international registration of marks) | 27 December 2006 |
| WIPO Copyright Treaty and WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty | 17 July 2019 |
| Rome Convention (performers, phonograms, broadcasting) | 16 October 2024 |
| Hague Agreement (international registration of industrial designs) and Singapore Treaty on the Law of Trademarks | 10 January 2025 |
Dates are taken from WIPO's treaty records. Foreign legal entities and individuals have the same rights as Uzbek persons under the Trade Marks Law and the Inventions Law, or rights on the basis of reciprocity (Trade Marks Law, Article 36; Inventions Law, Article 37).
Trade Marks
Who files and how
The application is filed with the Ministry of Justice through the state information systems (Trade Marks Law, Article 8). Foreign legal entities and individuals living outside Uzbekistan must file and act through a patent attorney registered with the Ministry. A patent attorney must be an Uzbek citizen permanently resident in Uzbekistan (Article 34). A foreign owner can also designate Uzbekistan in an international registration under the Madrid Protocol.
Procedure and timeline
- Filing. The filing date is the date the Ministry receives the application. Within one working day, the Ministry posts the application on its website. Third parties may then submit written observations that the application is in bad faith (Article 8).
- Priority. Convention priority may be claimed for an application filed within six months of a first filing in a Paris Convention state. The claim is made with the application or within two months of filing (Article 12).
- Examination of the sign. The Intellectual Property Centre examines the sign within seven months of filing, but not earlier than six months. Where a search on registrability is carried out by agreement, the examination takes one month from the decision to accept the application (Article 15). In the ordinary course, therefore, a registration decision does not come earlier than six months after filing.
- Appeal. The applicant may appeal to the Appeals Council within three months of the decision, and then to a court within six months of the Council's decision (Article 16).
- Registration. The fees for registration, publication and the certificate are due within three months of the decision. Late payment within six months costs 50% more (Law No. ZRU-600, annex, item 12).
Term, use and loss of rights
A registration lasts ten years from the filing date. It can be renewed for ten years at a time on application in its last year, with a six-month grace period (Articles 21 and 22). Use includes use on goods and packaging, in advertising, on documents and in a domain name (Article 27). A court may end a registration on the application of any interested person if the mark has not been used continuously for the last three years (Article 25). A registration may be invalidated at any time if it was granted contrary to points 1 to 12 of Article 10, part one. On the grounds in points 13 and 14, it may be challenged only within five years of publication (Article 24). Since 8 August 2026, a court may also end a registration early, on an interested person's application, if the owning company is liquidated or an individual owner dies without heirs (Article 25, as amended by Law No. ZRU-1144 of 7 May 2026).
Patents and Industrial Designs
| Right | Term from filing | Extension |
|---|---|---|
| Invention patent | 20 years | Up to 5 years in the cases provided by law |
| Industrial design patent | 10 years | 5 years |
| Utility model patent | 5 years | 3 years |
Terms are set by Article 5 of the Inventions Law. Convention priority runs for twelve months for inventions and utility models and six months for industrial designs (Article 18). An invention application is published 18 months after filing (Article 21-1). Substantive examination of an invention is carried out only on request, which may be filed with the application or within three years. Otherwise the application is treated as withdrawn (Article 23). Appeals go to the Appeals Council within three months, and the Council's decision may be taken to a court within six months. Foreign applicants act through a registered patent attorney (Article 35). Maintenance fees have a six-month grace period on payment of an additional fee. If they remain unpaid, the patent lapses (Article 34).
Official Fees for Legal Entities
| Action | Fee in base calculation amounts (BCA) | UZS at 440,000 per BCA |
|---|---|---|
| Trade mark application and examination, one class | 6 | 2,640,000 |
| Each additional class | 1 | 440,000 |
| Registration, publication and certificate | 2.4 + 0.8 + 2.4 | 2,464,000 |
| Renewal, one class | 6 | 2,640,000 |
| Registration of a trade mark licence, one mark | 6 | 2,640,000 |
| Registration of a trade mark assignment, one mark | 20 | 8,800,000 |
| Invention patent application | 4 | 1,760,000 |
| Substantive examination, one invention | 12 | 5,280,000 |
Fees are set by the annex to Law No. ZRU-600, items 10 and 12, as amended to September 2026. The base calculation amount is UZS 440,000 from 1 September 2026. Individuals pay lower rates. Patent attorney fees are additional.
Copyright and Software
Copyright arises when a work is created, without registration or other formalities (Law No. ZRU-42, Article 10). Computer programs of all kinds, including source and object code, are protected works (Article 6). Copyright lasts for the author's life and 70 years after death (Article 35). Programs and databases may also be registered voluntarily in the state registers kept by the Ministry of Justice, after the Intellectual Property Centre checks the documents. Entries in the register are presumed accurate until the contrary is proved, but the right itself does not depend on registration (Law No. 1060-XII, Articles 4 and 9).
Ownership of code written by staff needs care. Under the Software Law, economic rights in a program or database created in the course of employment belong to the employer, unless the contract with the author says otherwise (Law No. 1060-XII, Article 8). The Copyright Law has a general rule for employee works. Exclusive rights belong to the employer unless the contract provides otherwise. But ten years after the work is made public, or earlier with the employer's consent, the author acquires in full the right to use the work and to receive remuneration, regardless of the contract with the employer (Law No. ZRU-42, Article 34). The Software Law contains no such rule, and the statutes do not say how the two fit together for code. Copyright contracts must be in writing (Article 42). Investors should take written assignments from employees and contractors and check the chain of title in any acquisition.
Residents of the IT Park have a separate tax regime. From 1 January 2028 to 1 January 2040, residents with exports above 50% of income are exempt from all taxes except VAT (Tax Code, Article 483). The regime is described on Investment Incentives and SEZs in Uzbekistan. It does not change who owns the code.
Licensing and Assignment
A licence agreement defines the rights granted, the scope and the term, and is presumed to be for payment. A licence is non-exclusive unless the contract says otherwise. Sublicences are possible only where the licence allows them (Civil Code, Article 1036). For patents and trade marks, assignments, licences and sublicences must be in writing and registered with the Ministry of Justice. Failure to meet either requirement makes the contract void (Civil Code, Articles 1088, 1089 and 1106; Trade Marks Law, Article 30). A trade mark licence must also require the licensee's goods to be of no lower quality than the licensor's, with the licensor controlling compliance (Article 30). An assignment is not allowed if it would mislead consumers about the goods or their maker. Appellations of origin cannot be assigned or licensed (Civil Code, Article 1109).
In practice, a royalty-bearing licence to an Uzbek subsidiary or distributor should be registered before payments begin. An unregistered licence gives the licensee no valid right and weakens the commercial basis for the payments. Tax on royalties paid abroad is covered on Withholding Tax and DTT in Uzbekistan.
Enforcement
Civil claims
Claims for infringement, disputes under licence and assignment agreements, damages and early termination of a trade mark registration go to the civil or economic courts. Disputes over employee works go to the civil courts (Plenum Resolution No. 19, paragraph 7). Instead of damages, a trade mark owner may claim compensation of 20 to 1,000 BCA, without proving loss. The court sets the amount by the nature of the infringement and the infringer's fault (Trade Marks Law, Article 26). Goods, labels and packaging bearing an infringing mark are counterfeit (Article 27). A patent owner may likewise claim compensation instead of damages (Civil Code, Article 1090).
Administrative fines
On the right holder's application, the justice bodies inspect and may fine a legal entity 100 to 200 BCA for unlawful use of a trade mark or appellation of origin. An infringer that pays 70% of the fine voluntarily is released from the rest (Trade Marks Law, Article 37-1). Claims to recover these fines go to the economic courts.
Customs
The right holder may apply electronically to enter its rights in the customs register of intellectual property for up to three years (Customs Code, Article 385). The customs authority decides within ten days (Article 386). When customs detects goods that may infringe a registered right, it notifies the holder within one working day. The holder must apply within one working day for the goods to be held (Article 382-1). For goods containing intellectual property that is not on the customs register, customs may suspend release on its own initiative for three working days, which the holder can extend to ten working days. To keep the goods held, the holder must provide a court ruling setting an infringement case for hearing and an undertaking to cover losses if no infringement is found (Article 382-2). Customs measures do not apply to goods for personal use, goods in transit, diplomatic goods or humanitarian aid (Article 383).
Common Mistakes Foreign Rights Holders Make
- Relying on registration abroad. Without a national filing or a Madrid or Hague designation, there is no trade mark or design protection in Uzbekistan.
- Licensing to a local company without registering the licence, which makes it void.
- Not requesting substantive examination of an invention within three years, so the application is treated as withdrawn.
- Letting a mark go unused for three years, which exposes it to a non-use action.
- Assuming staff code belongs to the company without written terms.
- Not using the customs register, so customs can act only on short time limits.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who registers trade marks and patents in Uzbekistan?
The Ministry of Justice. It receives applications, registers rights and contracts and issues certificates and patents. Its state institution, the Intellectual Property Centre, conducts the examination, and the Ministry's Appeals Council hears appeals (Trade Marks Law, Article 7; Inventions Law, Articles 3 and 4).
Can a foreign company file directly?
Not for a national filing. Foreign legal entities and individuals living abroad must act through a patent attorney registered with the Ministry of Justice (Trade Marks Law, Article 34; Inventions Law, Article 35). Designating Uzbekistan under the Madrid Protocol, the PCT or the Hague Agreement starts through the international system.
How long does trade mark registration take?
The Trade Marks Law requires examination of the sign within seven months of filing, and not earlier than six months. If a search on registrability is carried out by agreement, examination takes one month from acceptance of the application (Article 15). Without that, registration takes at least six months, longer if there are objections or an appeal. Registration lasts ten years from filing and is renewable for ten years at a time.
Must a licence agreement be registered?
Yes, for patents, utility models, industrial designs and trade marks. The Civil Code makes an unregistered licence or assignment void (Articles 1089 and 1106). The registration fee for a trade mark licence is 6 BCA for one mark (UZS 2.64 million).
Who owns software written by employees?
Under the Software Law, the employer holds the economic rights unless the contract with the author says otherwise (Law No. 1060-XII, Article 8). The Copyright Law's general rule on employee works gives the author the full right to use the work ten years after it is made public (Law No. ZRU-42, Article 34). The two laws are not aligned, so contracts with developers should deal with ownership expressly.
Can customs stop counterfeit goods?
Yes. Rights entered in the customs register for up to three years get the fullest protection. Customs can also briefly suspend goods containing intellectual property that is not on the customs register. The holder then has to act within short time limits and go to court (Customs Code, Articles 382-1 to 386).
Bond Stone advises on IP structuring, licensing and enforcement in Uzbekistan from its Tashkent office, working with registered patent attorneys for filings. Contact [email protected].
Related Pages
Commercial Contracts in Uzbekistan · Joint Ventures in Uzbekistan · Investment Incentives and SEZs · Withholding Tax and DTT · Antitrust in Uzbekistan · Employment Contracts in Uzbekistan · Dispute Resolution in Uzbekistan · Legal Due Diligence in Uzbekistan
Primary sources (lex.uz, current editions read on 6 November 2026, and WIPO treaty records): Law No. 267-II, Articles 7, 8, 10, 12, 15, 16, 21, 22, 24 to 27, 30, 34, 36, 37-1, as amended by Law No. ZRU-1144 of 7 May 2026; Law on Inventions, Utility Models and Industrial Designs, Articles 3 to 5, 18, 21-1, 23, 34, 35, 37; Law No. ZRU-42, Articles 6, 10, 34, 35, 42; Law No. 1060-XII, Articles 4, 8, 9; Civil Code, Articles 1036, 1088 to 1090, 1106, 1109; Law No. ZRU-600, annex, items 10 and 12; Customs Code, Articles 382 to 387; Plenum Resolution No. 19 of 23 June 2023; Tax Code, Article 483.