Uzbekistan – Amendments to Trademark Legislation

New legislative amendments introduce additional mechanisms to eliminate obstacles faced by potential trademark owners in Uzbekistan.

Following the recent amendments to the relevant legislation, bad-faith parties will no longer be able to retain exclusive rights to trademarks in Uzbekistan that they do not use, thereby preventing third parties from obtaining legal protection for the designations they use as means of individualization. In particular, the mere existence of a registered license agreement granting a third party the right to use a trademark can no longer be considered as use of the trademark by its owner, actual use of the trademark by the licensee is now required in order to prevent the loss of their exclusive rights on the grounds of non-use.

Furthermore, the amendments provide for the possibility of early cancellation of a trademark registration in Uzbekistan on the grounds that the company holding the trademark rights has been liquidated or - in certain cases where the trademark owner is a natural person – that the trademark owner has died. This mechanism is intended to eliminate situations in which exclusive rights formally remain in force despite the absence of a rights holder, thereby preventing third parties from obtaining legal protection for their trademarks.

The same amendments have also simplified certain administrative procedures carried out by the competent authority to prevent infringements of intellectual property rights, with a view to improving the effectiveness of the authority’s enforcement activities.