Trademarks in Uzbekistan: registration, costs and protection

A trademark protects a sign for selected goods and services after registration. An application is filed with the Ministry of Justice (Article 7 of the Law), ordinary examination takes six to seven months (Article 15 of the Law), and a certificate remains valid for ten years (Article 21 of the Law). The fees depend on the applicant and the number of Nice classes.

In brief:

• one application covers one sign and contains its representation and a list of goods or services;
• formal examination takes thirty days (Article 14 of the Law), followed by examination of the sign;
• for a legal entity, filing and examination for the first class cost 2.640.000 soums, with a further 440.000 soums for each additional class;
• registration can be renewed every ten years (Article 22 of the Law);
• the exclusive right covers only the goods and services specified in the certificate.

Updated: 05 September 2026

Eligible marks and preliminary searches

What a trademark is and what it protects

A trademark is a registered sign (Article 3 of the Law) that makes it possible to distinguish one person’s goods or services from similar goods or services of others. The Law uses “trademark” for signs relating to goods and service marks relating to services. Words, images, three-dimensional or other signs, combinations of them, and any colour or combination of colours may be registered.

An individual mark belongs to one individual or legal entity. A collective mark belongs to an association and identifies its members’ goods with common quality properties or other shared characteristics. The members’ agreement on use of a collective mark must accompany the application.

Legal protection is granted through registration (Article 4 of the Law) or under an international treaty. Creating a name, logo, domain or social-media page does not by itself create a national trademark registration.

A trademark is not a company name. A company name is the name of a commercial organisation (Article 3 of the Company Names Law), and the right to it arises when the legal entity is registered. A brand is a business and marketing concept that may include a trademark, company name, design, reputation and other elements.

This article concerns protection of a sign, not the creation of a company. The article on business registration explains the choice of legal form, name and registered address. It is relevant when the mark and a new legal entity are launched together.

Signs that cannot be registered

Registration will be refused if a sign lacks distinctive character, misleads consumers or conflicts with an earlier right. The Law gives a complete list of grounds (Article 10 of the Law):

1. state coats of arms, flags and awards;
2. official names of states and names of international or intergovernmental organisations;
3. official hallmarks indicating control or guarantee, assay marks and seals;
4. official service insignia of Uzbekistan’s state authorities;
5. signs that lack distinctive character;
6. signs that have come into general use for goods of a particular kind;
7. commonly accepted symbols and terms;
8. characteristics of goods, including kind, quality, quantity, properties, purpose, value, place or time of production and sale;
9. false or misleading signs;
10. signs that formally name the true place of production but create an impression of another territory;
11. protected geographical names of mineral waters, wines and spirits for goods of another origin, including names used with “kind”, “type” or “style”;
12. signs contrary to public interests or principles of humanity and morality;
13. signs identical or confusingly similar to earlier trademarks, well-known marks, geographical indications, appellations of origin and certification marks;
14. signs reproducing an earlier company name, protected industrial design, well-known work or character, or the name, portrait or facsimile of a well-known person without the required consent.

Official symbols may be included as unprotected elements with the consent of the relevant authority or owner. Descriptive and commonly used elements may remain unprotected if they are not dominant. A sign that initially lacked distinctiveness may be protected if it acquired distinctiveness through use. In the conflicts with an earlier mark allowed by law, the earlier owner’s consent may be used, but it does not remove other grounds for refusal.

How to search a mark and select Nice classes

Before filing, search for more than exact matches: compare sound, spelling, meaning and overall impression for similar goods and services. In a dispute, a court may consider the territory and duration of use, recognition, popularity and evidence of actual confusion. These similarity criteria appear in the Supreme Court Plenum’s guidance.

The list is prepared under the Nice Classification of Goods and Services for the Registration of Marks. The Law requires goods to be grouped by class (Article 9 of the Law), but a class number alone does not replace a clear list. Include goods and services on which the mark is planned to be used: unnecessary classes raise the fee, while an unduly narrow list leaves part of the business outside the exclusive right.

The parties may agree to an information search on registrability. In that case, examination of the sign is completed within one month (Article 15 of the Law) after the application is accepted for consideration. A search reduces the risk of an obvious conflict, but the subsequent examination still tests every statutory ground.

A practical search covers word variants, transliteration, translations, dominant elements of a composite mark and signs in neighbouring classes where the goods may be regarded as similar. Keep the search results, packaging designs and the date when use began with the application file.

Application, registration and fees

How to file an application and claim priority

An individual or legal entity files an application with the Ministry of Justice through state information systems (Article 8 of the Law). Examination is performed by the state institution Intellectual Property Centre. Within one business day after filing, application details are published on the official website, and interested persons may submit written observations alleging bad faith.

One application relates to one mark. The required set contains:

• an application for registration;
• a representation of the sign;
• a list of goods and services grouped under the Nice Classification;
• a power of attorney where a patent attorney files the documents;
• for a collective mark, the members’ agreement on its use;
• evidence of convention or exhibition priority, if claimed.

Ordinary priority is set by the filing date. To claim convention priority (Article 12 of the Law), a national application must be filed within six months of the first application in a Paris Convention state. The same six-month period runs from the first open display of an exhibit at an official international exhibition. The claim is made on filing or within two months, and supporting documents must be submitted no later than three months after filing.

A foreign legal entity or an individual permanently residing outside Uzbekistan conducts registration matters through a patent attorney (Article 34 of the Law) registered with the Ministry. A power of attorney confirms the representative’s authority.

How long trademark registration takes

The ordinary procedure has two stages: formal examination and examination of the sign. This examination structure (Article 13 of the Law) allows the authority to check the file and formal requirements first, then registrability and earlier rights.

If examination is impossible without further materials, a response to the request must be filed within three months (Article 13 of the Law). On request, the period may be extended by no more than six months. A missed period can be restored if the request is made within two months after it expired; otherwise, the application is treated as withdrawn.

An examination refusal may be appealed to the Appeal Board within three months (Article 16 of the Law), and the Board’s decision may be appealed to a court within six months. Before registration, the application may be withdrawn or assigned to another person.

After a favourable decision and payment of the fee, the Ministry automatically registers (Article 18 of the Law) the mark in the register. An electronic certificate with a QR code (Article 20 of the Law) is issued on the same day.

How much trademark registration costs

The fee has a filing and examination component and, after a favourable decision, registration, publication and certificate components. The current fee rates differ for individuals and legal entities.

The applicant or owner pays the fee before the relevant legally significant action. If the filing payment does not cover all classes, examination proceeds for the selected classes; the shortfall may be paid within three months (Article 23 of the State Duty Law) after notification.

The registration, publication and certificate payments are due within three months after the examination decision. If paid later but before six months expire, they increase by fifty per cent.

Example. A legal entity files a mark in two classes. Filing and examination cost 2.640.000 + 440.000 = 3.080.000 soums. After a favourable decision, registration, publication and the certificate cost 1.056.000 + 352.000 + 1.056.000 = 2.464.000 soums. The total is 5.544.000 soums, excluding a search, representation and any additional steps.

Owner rights, renewal and transfer

Rights acquired by a trademark owner

The owner acquires the exclusive right to use and dispose of the mark within the goods and services listed in the certificate. The right runs from the registration date (Article 26 of the Law), not the filing date. Before registration, a third party’s use of the sign does not ordinarily infringe the applicant’s trademark right, although specific conduct may fall under the prohibition on unfair competition (Article 21 of the Competition Law).

Without the owner’s permission, no one may manufacture, apply, import, offer for sale, sell, otherwise put into circulation, or store for those purposes the mark, goods bearing it, or a confusingly similar sign for similar goods.

Use includes placing the mark on goods and packaging by the owner or a licensee. The Law also recognises use in advertising (Article 27 of the Law), publications, stationery, signs, exhibitions, labels, documentation and domain names. Goods, labels and packaging bearing an unlawful mark or a confusingly similar sign are counterfeit.

The right is exhausted for goods lawfully put into circulation by the owner or with the owner’s consent. Resale of that particular product under its original mark is not an infringement, but the rule does not legalise counterfeiting, relabelling or use of the mark on other goods.

The letter R (Article 29 of the Law), or R in a circle, may be placed next to a registered mark. It indicates registration in Uzbekistan. It must not be used for an unregistered mark.

To prove use, the owner keeps agreements, invoices, catalogues, advertisements, photographs of packaging and signs, website and domain data, and documents relating to exhibitions and transport. The materials should connect the mark, the particular goods or services, the owner or licensee, the territory of Uzbekistan and the dates of use.

This section concerns the exclusive right, not the accounting value of an asset. The article on fixed and intangible assets explains when an acquired or registered right is recognised as an intangible asset. It is relevant after buying a mark or capitalising the cost of creating and registering it.

How to renew, amend or transfer trademark rights

A certificate is valid for ten years from the filing date and can be renewed for further ten-year periods. Apply during its final year. After expiry there is a six-month period (Article 22 of the Law), but the renewal fee increases by one hundred per cent.

The owner notifies the Ministry of changes to its name or an individual owner’s surname, given name, patronymic and other registration details. The owner may narrow the list (Article 23 of the Law) of goods and change separate elements if that does not alter the substance of the mark. A materially new logo normally requires a new application because a register amendment cannot replace the protected object with another one.

If the mark has not been used continuously during the preceding three years, an interested person may ask a court for early termination (Article 25 of the Law) in full or for some goods and services. The court examines use for each disputed good or service and may consider circumstances beyond the owner’s control.

A registration can be invalidated in full or in part. Breaches of absolute grounds may be challenged throughout the registration term, while a conflict with earlier rights may be challenged within five years (Article 24 of the Law) after publication. A well-known mark has a separate regime: the Appeal Board places it on the list, and its protection is indefinite (Article 32-2 of the Law).

The exclusive right may be assigned by a written agreement for all or some goods and services. A licence defines the rights granted, their limits and term; unless otherwise stated, it is a simple non-exclusive licence (Article 1036 of the Civil Code). A sublicence is permitted only where the main agreement authorises it.

A licence agreement must require that the licensee’s goods are no lower in quality than those of the licensor and provide for the licensor’s control. An assignment is not allowed if it may mislead consumers. Both agreements must be registered with the Ministry (Article 30 of the Law); failure to use written form or obtain registration causes invalidity of the agreement (Article 1106 of the Civil Code).

On reorganisation, the right passes under special rules: after a merger, to the newly created entity; after an absorption, to the receiving organisation; and after a split, to the person receiving the relevant production. A co-ownership agreement must be registered (Article 31 of the Law).

Enforcement and international protection

How to enforce a trademark

Enforcement begins by preserving evidence: a test purchase, photographs of goods and packaging, receipts, seller pages, advertising-account data, correspondence, domain details and supply information. The right holder then compares the disputed sign with the certificate and the similarity of the goods, sends a demand to stop the infringement and, where necessary, applies to a justice authority or court.

In court, the owner may demand cessation of use, damages, and seizure and destruction of goods, packaging and labels at the infringer’s expense. These available remedies are established by the Civil Code. Instead of damages, the owner may claim compensation from 8.800.000 to 440.000.000 soums without proving that losses were incurred; the amount is set by agreement or by the court with regard to the infringement and fault.

For a legal entity, the special Law sets a fine from 44.000.000 to 88.000.000 soums. On the right holder’s application, a justice authority inspects the alleged infringement and issues a decision within five business days (Article 37-1 of the Law) after the inspection report is completed. If the infringer voluntarily pays seventy per cent of the fine within one month, the balance is not collected.

Administrative liability for unlawful use of another person’s mark or an unregistered-mark symbol is a fine from 6.600.000 to 13.200.000 soums with confiscation; a repeat offence within one year attracts 13.200.000 to 22.000.000 soums. These penalties with confiscation (Article 177 of the Administrative Liability Code) do not replace the right holder’s civil claim.

Large losses may lead to criminal liability: a fine from 22.000.000 to 44.000.000 soums or correctional labour, restriction of liberty or imprisonment for up to two years. The penalty increases for repetition, collusion, abuse of an official position or particularly large losses. For a first offence, the Law allows release from liability if the material loss is reimbursed within thirty days (Article 149-2 of the Criminal Code) after the offence is discovered.

Contractual disputes, damages claims and early-termination claims are heard by civil or economic courts; recovery of a fine from a legal entity on an authorised authority’s claim belongs to the economic court. In a domain dispute, a court may temporarily prohibit cancellation of the domain, transfer of control and a registrar change. This interim domain relief preserves the subject of the dispute until judgment.

Example. If a court awards compensation of 17.600.000 soums, the right holder need not first prove losses of that amount. The holder proves the right, unlawful use and circumstances affecting the compensation. The court may set an amount between 8.800.000 and 440.000.000 soums.

How to stop counterfeit goods at the border and obtain international protection

The Customs Register is useful when the risk concerns imports or exports of marked goods. The electronic application gives details of the right holder and representative, a description of the mark and goods, the right’s term, the HS code, manufacturer details, proof of title and product images. An object is entered for no more than three years (Article 385 of the Customs Code), and the application is reviewed within ten days (Article 386 of the Customs Code).

For a mark in the register, Customs reports suspected infringement within one business day. The right holder must also respond within one business day (Article 382-1 of the Customs Code) with an application for measures; otherwise, the goods are released.

Customs may also stop goods bearing a mark that has not yet been entered in the register. After the owner is notified, the initial stop lasts three business days. An application, the Customs Register documents, an undertaking to compensate possible loss and security of 44.000.000 soums for each object are required for an extension of up to ten business days. These suspension conditions (Article 382-2 of the Customs Code) apply before the dispute is submitted to a court.

On an ordinary application for measures, the right holder also provides security of 44.000.000 (Article 388 of the Customs Code) for every object. Customs decides within three business days (Article 389 of the Customs Code), and release is suspended for no more than ten business days. With a court order, the period can be extended by ten more days (Article 392 of the Customs Code).

Example. Security for two registered marks is 44.000.000 × 2 = 88.000.000 soums. This is not a state fee: it secures possible loss to the declarant and expenses if no infringement is established.

The Madrid System makes it possible to seek protection in selected states on the basis of a basic application or registration. An international application is submitted to the International Bureau of the World Intellectual Property Organization through the office of origin (Article 2 of the Protocol). Every designated party conducts a national examination and may refuse on its own grounds (Article 5 of the Protocol); the holder may respond to the refusal.

An international registration lasts ten years (Article 6 of the Protocol) and depends on the basic application or registration during its first five years. It can be renewed for further ten-year periods, with a six-month grace period (Article 7 of the Protocol) on payment of an additional fee.

For a non-resident, the individual fee for designating Uzbekistan is 320 US dollars for the first class and 130 dollars for each additional class. Renewal costs 160 dollars for the first class and 107 dollars for each further class. This is the national individual fee; an international application may also include other International Bureau fees.

Changes and filing checks

What changed in 2026

Two procedural changes affecting documents and supervision appeared in 2026:

• Cabinet Resolution No. 297 of 10 June 2026 approved, with effect from 11 June, a procedure for issuing duplicates of protection documents, including trademark certificates. It does not apply to electronic documents with QR codes; an issued duplicate has equal legal force to the original document.
• Order No. 22-mh of 26 June 2026 introduces an electronic risk-analysis system for intellectual-property supervision. It takes effect on 30 September 2026. The trademark indicators cover unlawful manufacture, sale, application, offer for sale, import, putting into circulation, storage and use of the R marking for an unregistered mark.

Until the second order takes effect, its indicators should be described as a future procedure, not as an operating system. The fees and national-registration periods in this article reflect the rules in force on the update date.

What to check before filing

Before filing, four elements should align: the sign, the owner, the list of goods and services, and the plan for actual use. An error in any of them affects the scope of the right, cost, proof of use and future agreements.

A working sequence is:

1. fix the final version of the word, figurative or composite sign;
2. check absolute grounds and earlier marks, company names, geographical indications and other rights;
3. prepare a list of actual goods and services under the Nice Classification, including planned near-term expansion;
4. identify the applicant that will own the mark and grant licences;
5. prepare the image, description, transliteration and translation of word elements;
6. document priority and the representative’s authority, if claimed;
7. calculate the fees for all classes and schedule later payments;
8. monitor examination requests after filing and meet response deadlines;
9. after registration, use the mark as registered and keep dated evidence;
10. separately assess the Customs Register, international registration and licensing where the business imports, exports or gives partners rights to the mark.

The main result of preparation is an application in which the mark and the Nice list match the actual sales model. Those details determine the boundaries of the future exclusive right.

Frequently asked questions

Can an individual register a trademark?

Yes. The Law allows registration in the name of an individual or legal entity. Decide in advance who will use the mark, receive income and grant licences. A later assignment requires a written agreement, state registration and a separate fee. If a company needs the mark, registration in its founder’s name creates a separate personal asset and requires a contractual basis for the company’s use.

What is the difference between a trademark, logo and brand?

A logo is a visual sign that may be filed as a figurative or composite trademark. A brand is broader: it includes reputation, visual identity, a name and other business elements. Trademark registration gives an exclusive right only to the registered sign and only for the goods or services in the certificate. Copyright in artwork and rights to a company name are governed separately.

Can a sign be used before the certificate is issued?

The sign may be used in commerce, but the exclusive registered right begins on the date of entry in the register. Before that date, an applicant’s claim against a third party cannot rely on a trademark right that has not yet arisen. Use may nevertheless be relevant to unfair competition, acquired distinctiveness and evidence of earlier factual circumstances.

What happens if a trademark is not used for three years?

An interested person may ask a court to terminate protection early, in full or for some goods and services. The court examines use for every disputed good or service during the relevant period. A single instance unrelated to the registered list may therefore fail to prove use. The owner should retain documents showing use by the owner or a licensee in Uzbekistan.

Does a national registration apply outside Uzbekistan?

No. National registration itself provides protection in Uzbekistan. Protection in other countries requires separate national or regional applications or use of the Madrid System where its conditions are met. International registration does not mean automatic acceptance by every designated country: each designated office may examine the sign under its national law and issue a refusal.