According to the Decree of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan No. PD-4965 "On measures to improve the system on protection of intellectual property" dated from January 28, 2021, the restriction on registration of trademarks and service marks by individuals, who are not involved in entrepreneurial activities, has been canceled.
In accordance with Art. 4 of the Law “On trademarks, service marks and appellations of origins of goods”, a trademark can be registered in the name of a legal entity or a natural person engaged in entrepreneurial activities. In other words, individuals without the status of an individual entrepreneur had no right to register a trademark on their own name.
However, Uzbek Patent Office did not comply with such a condition of the law, given the international norms stemming from the Trademark Law Treaty (TLT). As a result, many trademarks, which were registered in the name of individuals, have been invalidated in court at the request of concerned parties.
Registration of a trademark in the name of an individual will be considered a valid action for the registering authority as soon as the law is amended accordingly.
Moreover, in order to simplify the process of trademark registration, Patent Office will practice accelerated examination within 1 (one) month for additional fee. At the same time, accelerated registration is possible provided that the trademark application has to be checked beforehand.
As part of the acceleration process, as well as for protection of intellectual property, there will be created Intellectual Property Protection Centers under the Ministry of Justice for each region, which will help applicants to file trademark applications.