Intellectual Property in Uzbekistan

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1. What categories of intellectual property rights are available in Uzbekistan to protect:

• inventions, including patents, supplementary protection certificates, trade secrets, confidential information, and know-how;
• brands, including trademarks, passing off, unfair competition rights, association marks, certification marks, hallmarks, designations of origin, geographical indications; and
• other creations, technology, and proprietary interests, including copyright, design rights, semiconductor topography rights, plant variety rights, database rights, trade secrets, confidential information, and know-how?

2. What is the term of protection applicable to each of these intellectual property rights, and what procedures, if any, are available to extend the duration of registered rights in appropriate circumstances?
3. Who is regarded as the original owner of each category of intellectual property right, and does the position differ where the right is created in the course of employment or pursuant to a commission or services arrangement?
4. Which of the intellectual property rights identified above are subject to registration?
5. Who is entitled to apply for registration of these intellectual property rights, and what are the principal steps in the relevant registration procedures?
6. What is the usual timeframe for completion of the registration process for each of these intellectual property rights?
7. To what extent are third parties entitled to participate in, oppose, comment on, or otherwise intervene in the registration process?
8. What remedies or procedural options are available to an applicant where registration is refused, whether wholly or in part?
9. What are the currently applicable official filing, registration, and renewal fees for each of these intellectual property rights?
10. What are the legal consequences of a failure to pay renewal or maintenance fees, and what remedial measures, if any, are available to restore the right or cure the default?
11. What formal and substantive requirements apply to the assignment or transfer of ownership of each of these intellectual property rights?
12. Is registration or recordal of an assignment required for any of these intellectual property rights, and if so, what are the legal consequences of failing to register or record the assignment?
13. What formalities and legal requirements apply to the grant of a license permitting a third party to use each of these intellectual property rights?
14. Is registration or recordal of a license required in respect of any of these intellectual property rights, and if so, what are the consequences of non-registration?
15. Do exclusive and non-exclusive licensees enjoy different rights in relation to the enforcement of licensed intellectual property rights, and if so, how do those rights differ?
16. Are criminal sanctions available for infringement of any intellectual property rights, and if so, what offences, penalties, and procedures apply?
17. What enforcement mechanisms are available in relation to each of these intellectual property rights, including civil litigation, proceedings before the intellectual property office, administrative proceedings, and alternative dispute resolution?
18. What are the typical duration and cost implications of the various enforcement procedures?
19. Where judicial enforcement is available:
    • which courts or arbitrations have Uzbekistan;
    • how are proceedings commenced;
    • what are the main procedural stages;
    • what is the typical time to trial;
    • what is the format of the hearing or trial;
    • what is the usual time to judgment and the granting of relief; and
    • what rights of appeal are available?
20. What customs or border enforcement procedures are available to prevent the importation and/or exportation of infringing goods?
21. Are any non-judicial enforcement measures or dispute resolution procedures mandatory in intellectual property disputes in any circumstances, and if so, in what cases and under what conditions?
22. What mechanisms are available in Uzbekistan for the amicable settlement or resolution of intellectual property disputes?
23. What must be established in order to prove infringement of each category of intellectual property right, and what types of evidence are typically required for that purpose?
24. By what means does the court obtain the factual or technical information necessary to determine intellectual property disputes, and in what circumstances?

In particular:

• are there specialist judges, technically qualified judges, court-appointed experts, jointly appointed experts, or party-appointed experts; and
• what mechanisms exist for the preservation, disclosure, compulsion, and protection of evidence, including whether disclosure or discovery is available?

24. How does the court assess and test the information and evidence submitted by the parties? In particular, is cross-examination available and, if so, how commonly is it used in practice?
25. What substantive and procedural defences are available to a party accused of infringing intellectual property rights?
26. Who has standing to challenge the validity, ownership, subsistence, or enforceability of each category of intellectual property right?
27. At what stage may such challenges be brought, including during prosecution or registration, after grant or registration, or at any time during the subsistence of the right?
28. What are the relevant form and procedures for challenging each category of intellectual property right, and on what grounds may the right be declared invalid, revoked, cancelled, or otherwise unenforceable?
29. Are there any other mechanisms by which the scope or effect of an intellectual property right may be removed, limited, or qualified, such as declaratory relief, compulsory licenses, licenses of right, or statutory limitations?
30. What interim, preliminary, final, and ancillary remedies are available for infringement of each category of intellectual property right?
31. What are the typical costs of enforcement proceedings, to what extent may a successful party recover its costs, and are there any procedural rules providing for security for costs?