On April 18, 2017 The Parliament of the Republic of Uzbekistan issued amendments to the Law on Trademarks and Appellations of Origin and the Law on Competition. These changes became effective on April 19, 2017. The more significant changes are:
- Introduction of exhaustion of rights (though it is not clear whether this is international or national; decisions and administrative positions are mixed);
- Changing the non-use cancellation period to the five years prior to the bringing of the action, rather than (as previously) any five-year period since registration;
- Ability to prove use broadened to include, inter alia, use in advertisements, printed matter, business documentation, product packaging, exhibitions and trade shows and domain names; and
- Addition of a definition of “counterfeit products” to mean “goods, labels, or packaging on which a trademark or a confusingly similar mark is used illegally.”
Further, the prohibitions of the Unfair Competition Law were expanded to confusingly similar marks (not just identical marks).