With effect from April 22, 2016, the Institute of the Customs Register was introduced in Uzbekistan
Customs Register of the Republic of Uzbekistan as of January 01, 2017
The legal capability to prohibit the unauthorized importation of goods and products into the customs territory of the Republic of Uzbekistan is one of the most effective instruments for protecting the exclusive rights of a trademark owner and its official representatives.
Unauthorized importation and use of a trademark should be understood as any importation of products and goods for commercial purposes, their storage, advertising, and offering for sale by all citizens and organizations that do not have permission to do so from the right holder or authorized persons acting on the basis of a power of attorney or license agreement.
Before April 2016, the legislation of Uzbekistan did not allow owners of foreign brands to effectively combat the import of counterfeit products and cases of parallel (gray) import of products into the country.
On April 22, 2016, the Customs Code in a new edition entered into force in Uzbekistan, a special section of which provides for the introduction of the institute of the customs register in Uzbekistan.
This means that trademark owners and persons holding rights to patents (industrial designs, utility models, and inventions) have the right to include their intellectual property objects in the customs register, and the customs authority, during the customs clearance of goods, has the right to suspend the release of goods into free circulation if they contain signs of violation of rights to these objects.
A violation of rights to trademarks or other intellectual property objects can be not only the importation of counterfeit, i.e., non-original goods, but also original products imported without the consent of the right holder or a person authorized by them.
In case of revealing signs of a violation, the customs authority is obliged to suspend the release of goods into free circulation for ten days, during which a court ruling on accepting the case for proceedings or applying interim measures must be submitted to the customs authorities by the right holder.
At the same time, the Customs Code in a certain way protects the rights of importers as well, establishing that the Right holder or its authorized representative is liable for damage caused to the declarant as a result of the suspension of the release of goods, if the court does not issue a decision on the violation of intellectual property rights.
The application to the customs authority for taking measures to protect intellectual property objects must detail:
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a description of goods containing intellectual property objects;
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a description of goods which, in the opinion of the right holder, violate its rights, and this must be done in great detail so that customs authorities can identify such goods;
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any other information contributing to the identification of the alleged offense (information about the manufacturer, exporter, importer, or consignee, the possible place and date of movement of goods across the customs border, features of transportation and type of packaging, the location of the goods or the planned destination).
Additional free information on methods of protecting intellectual property and combating unfair competition can be obtained by sending a request to the email address Info@legalmaxlaw.com