On company names (LRU-51-son)

18.09.2006

Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan

Adopted by the Legislative Chamber June 20, 2006 Approved by the Senate on August 25, 2006

Article 1. The purpose of this Law

The purpose of this Law is to regulate relations in the field of legal protection and use of company names.

Article 2. Legislation on company names

Legislation on company names consists of this Law and other legislative acts.

If an international treaty of the Republic of Uzbekistan establishes other rules than those provided for by the legislation of the Republic of Uzbekistan on trade names, the rules of the international treaty shall apply.

Article 3. Company name

Company name is the individual name of a legal person — a commercial organization (hereinafter — a legal person), the exclusive right to which arises at the time of its state registration.

A legal person along with a full company name may also have an abbreviated company name.

In the company name of the legal person its organizational and legal form must be indicated.

In cases provided by law, in the company name the nature of the activities of legal person must be indicated.

Article 4. Designations that should not be indicated in company name

Company name must not contain:

1) the official name of state, the abbreviated or full name of the international, intergovernmental or non-state non-profit organization;

2) the full or abbreviated name of a historical or famous person in the Republic of Uzbekistan without a permit issued in the prescribed manner;

3) designations that are false or are capable of misleading the consumer regarding the owner of company name, the subject of his activity or the country of its origin;

4) designations that are contrary to the interests of society, the principles of humanity and morality.

Company name must also not contain symbols identical or similar to the degree of their mixing:

with company names previously registered or applied for registration in the Republic of Uzbekistan in the name of another legal person with an earlier priority;

with trademarks (service marks) previously registered or applied for registration in the Republic of Uzbekistan in the name of another person, as well as protected without registration by virtue of international treaties of the Republic of Uzbekistan;

with trademarks (service marks) recognized generally known in the prescribed manner;

Marks that are identical or confusingly similar to geographical indications and appellations of origin protected by law in the established manner, with the exception of cases where registration is sought in the name of a person who has the right to use such indication or appellation, shall also not be indicated.

Designations indicated in paragraph 1 the first part of this article may be included in company name, if it is permitted by the relevant state body or organization.

Article 5. Legal protection of company name

Legal protection of company name is provided from the moment of state registration of a legal person, and the company name of a foreign legal person, from the date a foreign legal person begins its activity as a participant in civil relations in the Republic of Uzbekistan.

Article 6. Right to company name

A legal person has the exclusive right to use its company name and to grant the right to use the company name to other legal entities.

The exclusive right of a foreign legal person to company name shall be confirmed by a document established by the legislation of the country of establishment of this legal person.

Article 7. Use of company name

The following is use of company name:

reflection of company name on official forms, seals, stamps and other documentation related to the activities of legal person;

usage of company names on goods, their packaging, advertising, pallet, printed references, accounts, printed publications, during the demonstration of goods at exhibitions and fairs held in the Republic of Uzbekistan.

Company name can be used as an element of trademark (service mark).

Article 8. Granting the right to use of company name

Legal person (licensor) may allow another legal person (licensee) to use its company name on the basis of a licensing contract or a franchise contract made between them in accordance with the law.

The license agreement must be included measures that exclude the consumer misleading.

Article 9. Transfer of the right to company name to another person

Transfer of the right to company name to another person is allowed only in cases of reorganization of a legal person by merging, joining, dividing and separating or selling the enterprise as a whole as a complex property.

When legal entities are merged and legal person joins another legal person, the transfer of the right to company name to another person is carried out in accordance with the submission document.

When a legal person is divided or when a legal person is separated from a legal person, the transfer of the right to company name to another person is carried out in accordance with the distribution balance sheet.

Article 10. Termination of legal protection of company name

Legal protection of company name is terminated in case of liquidation of legal person or change of its company name.

Article 11. Violation of the right to company name

Illegal use of company name is recognized as a violation of the exclusive right to company name.

The use of company name in the trademark (service mark), the domain name is not recognized as a violation of the exclusive right to company name, if the right to the trademark (service mark), the domain name is granted earlier than the right to this company name.

Article 12. Methods of protection the right to company name

Protection of the exclusive right to company name against unlawful use is carried out by:

publications in the mass media about court decisions in order to protect the business reputation of legal person;

removal the unlawful used company name from counterfeit goods, labels, packages at the expense of lawbreaker;

destruction at the expense of the lawbreaker of counterfeit goods, labels, packages in case of impossibility to remove from them the unlawful used company name;

compensation for damages;

payment of compensation in an amount from twenty to one thousand times the size of the basic calculated amount, in lieu of compensation for damages;

The compensation stipulated in the sixth paragraph of the first part of this Article shall be paid regardless of the fact of damage, based on the nature of the infringement and the degree of fault of the infringer, taking into account the customs of business turnover. The amount of compensation shall be determined in accordance with the agreement of the parties or by the court.

Article 121. The grounds and procedure for imposing a fine for violating the law on company names, as well as the procedure for paying a fine by legal entities

Illegal use of the name of the company causes legal entities to be fined from one hundred to two hundred times the amount of the base calculation. The amount of fines is determined separately for each type of violation.

Based on an application submitted by the holder of the right to the firm name, the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Uzbekistan, the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Karakalpakstan, and the justice departments of the regions and the city of Tashkent (hereinafter referred to as the justice body) shall conduct inspections to ensure compliance with the right to use the firm name. Inspections conducted in respect of business entities shall be carried out in accordance with the procedure established by legislation, upon notifying the Representative for the Protection of the Rights and Legitimate Interests of Business Entities under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

Fines shall be imposed by the justice body based on inspections conducted in the manner stipulated in the second part of this Article. In this case, an act regarding the infringement detected during the inspection shall be drawn up and signed by the officials of the justice body and the infringing legal entity (hereinafter referred to as the infringer), respectively.

In the event that the infringer (or their representative) refuses to sign the act, the official of the justice body must confirm this fact with the help of a video recording attached to the said act or in the presence of two witnesses.

The justice body shall adopt a decision on imposing a fine on the infringer in the amounts stipulated in the first part of this Article, within five working days from the date of formalization of the act regarding the detection of the infringement that served as the basis for imposing the fine.

The decision on imposing a fine shall be signed by the head of the justice body (or the person acting in their place) and shall be sent to the infringer within one working day.

Within one month from the date of sending the decision on imposing a fine, the offender may voluntarily pay the amount of the fine stipulated in this decision.

In the event that seventy percent of the amount of the fine provided for in the decision on imposing a fine is voluntarily paid by the offender, the offender shall be exempted from paying the remaining amount of the fine.

In the event that the fine amount is not paid voluntarily by the infringer, the justice body shall file a claim with the court for the recovery of the fine within five working days in the established manner.

Ten percent of the recovered fine amount shall be directed to the off-budget fund of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Uzbekistan, and the remaining part shall be directed to the State Budget of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

The infringer shall have the right to appeal the decision of the justice body on imposing a fine.

Article 13. Rights of foreign legal entities

Foreign legal entities use the exclusive right to company names mentioned in this Law, according to international treaties of the Republic of Uzbekistan or on the basis of mutual agreement equal to legal entities of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

Article 14. Dispute resolution

Disputes in the field of legal protection and use of company names are resolved in the manner prescribed by law.

Article 15. Responsibility for violation of the law on company names

Persons guilty of violating the law on company names are liable in accordance with the established procedure.

Article 16. Bringing legislation into compliance with this Law

The Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan:

bring government decisions into line with this Law;

to ensure the review and abolition by government bodies of their legal acts that are contrary to this Law.

Section 17. Entry into force of this law

This Law enters into force on the date of its official publication.

President of the Republic of Uzbekistan I. KARIMOV

Tashkent city,

September 18, 2006,

No. LRU-51