The Republic of Tajikistan, known as Tajikistan for short, established the market economy-oriented national economic policies and carried out the privatization in 1995. On March 2, 2013, it became officially the 159th member state of WTO.

The national institution of Tajikistan for protecting industrial property is the National Center of Patent Information (so-called “Patent Office” in relevant laws and regulations and hereinafter referred to as “NCPI”) under the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade, which will implement lasting national policies to protect industrial property and manage invention patents, industrial designs, trademarks, geographical indications and layout designs of integrated circuits. Copyright management is the responsibility of the Ministry of Culture of Tajikistan.

Such four categories as invention patents, industrial designs, trademarks and other IPs are mainly protected by the IP system of Tajikistan.

Invention Patent

The Invention Patent Law that was published on February 28, 2004 and modified respectively on March 6, 2012 and March 19, 2013 provides that invention patents are protected by the country. Different inventions can be granted patents or petty patents by NCPI. If a technical plan has the novelty, creativity and industrial practicability, it shall be deemed as an invention patent and protected by law. The invention patents will be granted after the applications are substantially examined, which are effective for 20 years as of the date of application to NCPI. Petty patents will be granted after the applications are formally examined beforehand, which are effective for 10 years as of the date of application to NCPI.

Industrial Design

Based on Tajikistan’s Industrial Design Law, any industrial design that is novel and creative shall be protected by law. A foreign natural person or legal person or its representatives shall file an application via a patent attorney as an authorized agent registered in NCPI. The term of protection of industrial design is 10 years from the application date and can be extended for no more than 5 years at the request of an applicant.

Trademark

It is specified in the Trademark Law of Tajikistan that any legally protected trademark shall be officially registered by following procedures in accordance with this law or international legal acts recognized by Tajikistan. The exclusive right in a trademark can be registered by applying in the name of a natural person or any legal person conducting the business. There are various types of trademarks in Tajikistan. Texts, graphics, three-dimensional shapes, color designs and combinations can be registered as trademarks. A registered trademark can be protected in Tajikistan for 10 years, from the application date.

Other IPs

1. Geographical indication

Tajikistan’s Geographical Indication Protection Law describes geographical indications and corresponding legal protection. A geographical indication, also known as appellation of origin, shall be legally protected after registration in accordance with legal procedures or international laws recognized by the Republic of Tajikistan. Appellations of origin can be registered by one or more natural person(s) or legal person(s) by applying under the same procedures as those for trademarks. The right to use the same appellation of origin may be granted by any natural person or legal person located in the same area and producing products with same essential attributes. The registration of appellations of origin shall be effective for a long term. Any person that owns no appellation of origin is entitled to the use of the same appellation of origin if products produced by him accord with this law.

In Tajikistan, the appellations of origin can be substituted by a text name, geographical name or image. The use of appellations of origin is legally protected. No operators are allowed to use false appellations of origin or any mark that may be similar to the true appellations of origin to confuse customers. Registration in a country is not required for the use of appellations of origin.

2. Layout design of integrated circuits

Under the Integrated Circuit Layout Design Law of Tajikistan, NCPI shall perform such functions as authorization and legal protection of layout design of integrated circuits. The right of the protected layout design author is a non-transferable personal right, which shall be protected for the whole life of the author.

3. New plant variety

The Plant Variety Protection Law published at the end of 2010 in Tajikistan constitutes a substitute for the Plant Breeding Achievement Protection Law of 1995 and meets the requirements of Clause 27.3 (b) of Agreement On Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Right (TRIPS). All the foreigners will receive equal and fair protection of new plant varieties in Tajikistan. Applications are required to be made to the National New Plant Variety Committee under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Agriculture to obtain the protection of plant varieties.

4. Copyright

Tajikistan is a member state to multiple international copyright treaties. The Copyright Law published in Tajikistan in 1998 was modified respectively in 2003, 2006 and 2009 to protect the creators and copyright owners of works, phonograms and performances. The term of copyright protection covers the whole life of the author and 50 years while the term of neighboring right protection is 50 years after the fixed content is made public through communication. Strict rules for such reasonable uses as the use for teaching purpose and a single copy made by each individual are set in the copyright protection of Tajikistan.