Trademark registration in Tajikistan. Tajikistan, officially the Republic of Tajikistan, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Tajikistan is a developing country with a transition economy that is highly dependent on remittances, aluminum, and cotton production. Tajikistan is a member of the United Nations, CIS, OSCE, OIC, ECO, SCO, and CSTO as well as a NATO PfP partner. Accordingly, many businesses want to enter this market and one of the most important preparations a business needs to take before expanding to this country is to learn the procedure of trademark registration in Tajikistan.
Necessary documents for trademark registration in Tajikistan
Necessary documents for trademark registration in Tajikistan include:
- The application for trademark registration in Tajikistan;
- Detailed information of the applicant (name, nationality, and address, etc.);
- Detailed information of the representative or attorney (name, nationality, and address, etc.);
- Classification of goods and/or services;
- Trademark sample;
- Priority documents (If any);
- The prescribed fee;
- Other necessary documents.
The procedure of trademark registration in Tajikistan
To obtain trademark protection in Tajikistan, the applicant needs to file their trademark application to the IP Office of Tajikistan.
Once received, the IP Office will send the official notification of the receipt of the application to the applicant within 2-4 months.
The trademark application will then be examined thoroughly by the examiners to check if it complies with the law on IP of Tajikistan and there are no conflicting aspects to other registered or pending trademarks.
The process of examinations will take from 11-13 months. However, this period can be extended due to the number of applications at the time of examination and the status of the IP Office and society at that point.
If there are no issues found, the applicant will receive the certificate of registration within 3-4 months, after payment of the registration fee.
The entire procedure of trademark registration in Tajikistan takes from 16 to 25 months.
Opposition procedure in Tajikistan
There is no official procedure for filing an opposition to a trademark registration process in Tajikistan.
However, non-official oppositions against the application may be filed during the whole examination procedure before the decision is taken by the Patent Office, in the form of an informal letter containing arguments against registration of the mark.
Nonetheless, the decision to take into account these informal letters of opposition is entirely dependent on the examiners.
Trademark validity and renewal in Tajikistan
Once registered, a trademark in Tajikistan is valid for 10 years from the date of filing.
The trademark owner may file for renewal of the trademark every 10 years to extend the protection period for another 10 years.
The request for the renewal may be filed within 12 months before the expiration date of the trademark or within 6 months after the deadline to renew the trademark, along with a late renewal fee.
Reinstatement of a lapsed trademark (after grace period expiration) is not possible.
Cancellation of a registered trademark in Tajikistan
Legal protection of a trademark may be canceled if the trademark has not been used within 3 continuous years after registration or any period of 3 continuous years since the registration date.
The request for cancellation of a trademark in Tajikistan may be filed to the Appeal Board by any interested person after the expiration of these 3 years.
The grounds for cancellation of a registered trademark in Tajikistan can be divided into the following cases:
- Cancellation based on relative grounds may be filed to the Appeal Board within 5 years from publication;
- Cancellation based on absolute grounds may be filed to the Appeal Board within the entire period of validity of the trademark;
- Cancellation based on non-use may be filed to the Appeal Board. The grace period is 3 years from registration.
You can see a list of Tajikistan IP firms here.