– Law on Secret Inventions, No. 624, dated July 21, 2010.
– Law on Inventions, No. 857, dated July 3, 2012.
– Law No. 1372, passed on November 14, 2016, on amendments to the Law on Inventions.

– Convention Establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), since December 25, 1991.
– Strasbourg Agreement Concerning the International Patent Classification, since December 25, 1991.
– Budapest Treaty on the International Recognition of the Deposit of Microorganisms for the Purposes of Patent Procedure, since December 25, 1991.
– Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, Stockholm Act, since February 14, 1994.
– Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), since February 14, 1994.
– Eurasian Patent Convention, since August 12, 1995.
– WTO’s TRIPS Agreement, since March 2, 2013.
– The Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents (Apostille), since October 31, 2015.

Applicant: the inventor or his legal successor.

Foreigners: may appoint a local agent in Tajikistan. (Regulations on Patent Attorneys, Order No. 04.FA of the Director of the Patent Office of Tajikistan, dated January 18, 2006).

Protection of foreigners: they enjoy the same rights as Tajik nationals.

Employees’ inventions: the right to obtain a title of protection for an invention created by an employee in connection with the fulfillment of his employment obligations or a specific task of the employer shall belong to the employer, unless otherwise agreed by contract.

Notion of an invention: patents can be granted for devices, processes, substances, strains of microorganisms, cultures of plant and animal cells, for a new use of a known device, process, substance or strain.

Patentability: a patent is granted for an invention which is new, which is a result of creative work, or which has an inventive level and is industrially applicable.

Novelty: the claimed invention should not have been made available in Tajikistan or abroad to the public by publication, exhibition, demonstration or use, or be obvious to persons skilled in the art.

Novelty grace period: six months (for the inventor).

Exceptions to protection: scientific theories and mathematical methods, methods of economic organization and management, symbols, schedules and rules, methods for performing mental acts, algorithms and computer software, projects and plans for structures and buildings and for land developments; computer programs; topographies and integral circuits, plant varieties and animal breeds, proposals that are contrary to the public interest, humanitarian principles or morality.

Unity of the invention: application for an invention must cover one invention only, or a group of inventions forming a single inventive concept.

Priorities: according to the Paris Convention, within twelve months.

Extension of the Conventional term: may be extended for valid reasons for further three months, if an application claiming the Conventional priority could not be filed within twelve months.

Territory covered: the Republic of Tajikistan.

Filing requirements for an application (to be sent to resident agent):
1. Power of attorney, no legalization (if the application is filed through a local agent);
2. Specification and abstract (to be translated into Tajik (Farsi) or Russian language);
3. Drawings;
4. Priority document, if priority is claimed, to be filed within two months from the filing date.

Electronic filing: not available. 

Electronic signatures: are not accepted (only wet signatures). Scanned copies of signed documents are accepted, however, the original must be sent at a later date.

National phase of PCT applications: have to be filed within 30 months (Chapter I) or 31 months (Chapter II). If designated/elected for a Eurasian regional phase, applicable time limit: 31 months (Chapters I and II).

Examination: a formal and a substantive examination.

The formal examination is carried out three months after the filing date and comprises checking the formal requirements. As a result of the formal examination, the Patent Office issues a decision to accept the application for publication, or to reject it. A negative decision may be appealed to before the Patent Office Appeal Board within a three-month term.

Publication of application: the main data of an application, together with the patent claims and abstract thereof are published after the formal examination is completed, eighteen months after the filing date, in the Patent Office Gazette.

A substantive examination regarding the patentability of an application is carried out at the request of the applicant or any other interested party within three years from the filing date. If no request is filed, the application is considered abandoned.

Amendments to the application: voluntary amendments may be submitted to the Patent Office within three months after the filing date, or during the entire period of the formal and substantive examination, but not after a decision on the results of a substantive examination is taken; additional materials extending or changing the subject matter of an application are not accepted.

Divisional application: may be filed during the formal or complete examination, if the requirements regarding the unity of the examined application are not met; a divisional application retains the priority of the basic application.

Granting decision: issued after the complete examination, if the patentability, including novelty requirements are met. A negative decision may be appealed to by the applicant before the Patent Office Appeal Board within a two-month term.

Publication: six months after the granting decision, in the Patent Office Official Gazette, upon payment of a fee. Patent particulars are entered into the Patent Register and a Certificate is issued.

Duration: twenty years from the filing date.

Supplementary Protection Certificates (SPCs): supplementary patent protection is available. Additional protection for an invention relating to pharmaceuticals, pesticides and agrochemicals are introduced with the amendments of the Patent Law passed on November 14, 2016. The procedure for applying for the extension of protection and its consideration is determined by the Patent Office. To extend the protection of an invention, a certificate of registration by the relevant body of the drug is required and the holder of the Letters Patent may request the extension from the Patent Office if the application to obtain such a certificate has been more than four years.

Duration of protection: the certificate is valid during the time corresponding to the period starting from the filing date of the application for the basic patent until the date of receipt of the certificate of registration of the drug, reduced by four years. However, the duration of the certificate may not exceed five years from the day on which it takes effect.

Opposition: not provided for.

Invalidation: a request for invalidation or nullification may be filed by any person during the entire period of the validity of a patent.

License: must be registered.

Compulsory license: may be granted in case of non-working during five years from the date of publication of the grant of a title of protection.

Official license: may be declared by a decision of the Ministry Board of Tajikistan if of public interest.

Assignments: must be registered with the Patent Office.

Infringement: penal provisions provided.