Uzbekistan’s New Alphabet from 22 April 2027: What Businesses Should Do About Trademarks, Signs and Company Names

As of November 2026, a business in Uzbekistan does not need to change anything urgently because of the new alphabet. Law No. ZRU-1184 of 21 October 2026 replaces the 26 letters and 3 letter combinations of Uzbek Latin script with 28 letters and an apostrophe (Sh, Ch, O‘ and G‘ become Ş, Ç, Ö and Ğ), takes effect on 22 April 2027, and expressly keeps documents issued under the former alphabet valid. A trademark certificate runs for 10 years from the filing date (Art. 21 of Law No. 267-II) and does not lapse because the spelling changes. The law does not oblige anyone to re-register a mark, change a company name or replace a sign. Transition deadlines will come in a Cabinet of Ministers programme due within two months; whether it covers private signs is not yet known. Protecting the new spelling of your brand is a sensible step at the owner’s option, not a requirement.

In short

• What changed. Law ZRU-1184 of 21 October 2026 amends only Article 1 of the 1993 law on the Latin-based Uzbek alphabet: 28 letters and 1 apostrophe instead of 26 letters and 3 combinations. Sh, Ch, O‘ and G‘ become Ş, Ç, Ö and Ğ. It takes effect on 22 April 2027.
• There is no duty for business now. The law has four articles, and none expressly mentions the trademarks, company names or signs of private companies. It only says that the former letter forms in documents issued before the law takes effect do not prevent their validity and circulation (Art. 2).
• A trademark in the old spelling stays protected until the certificate expires. Filing the new spelling of a brand makes sense if the name contains Sh, Ch, O‘ or G‘, but it is your choice, not a legal requirement.
• Signs. The existing rule (Art. 20 of the State Language Law) requires the state language on signs. No replacement deadline for private signs exists as of 9 November 2026; whether the Cabinet of Ministers programme will cover them is not yet known.
• The company name does not need to change. If you decide to change the spelling, it is an amendment to the constitutive documents and registration, not an automatic procedure.
• The next checkpoint is the Cabinet of Ministers programme: by law it is approved within two months (the law does not say from which date; counting from signature on 21 October 2026 points to the end of December 2026).

What exactly Law ZRU-1184 changed

Law No. ZRU-1184 “On Amending the Law ‘On the Introduction of the Uzbek Alphabet Based on Latin Script’” was signed by the President on 21 October 2026 (adopted by the Legislative Chamber on 7 July 2026, approved by the Senate on 10 September 2026). It amends Law No. 931-XII of 2 September 1993. It has four articles:

• Article 1 introduces an Uzbek alphabet of 28 letters and 1 apostrophe (tutuq belgisi) in place of 26 letters and 3 combinations. The letter table is set out in the article itself: it has Ş, Ç, Ö and Ğ in place of Sh, Ch, O‘ and G‘, and no longer has the combination Ng.
• Article 2 is transitional. The former letter forms in documents issued before the law takes effect, in the national currency and in securities do not prevent their validity and circulation. Symbols and other attributes of state bodies and organisations, the relief image of the state emblem on their buildings, signs and pointers bearing names of geographic objects, and other items and sources determined by the Cabinet of Ministers are used until they become unusable or until the deadline set by the programme of measures.
• Article 3 instructs the Cabinet of Ministers to ensure implementation, bring government decisions into line with the law and, within two months, develop and approve a programme of measures for implementing it.
• Article 4 — the law takes effect six months after official publication; it was published in the National Database of Legislation on 21 October 2026, and lex.uz gives 22 April 2027 as the effective date.

The spelling rules, the transition deadlines by sector and the procedure for business are not in the text of the law; under Art. 2, deadlines are set by the programme of measures. As of 9 November 2026 we could not find its text.

For illustration: “Chinor” becomes “Çinor”, “Shifo” becomes “Şifo”, “G‘alaba” becomes “Ğalaba”, and “O‘rda” becomes “Örda”. This shows the letter replacement only and is not official orthography: how specific words are written will be set by the spelling rules.

Who is affected: three kinds of business

Note: a mark in a foreign language registered in the established procedure may be shown in advertising in its original language (Art. 6 of the Advertising Law, discussed below); signs remain subject to the state-language requirement (Art. 20 of the State Language Law).

Trademarks: what happens to protection

Does protection of a mark in the old spelling continue

Yes. Law No. 267-II of 30 August 2001 “On Trademarks, Service Marks and Appellations of Origin” (edition as of 8 August 2026) provides that a trademark certificate is valid for ten years from the filing date (Art. 21) and may be renewed, each time for ten years, on an application filed during the last year of validity (Art. 22). The owner has the exclusive right to use and dispose of the mark (Art. 26). Law ZRU-1184 does not change these provisions, and it does not provide for protection ending because the alphabet has changed. The grounds for early termination are different: a court decision where the mark has not been used continuously for the last three years, liquidation of a legal-entity right holder (also by court decision), the owner’s application or a decision of the Appeals Council (Art. 25).

Should you file the mark in the new spelling

No, there is no obligation. But there is a practical logic, which you should assess for your own brand.

• Protection attaches to the registered sign. If “Chinor” is registered and a year from now customers start searching for and writing “Çinor”, the new spelling is a different rendering of the word. The law does not say it is automatically protected as the same mark, and there is no practice on the new alphabet yet.
• Amending the certificate. Under Article 23 the owner notifies the Ministry of Justice of changes to individual elements of the mark that do not alter its essence, and the Ministry records the change in the certificate. Whether replacing Ch with Ç in a word mark counts as such a “non-essential change” or requires a new application, the law does not explain, and as of 9 November 2026 we found no clarification from the agency. Do not rely on amending the entry without first checking with the Ministry of Justice.
• Non-use. If you switch fully to the new spelling and stop using the registered one, the mark can be challenged for non-use after three years (Art. 25, para. 3). Use means applying the mark to goods and their packaging; use in advertising and on signs may also be recognised as use (Art. 27). So it is better to secure the new spelling by a separate registration rather than by replacement.

Conclusion: a new application is insurance, not a requirement. Consider it in particular for brands that earn you money, for marks before a sale or franchise, and for anything with Sh, Ch, O‘ or G‘ in the name.

The risk that a competitor registers the new spelling of your brand

The risk exists, but the law limits it. Registration is refused if the sign is identical or confusingly similar to a mark earlier registered or filed in the name of another person for homogeneous goods (Art. 10(1), item 13). The examination checks compliance with Article 10 (Art. 15(3)). The law does not define “similarity” by alphabet, so the following is our professional assessment, not a rule: “Çinor” and “Chinor” sound and read the same, and in our view the examination has grounds to treat them as similar. But the finding on similarity is made by the examination (the Intellectual Property Centre under the Ministry of Justice) and is not a foregone conclusion; the decision can be appealed to the Appeals Council of the Ministry of Justice within three months (Art. 16).

The practical risk is different: a competitor’s application can get through if the class of goods does not match or you have no registration at all. Without a registration, priority goes to whoever files first (Art. 12: by the date of filing with the Ministry), so protecting the brand under the new alphabet is first of all a question of registration, not of swapping letters.

Infringement of the exclusive right to a mark includes use of a sign confusingly similar to it for homogeneous goods. The right holder may claim damages or compensation of 20 to 1,000 basic calculation units (BRV) (Art. 26); at a BRV of UZS 440,000 that is UZS 8,800,000 to UZS 440,000,000. The amount is set by agreement of the parties or by the court.

What to do, step by step

• Check what is registered: in which spelling, for which classes of goods and services, and when the term expires.
• Establish whether the brand contains Sh, Ch, O‘ or G‘. If not, no additional action is usually needed because of the alphabet.
• Run a search of the trademark register for the new spelling: is it still available, and is anyone else’s sign too close.
• File for the new spelling in the main classes if the brand is valuable. The procedure and timelines are described on the trademark and patent page.
• Watch the renewal date of the old mark: the application is filed during the last year of the certificate’s validity.

Signs

What the law requires now

The State Language Law (of 21 October 1989, new edition of 21 December 1995, No. 167-I) provides in Article 20 that texts of signs, notices, price tags and other visual and oral information are drawn up and announced in the state language and may be duplicated in other languages. This requirement applies already, regardless of the alphabet, including to signs only in Russian or English.

According to Spot.uz, citing the Competition Committee, 16,057 sites were inspected in nine months of 2026 and 4,496 violations found, including 2,344 signs and notices not in the state language (we did not find the primary source). Language inspections of signs are already under way and have nothing to do with the alphabet.

What the advertising law says about marks

Article 6 of the Advertising Law No. ZRU-776 of 7 June 2022 requires advertising in Uzbekistan to be distributed in the state language; translation into other languages is allowed on conditions: the translation must not distort the meaning, on outdoor advertising it is placed at the bottom, horizontally, and takes up no more than 40% of the area, and its letters must be smaller than those of the state-language text. The last part of the article separately allows trademarks and service marks registered in the established procedure, and typeset logos, to be shown in the language in which they were originally made. That is one argument for registration: a registered mark may be shown in advertising in its original language. Whether this exception also applies to a sign, the law does not say directly; check it for the specific sign.

Must signs be replaced from 22 April 2027

Law ZRU-1184 names no deadline for replacing private signs. The Art. 2 rule “until they become unusable or until the programme deadline” covers the items it lists (attributes of state bodies and organisations, signs and pointers bearing names of geographic objects) and other items determined by the Cabinet of Ministers; private signs are not expressly named. A deadline for them, if one appears, will be in the programme or in government decisions brought into line with the law. So the honest answer is this: as of 9 November 2026 there is no duty to replace signs because of the alphabet, and what changes after 22 April 2027 depends on the programme; do not order a mass replacement before it is published. If you are updating a sign anyway (a new shop, a rebrand, wear and tear), plan for Uzbek text in the new spelling.

Company name and constitutive documents

Law No. ZRU-51 of 18 September 2006 “On Company Names” does not tie the name to an alphabet: the name must indicate the legal form and must not contain prohibited designations or designations identical or confusingly similar to earlier registered company names and trademarks (Arts. 3, 4). The exclusive right arises on state registration (Arts. 3, 5). Law ZRU-1184 does not change these rules, and the Civil Code (Art. 1098) says the company name is stated in the constitutive documents.

In practice: you do not need to change the name in the charter because of letters. If you decide to change the spelling, it is done as an amendment to the constitutive documents. When choosing the new spelling, apply the similarity rule: the new name must not resemble other people’s earlier registered names and marks.

Contracts, certificates, seals

Article 2 of Law ZRU-1184 is clear: documents issued under the former alphabet remain valid and in circulation. You do not have to re-sign contracts or change details because of the new letters. The only thing to think about is consistency: when agencies and banks move to the new spelling, earlier records will have to be matched with the new ones. No deadlines for that transition have been set yet, so as of 9 November 2026 this is only a reason to check how your name is written in contracts, registers and bank data.

Table: what is mandatory and what is optional

Common mistakes

• Panic and urgent replacement of signs. Law ZRU-1184 sets no deadline for private companies to replace signs; transition deadlines will come in the programme, which has not yet been published.
• Assuming the mark “disappears”. The certificate is valid for ten years from the filing date; the alphabet law does not touch it.
• Abandoning the old spelling entirely without protecting the new one. After three years the mark can be challenged for non-use, and the new spelling stays open to someone else’s application.
• Skipping the search before filing. The new spelling may turn out to be close to someone else’s mark; a search costs from UZS 1,000,000.
• Confusing the language of the sign with the alphabet. The state-language requirement for signs exists regardless of the new alphabet, and inspections under it are already running.
• Changing the name needlessly. That is the cost of amending constitutive documents that the law does not require.

How Pactum helps

• We check what you have and what the brand is exposed to: which marks are registered, for which classes, when the term ends, and whether the name contains Sh, Ch, O‘ or G‘ — a trademark search from UZS 1,000,000.
• We prepare the application for the new spelling of the brand and handle it at the Ministry: trademark registration from UZS 6,000,000 (depends on the number of classes; patent fees are paid separately).
• If you need the brand abroad, we handle international registration of the mark from UZS 6,000,000.
• We track the Cabinet of Ministers programme and let you know if it sets deadlines for signs. The outcome of examination is decided by the state body; we do not promise it.

Learn more on the trademark and patent page or at a lawyer consultation: 60 minutes, UZS 300,000, credited toward the cost of the service. Phone +998 78 113 81 01, Telegram, info@pactum.uz, office: 21 Afrosiyob Street, Tashkent.

FAQ

Do I need to re-register my trademark because of the new alphabet?

No. Law ZRU-1184 does not provide for re-registration of marks: the certificate is valid for ten years from the filing date (Art. 21 of Law 267-II) and is renewed each time for ten years. Applying for the new spelling of a brand is optional, to protect that spelling.

Do I have to change my sign after 22 April 2027?

As of 9 November 2026, no: Law ZRU-1184 sets no deadline for replacing private signs. Transition deadlines will be set by the programme that the Cabinet of Ministers must approve within two months (Art. 3); whether it covers private signs will be clear once it is published. The requirement to write signs in the state language (Art. 20 of the State Language Law) applies regardless of the alphabet.

Will my contracts and documents remain valid?

Yes. Article 2 of Law ZRU-1184: documents issued under the former alphabet remain valid and in circulation. You do not need to re-sign contracts.

Can a competitor register the new spelling of my brand?

They can try, but refusal is provided for where the sign is confusingly similar to an earlier registered mark for homogeneous goods (Art. 10(1), item 13). If your mark is not in the register, there is no protection at all, and priority is set by the filing date (Art. 12). Nobody can guarantee the result of an examination.

Do I need to change my company name and charter?

No. The Law on Company Names does not tie the name to an alphabet, and Law ZRU-1184 does not change it. If you want to change the spelling, you will need to amend the constitutive documents and registration.

Can I keep my mark in English or Cyrillic on a sign?

A mark registered in the established procedure may be shown in advertising in the language in which it was made (Art. 6 of the Advertising Law). For a sign, Art. 20 of the State Language Law applies: the state language is mandatory, and duplication in other languages is allowed. Check the line between advertising and a sign with a lawyer in a specific case.

How much does it cost to protect the new spelling of a brand?

At Pactum, trademark registration starts from UZS 6,000,000 and a search of the trademark register from UZS 1,000,000; the amount depends on the number of classes, and patent fees are paid separately.

Sources

• Law No. ZRU-1184 of 21 October 2026 amending the Law “On the Introduction of the Uzbek Alphabet Based on Latin Script” (in Uzbek)
• Law No. 267-II of 30 August 2001 “On Trademarks, Service Marks and Appellations of Origin”, Arts. 7, 8, 10, 12, 15, 16, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27 (in Russian)
• State Language Law (edition of 21 December 1995, No. 167-I), Arts. 20, 24 (in Russian)
• Law No. ZRU-776 of 7 June 2022 “On Advertising”, Art. 6 (in Russian)
• Law No. ZRU-51 of 18 September 2006 “On Company Names”, Arts. 3, 4, 5 (in Russian)
• Civil Code (part two), Arts. 1098, 1100 (in Russian)
• Presidential Decree No. UP-115 of 23 June 2026: BRV UZS 440,000 from 1 September 2026 (in Uzbek)
• News as leads only: Gazeta.uz, 21 October 2026; Spot.uz, 21 October 2026