Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- The public criticized "the most creative graphic symbol that vividly expresses the uniqueness of the sign of the national currency of Uzbekistan" after the announcement of the winner of the competition. The fact is that the new sign of the Uzbek soum is very similar to the sign of the French company IN-CORE Systemes. "Plagiarism" in the innovation was commented by the Ministry of Justice.

According to representatives of the ministry, the legal protection of intellectual property is territorial. The object of intellectual property enjoys legal protection in a particular state, and a trademark can be protected by law after proper registration.

“The trademark of the French company IN-CORE Systemes is not registered as a trademark in Uzbekistan and is not protected. Therefore, violation of intellectual property rights is not allowed,” the department noted.

It is noted that signs similar to the French IN-CORE Systemes logo are also used in a number of other countries of the world (USA, Canada, South Korea, Italy, Germany and India). 

The competition for the development of the soum symbol was announced in early February. It was noted that the purpose of this competition is "to increase the international prestige of the national currency of Uzbekistan - the sum in the financial markets and ensure its recognition among the general public."

More than 16 thousand applications were received for the competition.

During the competition, the jury relied on the following criteria for evaluating projects: uniqueness and originality; universality; recognition; symbolic and distinctive aspects; ease of graphic perception of the symbol in various formats.