Uzbek Enterprise Fined for Imitating the Well-Known No-Spa Brand

Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) — The Agency for Intellectual Property of the Republic of Uzbekistan has imposed a substantial fine on a local enterprise for using a brand that imitates a globally recognized pharmaceutical product.

The inspection of the manufacturer was launched following a complaint from the Hungarian company Opella Healthcare Hungary Kft., which holds the trademark rights to No-Spa. A market review revealed that a local entrepreneur had begun producing pharmaceutical products under the name “Dro-Shpa.”

Experts from the agency determined that the new designation is “confusingly similar” to the original brand. The use of such a phonetically similar name infringes the intellectual property rights of the foreign rights holder and poses risks to consumers, who may mistake the counterfeit product for the established medicine.

For violating intellectual property rights, the legal entity was fined 200 base calculation units, amounting to 82.4 million soums.