Constitution Republic of Tajikistan states that “Each person has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of society, as well as in artistic, scientific, and technical creation and make use of their achievements. Cultural and spiritual valuables are protected by the government. Intellectual property is under the protection of the law.” (Article 40)

THE DEFINITION OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY AND ITS SUBJECTS
According to the Civil Code Republic of Tajikistan the intellectual property implies property rights and/or personal non-property rights with regard to the outcomes of intellectual activity, means of identification of a civil turnover participants, product identification, implemented works or services (means of identification), and other equated objects.
Legal objects of intellectual property include:
1) Outcomes of the intellectual creative activity:
- Works of science, art, and literature, including electronic software and data-bases;
- Performances, phonograms, programs of air and cable broadcast organizations;
- Inventions, useful models, industrial designs;
- Selection achievements;
- Topologies of microelectronic integrated circuits;
- Information of official or commercial secrecy.
2) Means of identification of a civil turnover participants, goods, works, or services:
- Trade names;
- Trademarks and service marks;
- Places of origin of a commodity and indications of origin;
3) Other outcomes of intellectual creative activity and equated means of
identification protected in accordance with the laws and international treaties of the
Republic of Tajikistan.

COPYRIGHT LAW
The Law “on Copyright and Neighboring rights” governs the relations arising from the creation and exploitation of scientific, literary and artistic works (copyright) and of phonograms, performances and the programs of broadcasting or cable distribution organizations (neighboring rights).
Copyright extends to scientific, literary and artistic works that are the product of creative work, regardless of the purpose, the merit and the manner of expression thereof. Copyright protects disclosed works and also undisclosed works that exist in an objective form, namely:
1) written form (manuscript, typewritten text, musical score, etc.);
2) oral form (public recitation, public performance, etc.);
3) sound or visual recording (mechanical, magnetic, digital, optical, etc.);
4) figurative form (drawing, sketch, painting, plan, industrial design, still picture from a cinematographic
or television or video film, photograph, etc.);
5) three-dimensional form (sculpture, model, mock-up, structure, etc.);
6) any other form.
Ideas, methods, processes, systems, means, concepts, principles, discoveries and facts may not be protected by copyright. The copyright in a work is independent of the ownership of the material object in which the work is expressed. The transfer of the ownership of the material object or of the right of possession of the material object shall not in itself constitute transfer of any copyright in the work embodied in that subject.

THE RIGHTS OF THE PERFORMER SHALL BE RECOGNIZED IF:
1) the performer is a national of the Republic of Tajikistan;
2) the performer is not a national of the Republic of Tajikistan but:
a) the first performance occurred on the territory of the Republic of Tajikistan;
b) the performance has been recorded on a phonogram protected under the provisions of this Law;
c) the performance has not been recorded on a phonogram but is included in a program broadcast
or transmitted by cable that is protected under the provisions of this Law.
The law «On Neighboring Rights» is also applied if:
1) the phonogram producer is a national of the Republic of Tajikistan or a legal entity with headquarters
located on the territory of the Republic of Tajikistan;
2) the phonogram producer is not a national of the Republic of Tajikistan or a legal entity with headquarters
located on the territory of the Republic of Tajikistan but the first publication of the phonogram occurred
on the territory of the Republic of Tajikistan or occurred on the territory of the Republic of Tajikistan
within 30 days from its first publication in the other state.

STATE AUTHORITIES ON COPYRIGHT AND NEIGHBORING RIGHTS
The Agency on Copyright and Neighboring rights is functioning under the Ministry of Culture. The main tasks of the Agency on Copyright and Neighboring rights are, for example, to provide adherence and protection of rights and interests of Tajik and foreign authors and their legal representatives during the usage of scientific, literary and artistic works on the territory of the Republic of Tajikistan; as well as of authors and their legal representatives, who live on the territory of Tajikistan during the usage of their production in the Republic and outside of it; to assist in creation facilities, moral and material suppositions, aimed to protect the rights of authors of scientific, literary and artistic works; to assist to acquaintance of different nations with the best scientific, literary and artistic works of the authors from the Republic of Tajikistan; to develop international cooperation in the field of culture and copyright; etc.

INVENTIONS
Law Republic of Tajikistan “On Inventions” governs the issue on inventions; it regulates property and is connected to it personal non-property relations, appeared due to legal and copyright protection of inventions on the territory of the Republic of Tajikistan. The Law regulates the issues on patentability of inventions, determines the rights of subjects for invention, determines the procedure of application for the issuance of document of title and its period of validity, determines the priority of invention, determines the procedure of application examinations and provides the legal protection, regulates the relations on exclusive right to use the invention.

STATE AUTHORITY ON INVENTION ISSUES
State Authority on protection of the industrial property subjects (Patent Authority), provides the implementation of the united governmental strategy in the field of the legal protection of industrial property subjects, takes the applications on industrial property subjects, conducts the examination on them, implements the state registration and official advertisements about the subjects of the industrial property, issues the documents of title and also implements any other functions which are mentioned in constituent documents of the Patent Authority. There is the Appeal Council of the patent Authority, which is the compulsory primary agency for the settlement of vexed questions in relation to legal protection of industrial property subjects. The Appeal Council exercises its activities on the base of legislation of Republic of Tajikistan and Decree about Appeal Council. The Patent Authority is financed by state budget, procedural fee and also means earned through the patent and information services delivery.

CONDITIONS FOR OBTAINING A PATENT
AND ITS VALIDITY PERIOD FOR AN INVENTION
According to the law and in order to recognize an author’s rights the application should be submitted to the competent state authority. Therefore the invention should meet the conditions of patentability of invention, e.g. the invention shall be recognized as novelty and provided b legal protection according to the legislation. The engineering solution would be recognized as the invention and provided by the legal protection, if it’s novelty and, has the inventive step and industrial applicability. Such conditions were set in order the invention to be new, if it’s not the part of state of the art. The state of art includes any information open to general use in the world before the date of invention priority. The invention has the industrial applicability if it can be used in industry, agriculture, health and other parts of human activity. The right for invention is protected by state and certified by patent or petty patent for the invention (then document of title). The patent for invention is granted upon the conduction of examination and valid during the period of twenty years, starting from the date when the application for invention has been submitted to the Patent Authority. The petty patent is granted upon the conduction of the preliminary examination requested by application for the issuance of petty patent. The petty patent is valid during the ten years from the date when the application for invention has been submitted to the Patent Authority. The document of title certifies the priority, copyright and exclusive right to use the invention

INDUSTRIAL DESIGNS
According to the Law Republic of Tajikistan “About the industrial designs” the industrial designs are the art-engineering solution of the production, which is determining its appearance. At that the production can be hand-made and factory-made. The industrial design would be provided by legal protection if it is new and original. The industrial design would be recognized as new if the complex of its essential principles, presented on the appearance of the production and mentioned in the list of essential characters, is not famous from the information which is open to general use before the date of industrial design priority. During the procedure of novelty’s ascertainment all industrial designs patented in Republic of Tajikistan including the applications submitted for the industrial designs (for the exception of withdrawn applications) from other persons on the assumption of their earlier priority are being taken into account. The industrial design would be recognized as original if its essential characters describe the creative nature of production’s aesthetic features. The character, which determines the aesthetical and/ or human factors of the production’s appearance, its shapes and configuration of the ornamental pattern and colors combinations belong to the essential characters of the industrial design. If the author or any other person who has received the information directly from the author will make the public disclosure of information regarding the industrial design and the data on the essence of industrial design will be open to public use, but the application was submitted to the patent authority six months before the date of information disclosure, it will not be recognized as the circumstance which has the impact on the patentability of the industrial design. At that time the claimer is responsible to prove this circumstance. The following solutions are not recognized as the industrial designs:
- specified by technical function of the production only;
- the subjects of architecture (for the exception of small architectural forms), industrial, hydro technical
and fixed constructions;
- printed output as such;
- the subjects with unstable form made of liquid, gaseous and discrete matters and similar to them matters;
- the production which contradicts to public interests, principals of humanity and moral.

THE STATE AUTHORITY ON INDUSTRIAL DESIGNS ISSUES
The State Authority on protection of industrial property subjects (then patent authority) provides the implementation of united state strategy in field of legal protection of industrial property subjects, in particular the industrial designs, takes the applications for the industrial designs, conducts their examination, implements the state registration and official advertisement of data regarding the industrial designs, grants the patents for the industrial designs and also implements other responsibilities. There is the Appeal Council of the patent Authority, which is the compulsory primary administrative agency for the settlement of vexed questions in relation to legal protection of industrial property subjects. The Appeal Council exercises its activities on the base of legislation of Republic of Tajikistan and Decree about Appeal Council, ratified by the head of Patent Authority.

CONDITIONS FOR OBTAINING A PATENT
AND ITS VALIDITY PERIOD FOR THE INDUSTRIAL DESIGNS
According to the current law the right to use the industrial design is protected by law and certified by patent. The patent for industrial design (them patent) certifies the priority, copyright and exclusive right to use the industrial design. The volume of legal protection provided by the patent is determined by complex of the industrial design essential characters, presented on the appearance of the production (model, picture). The specification of the industrial design is used for the interpretation of the characters. The patent is valid for the period of ten years starting from the date of submission to the competent state authority state authority on the protection of industrial property subjects.

MAIN LEGAL REGULATIONS
- Constitution of the Republic of Tajikistan;
- Civil Code of the Republic of Tajikistan;
- Criminal Code of the Republic of Tajikistan
- «About inventions»;
- «About the industrial designs»;
- «About the trade marks and service marks»;
- «About copyright and neighboring rights»;
- «About publishing right»
- «About protection of consumers»
- «About print and mass media»
- «About publicity»
- «About cinema»
- «About television and broadcasting»

3. By-law:

- Decree «About the minimal sizes of author’s fee for art and graphical work and photographical work for the publishing.»
- Decree «About the minimal sizes of author’s fee for public performance of the work of art and literary, musical compositions in sound (mechanical) transfer, dissemination of sound transfer copies and audiovisual compositions, reproduction of fine arts works and industrial duplication of the arts and crafts works.
- Decree «About the minimal sizes of author’s fee for the edition of scientific works, literary, art and execution of order for the creation of dramatics, musical, musical and dramatics and literary works for public performance or for right to perform it first.
- The regulations on preparation, submission and consideration of the applications for the issuance of patent and petty patent for invention.
- The regulations on preparation, submission and consideration of the applications for the issuance of patent and petty patent for the trade marks and service mark
- The model regulation on rationalization activity
- The temporary provision about the registration of appellation of origin and granting the right to use it.
- The programe of information security provision the Republic of Tajikistan