Hugo Boss, Puma and Tommy Hilfiger sue counterfeit producers in Uzbekistan for trademark theft

The ruling was announced by the Intellectual Property Center under the Ministry of Justice.

On April 1, the Surkhandarya regional economic court ruled in favor of a lawsuit filed by representatives of Germany’s Hugo Boss AG and Puma SE, along with Netherlands-based Tommy Hilfiger Licensing BV. The international firms sought legal protection for their trademarks after discovering that the defendants had sold infringing apparel and utilized the brands in unauthorized advertising without any licensing agreements.

According to the court's decision, the defendants must pay UZS 61.8 million in direct compensation to the plaintiffs. When state duties, court fees, and postal costs are included, the total recovery amount exceeds UZS 111 million. In addition to the financial penalties, the court ordered the defendants to cease all unlawful use of the trademarks. All counterfeit goods, including packaging and promotional materials, are to be withdrawn from circulation and destroyed.

This ruling follows a series of enforcement actions by the Ministry of Justice. In 2025, the ministry reported at least four trademark violations involving the Boss brand alone. These cases ranged from a shop owner being forced to remove unauthorized signage to the seizure of knitwear products from a firm labeled as P.B. Late last year, further violations involving various international trademarks resulted in combined fines totaling UZS 370 million. In a separate instance, a company identified as D.W. was ordered to destroy 173 counterfeit items, with the court awarding UZS 20 million in compensation to the German rights holders.