Intellectual Property Law in the U.A.E.
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Practice Areas

Obaid Al Falasi & Saeed Bin Ghulaita Advocates & Legal Consultants aim to protect the engine room of their client’s venture before the disaster strikes. The purpose of IP law is to protect the intangible assets of the company that are often a byproduct of human intellect. Intellectual property rights include industrial property rights (like trademarks and patents) and copyrights.

 

From construction to advertising and technology, we cover a large number of areas and assist our clients in development and protection of their brand, protection of design and facilitating license acquisition etc. We also advise on issues related to patents, trademarks, copyrights, trade practices, and intellectual assets management plans.

 

U.A.E. is a member and signatory to TRIPS Agreement since April 1996. The Intellectual Property legislation of the U.A.E. includes Patents and Industrial Designs Law number 44 of 1992 (as amended), Trademarks law number 37 as of 1992, Copyright and Neighboring Rights Law number 40 of 1992.

Trademarks

According to Federal Law No. 37 of 1992 on Trademarks as amended (Arabic), a trademark is any distinguished form of names, words, signatures, letters, figures, graphics, logos, titles, hallmarks, seals, pictures, patterns, announcements, packs or any other marks or group of marks, if they were used or intended to be used either to distinguish goods, products or services from whatever sources, or to indicate that certain services, goods or products belong to the owner of the trademark, because of their provision, manufacturing, selection or trading. The voice accompanying a trademark is considered a part of it.

 

Registration of a trademark:

Ministry of Economy is the competent authority to register trademarks in the UAE. To register a trademark, customer can submit an online application via the ministry’s website.

 

Registration documents include:

  1. Trademark logo
  2. Copy of the commercial license
  3. Power of Attorney
  4. Priority document
  5. Passport copy
  6. Other attachments

 

Who can register a trademark?

According to Federal Law No. 37 of 1992 on Trademarks as amended, the following persons can register their trademarks:

  1. The UAE citizens and natural and artificial persons practicing any commercial, industrial, professional or service business.
  2. Foreigners and natural and artificial persons practicing any commercial, industrial, professional or service business.
  3. Foreigners and natural and artificial persons practicing any commercial, industrial, professional or service business in any country on basis of reciprocity.
  4. Other artificial persons.

Copyrights

According to Federal Law No. 7 of 2002 on Copyrights and related rights, an intellectual work is any original work in the areas of literature, arts or science, whatever its description, form of expression, significance or purpose.

 

The following intellectual works are protected under copyrights law:

1. Books, booklets, articles and other literature
2. Computer software and applications, databases and similar works defined in a decision to be issued by the Minister of Economy
3. Lectures, speeches, sermons and other works of similar nature
4. Plays, musicals and pantomimes
5. Musicals accompanied by dialogues and musicals which are not accompanied by dialogue
6. Audio and video works or audio-visual works
7. Architectural work and architectural plans and drawings
8. Drawings, paintings, sculptures, etchings, lithography, screen printing, reliefs and intaglio prints and other similar works of fine art
9. Photographic work and the likes
10. Works of applied art and plastic art
11. Charts, maps, plans, 3-D modelling for geographical and topographical applications and architectural designs etc.
12. Derivative works, subject to the protection afforded to the work(s) upon which they are based. The protection shall extend to the title of the work, if created, as well as the creative concept devised for broadcast material.

 

Intellectual work registration
Ministry of Economy is the competent authority to register intellectual works in the UAE. To register intellectual works, you can submit an online application via the ministry’s website.

 

Duration of protection
According to Article 20 of Federal Law No. 7 of 2002 on Copyrights and related rights, the economic rights of the author under this Law shall be protected for the duration of his life plus 50 years starting from the first day of the calendar year following his death. Economic rights of applied art works expire after 25 years, which start from the first day of the calendar year following their first publication.

Patents

According to Federal Law No. 31 of 2016, promulgated by Law No. 17 of 2002 on Regulation and Protection of Industrial Property of Patents, Industrial Drawings and Designs, a patent protection in the UAE is granted for any new invention resulting from an innovative idea or innovative improvement of an invention in all fields of technology, provided that such an idea or innovative improvement has a scientific basis and is applicable. The invention shall be deemed industrially applicable in its broadest term if used or utilized in such fields as agriculture, fisheries, handicrafts and services.

 

Examples of patents that are not protected include:
1. Researches, plant and animal species, and biological methods for production of animal and plant excluding microbiological methods and their products
2. Diagnostic methods, treatments and surgical operations needed for humans and animals
3. Scientific and mathematical principles, discoveries and methods
4. Guidelines, rules or methods followed to conduct business, perform mental activities or play games
5. Invention that may lead to violation of public order or morals.

 

Registration of patents
International Centre for Patent Registration (ICPR) under Ministry of Economy is the competent authority to register patents in the UAE. To register a patent, you can submit an online application via the ministry’s website. Learn about the documents required for registration of a patent on the website of Ministry of Economy.