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INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS IN UAE

Algeria Flag

Opposition Term

30 Days

Registration Term

10 Years

First Renewal Term

10 Years

Subsequent Renewal Term

10 Years

  • Trademarks in the UAE are well protected by Federal Trademark Law No. 37 of 1992 (amended by Federal Law No. 8 of 2002) (‘Trademark Law’). The Trademark Law contains a range of provisions outlining the procedural steps required to register a trademark and the penalties for breach.

  • For getting a trademark registered in UAE, an application has to be filed with the Trade Mark Section of the Ministry of Economy and Commerce, which administers the entire trademark registration process.

  • UAE follows the 10th edition of Nice Classification. Multi-class trademark applications are not acceptable.

  • The trademark regime of UAE is based on the principle of ‘first-to-file,’ which means that mere usage of a trademark at an anterior date does not create any right in favour of the user.

  • Third parties (i.e., the trademark owners of conflicting marks or pre-existing rights) are legally entitled to challenge the acceptance decision and lodge administrative oppositions against a trademark application before the Trademark Office within thirty (30) days from its publication date.

  • The UAE trademark registration is valid for ten (10) years from the filing date, which can be further renewed for successive periods of ten (10) each years by submitting a request within the last year of the validity term or within a grace period of three (03) months from the registration expiry date.

  • Trademark registrations can be cancelled on the grounds of non-use within five (05) consecutive years from the registration date.

  • The UAE is a member of various international conventions and treaties, including the World Intellectual Property Organization Convention (WIPO), the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), the Paris Convention for Protection of Industrial Property, the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).

  • Patent protection in the UAE is regulated under Federal Law No.17 of 2002 on Regulation and Protection of Industrial Property of Patents, Industrial Drawings, and Designs, as later amended by Federal Law No.31 of 2006.

  • For seeking patent protection in UAE, an application has to be filed with the the UAE Ministry of Economy, Intellectual Property Protection Department (IPPD), which administers the entire process of patent grant.

  • In UAE, an invention that satisfies the conditions of originality, novelty, inventive step, and industrial applicability, subjects to patentability. Process patent and product patent are the two types of patents that can be protected.

  • The types of patent applications that can be filed include Non-Convention Application and Convention Application.

  • In UAE, an opposition against a patent application can be raised at the pre-grant stage within sixty (60) days approximately.

  • Patent protection lasts for twenty (20) years from the date of filing the application. The law does not provide for extension of the term beyond this period. Annuity fees are payable at the beginning of each year of protection starting from the year following the date of filing the application. These must be paid within a period of three (03) months. Another grace period of three (03) months is allowed with a late fee. The annuity fees must be paid even where the application is waiting to be granted.

  • Federal Law No. (31) for the year 2006 pertaining to the Industrial Regulation and Protection of Patents, Industrial Drawings, and Designs - governs and deals with the mechanism of registration of industrial designs in UAE.

  • For getting an industrial design registered in UAE, an application has to be filed with the IPPD, which administers the entire process of registration.

  • The types of industrial design applications that can be filed in UAE include Non-Convention Application and Convention Application.

  • Utility model protection isn't provided under industrial design protection in the nation.

  • Oppositions must be filed within sixty (60) days of publication. Grounds for opposition include that the design does not meet the requirements for registration or the applicant is not entitled to the design.

  • Protection lasts for ten (10) years from the date of application. The annuity fees must be paid.

  • The grace period to renew an industrial design after the date of expiry is six (06) months.

  • UAE is a signatory to the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works.

  • Copyright registration is possible in UAE only after the creation of the copyright object in accordance with UAE Federal Law No. (7) of the year 2002 concerning Copyrights and Neighbouring Rights.

  • In UAE, copyright comes into existence as soon as the work is created. No formality is required to be done for obtaining copyright protection. However, the right can be registered in favour of the copyright object in UAE by filing a simple form and depositing one sample of the work with the one of two organizations, namely the UAE Ministry of Economy (Copyright Department) - within one (01) to three (03) months and the Dubai Copyright Office (official representation of International Online Copyright Office - INTEROCO, European Union) within ten (10) days.

  • Copyright under the Law no. 7 of UAE is valid for the lifetime of the right holder or the author. The copyright passes on to the successor of the author after his or her death and is valid for fifty (50) years. In case the rights holder is a corporate body, the right owned is for fifty (50) years. Also, if the works of an author are published after his or her death, the validity of the copyright is again for fifty (50) years.

  • For broadcasting organizations, the protection term expires twenty (20) years after the start of the succeeding calendar year from the date of the first transmission.

  • The financial rights of the producers of sound recordings are protected for a period of fifty (50) years as of the beginning of the calendar year subsequent to the year in which the recording has been published or the year in which the recording has been fixed, if not published.