Like most nations, the United Arab Emirates strives to protect the intellectual property (IP) of its creators and inventors. Governed by the Federal laws of the UAE, intellectual property legislation serves to protect intellectual property against counterfeiting.
As a leader across many industries in the Middle East and throughout the rest of the world, the UAE takes its intellectual property protection very seriously. Since gaining its independence in 1971, the UAE has been a prominent member across various intellectual property conventions and treaties.
Over the years, these memberships have included the following:
- The Madrid Convention
- The World Trade Organization (WTO)
- The Berne Convention
- The Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS)
- The Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT)
- The Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property
- The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)
Alongside these memberships, the UAE is a member of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), a regional intergovernmental political and economic alliance. The role of the GCC is to “promote economic, security, cultural and social cooperation” between the six states within the council (Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates). Under the GCC, the UAE applies protection for patents granted under the GCC Patent Office.
As clearly evident, the UAE takes a strong position towards intellectual property protection. Their leading role in the Middle East and throughout the Gulf Coast region promotes innovation and strategic policies for the protection of intellectual assets.
For businesses looking to derive the most value out of their intellectual property in the UAE, below, we look at the intellectual property protection and enforcement legal system in the UAE.
Forms of intellectual property protection
There are four key intellectual property laws, with each being governed by different sectors of the federal government. These intellectual property laws are as follows:
- Patents: Federal Law No. 17 of 2002 (PDL);
- Designs: Federal Law No. 17 of 2002;
- Copyright: Federal Law No. 7 of 2002 (CRL); and
- Trademarks: Federal Law No. 8 of 2002
These laws protect all intellectual property rights and are enforced in each of the emirates by the Ministry of Economy. What’s more, through its numerous memberships, intellectual property protection in the UAE could have national, regional (GCC), and global application.
This enhances the protection and furthers enforcement mechanisms of intellectual property rights.
Patent Laws
Patent protection is regulated by the Ministry of Economy under Federal Law No.17 of 2002 as later amended by Federal Law No.31 of 2006. Approval for patent protection is determined by the novelty, inventiveness, and uniqueness of the invention in question.
Patent applications can be governed by both the UAE Patent Office and the GCC Patent Office. Each patent route requires a different application. The circumstance of each application and the novelty of the invention will determine the most applicable protection route.
After a substantive examination to determine the patent’s novel, inventive, and unique nature, the patent is put forward for publication in the UAE Official Gazette. This starts a 60-day opposition period where interested third parties can oppose the decision to grant a patent.
If no opposition is filed, the patent is granted. Once granted, the term of protection for the patent is 20 years from the filing date.
Design protection
Similar to patent protection, protection of industrial designs is covered under UAE Federal Law No.17 of 2002, or the UAE Patents and Design Law. Industrial design protection is the main legal vehicle for inventors seeking to protect the intellectual rights of their product design.
There are numerous legal vehicles for industrial design protection and these can cover national, regional, and international protection.
In the UAE, industrial design protection deters third parties from misappropriating the design or using a very similar design to profit through its commercial value. Alongside industrial design laws, other strategic policies could be implemented to further protect other dimensions of the product design. These can include copyrights, trademarks, and patents.
Copyright Laws
Under Federal Law No.7 of 2002 Concerning Copyrights and Neighboring Rights, copyright laws in the UAE protect any original, creative work that is considered:
- Literary
- Artistic
- Scientific
Further, these creative works can be of any kind or manner of expression. Intellectual works covered by copyright protection include, but are not limited to, drawings and similar works of fine art, computer software and applications, books and other various forms of literature, translations of original work, and musicals and other audio and video works.
Copyright protection granted under the law is given once the author submits their original work to the Ministry of Information and Culture’s Intellectual Property Protection Department (IPPD). All work submitted for copyright registration must be original.
Any copyrighted work is protected through the lifetime of the creator and another 50 years following the creator’s death.
Trademark Laws
Trademark protection and enforcement are regulated by Federal Law No.37 of 1992. This law was subsequently amended by Federal Law No. 8 of 2002. Under this legislation, protection includes the name, design or other indicia of origin.
Trademark ownership is used by a seller to distinguish goods and services.
Under Federal Law No.37 of 1992, UAE citizens, foreigners, and other artificial persons practicing commercial, industrial, professional or service business can register their trademark within the UAE.
Penalties for infringement
The UAE’s Ministry of Economy avails protection of all intellectual property. Any party caught breaching intellectual property rights in the UAE can be subject to potential criminal consequences and subsequent fines.
Each emirate is responsible for intellectual property enforcement as there is currently no federal customs authority. Any infringement issues are dealt with through the emirate’s civil court with the support of WIPO and other international enforcement bodies.
AUTHOR BIO
Sharon Danso-Missah is the Head of Marketing at Al Tamimi & Company, the largest law firm in the Middle East, with 17 offices across nine countries. Established in 1989, they are a full service commercial firm combining knowledge, experience and expertise to ensure all clients have access to the best legal solutions that are commercially sound and cost effective.
