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Intellectual Property Rights in UAE

With growing modernisation and cut throat competition across the globe, the importance of Intellectual property Rights (IPR) have grown manifold. Intellectual Property rights refers to the exclusive rights which are given to a person over the creations of his/her mind. The UAE has a well structured Intellectual property (IP) mechanism in the country which is governed by various federal laws. The chief legislations include Federal Law No. 44 of 1992 (Patents and Industrial  Designs Laws), Federal Law No. 37 of 1992 (Trademarks law) and Federal Law number 7 of 2002 (Copyright and Related Laws). All these legislations are in  compliance with the WTO TRIPS (Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights) agreement.

  • Trademark

As Per Federal Law No  37 of 1992, a trademark could be any name, sign, graphic, symbol, phrase or logo, that can be used to uniquely identify one goods and services from the another. If a voice is associated with a trademark, then it is considered as a part of it.

Registration of Trademark

The Ministry of Economy deals with all the matters of Trademarks in the country. Any UAE citizen, foreign national, or artificial persons practicing any commercial, industrial or professional services can make an application for registering the trademark. The applicant also needs to deposit some documents which includes, trademark logo, a copy of the commercial licence, power of Attorney, Priority documents and passport copy.

  • Copyrights

As per Federal Law No. 7 of 2002, a copyright refers to the original work of authorship in the area of science, art or literature. The following things can be protected under the copyright law

  1. Books, articles, and research papers

2.Computer Software and application.

  1. Recordings of Lectures, speeches and Seminars
  2. Audio, video or audio-visual works.
  3. Architectural works including plans and drawings.
  4. Photographic Works
  5. Derivative works, Charts, maps, etc

Just like trademark, the copyrights are also registered with the Ministry of Economy. Article 20 of the Federal Law No. 7 of 2002 states that the copyright work is not only protected for the lifetime of the applicant but will also be considered his authorship for 50 years after his death.

  • Patent

The federal Law No. 44 of 1992 deals with the Patent. It is an exclusive Intellectual property right which is granted for such an invention that offers a new way of doing something.  A patent is generally granted for those inventions which have a wide industrial implication and can be used in the field of agriculture, manufacturing or the service sector. However, if an invention contravenes the public policy, it will not be declared as a valid Patent.

The International Centre for Patent Registration (ICPR) under the Ministry of Economy governs all the matters relating to patents in the country. A patent is protected for a maximum period of 20 years and annual annuity payments must be made by the patent holder to protect his right.

For resolving any disputes relating to Intellectual Property matters, a special circuit court is established in the UAE.

So, If you want to register your trademark, copyright, or patent, you should consult with a legal advisor.