Patent In The United Arab Emirates

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In the past three decades, the United Arab Emirates has undergone a significant transformation. It seeks to become a worldwide business center with a more active and varied market, and it appears to have achieved its goals. Modernizing patent law is one step in that direction. 

Although patent litigation and other forms of compliance are still in their infancy. Detailed information on the registration process for patents in the UAE is available here.

Table of Contents

Introduction 

An invention that is technological or scientific is entitled to IP protection in the UAE in the form of patent registration. The laws of patent registration in the UAE, however, do not provide IP protection for some ideas, including surgical concepts, treatments, and diagnostic procedures. Furthermore, in the UAE, methods, discoveries, and concepts of science and mathematics are not protected by patents. 

The UAE’s competent government authority that oversees and manages the process of patent registration is known as the Ministry of Economy, or MoE. An inventor or innovator can protect their patented innovation from anyone who tries to exploit it improperly by registering a patent in the UAE. The patent is regarded as a deed of protection given to an original inventor by the UAE Ministry of Economy. 

A Brief Timeline 

In order to ensure that patentees can introduce their inventions to the region with the assurance that their intellectual property rights are well-protected, the United Arab Emirates, which is a member of the Paris Union, has implemented a strong patent law that allows innovators and inventors to choose from a wide variety of inventions specified within said governing law.  

Federal Law No. 44, which was promptly implemented, was the first and main patent law pertaining to industrial regulation and the protection of patents, industrial drawings, and designs. Federal Law No. 17 was subsequently created as a result of this being altered in 2002 and revised in 2006. 

The UAE has published Federal Law No. 11 of 2021 (referred to as “the Law”), which governs and protects industrial property rights. Law No. 17 of 2002, the previous patent law, is repealed by this law. The amendments seem to harmonize the UAE’s patent law with other countries’ patent laws. The two most significant changes are the addition of an extra 12 months of grace for disclosures of inventions before filing and the expedited review of “urgent applications.” 

Eligibility Criteria For Filing Patent In The UAE 

Any inventive creation that comes about as a result of an evolutionary process or stage is eligible for patent protection in the UAE Ministry provided that the technology has documented commercial uses. Arabic and English are the two official languages of a UAE patent application. These translations need to be provided when the application is filed. 

Documents Required For Filing A Patent In The UAE 

  • A power of attorney duly legalized within 90 days from the filing date.
  • If the applicant is a company, a duly legalized extract from the Commercial Register or the Memorandum of Association must be presented. 
  • A copy of the English specification and claims with its Arabic translation. 
  • A set of drawings related to the invention. 
  • An abstract of the invention. 
  • A duly legalized deed of assignment signed by the inventor, in case the applicant is not the inventor. 
  • A certified copy of the application that shows the filing date, number, and country. 

Registration Of A Patent In The UAE 

An applicant must go through a number of stages in order to file a patent in the UAE. A specified collection of documents and other specifications must be submitted with the initial submission. The main steps in submitting a patent application in the UAE are as follows:

Patent in the United Arab Emirates

Detailed information regarding the service fees, required documents, and procedure for the registration of a patent in UAE are available here.  

The International Centre for Patent Registration (ICPR), which is part of the Ministry of Economy, is where the applicants must submit their applications. This procedure is carried out on behalf of the applicants by patent registration agents. The application form and description are necessary for patent registration in the UAE.  

Additionally, complete idea descriptions, any accompanying illustrations, and bibliographic information should be given. If any supporting documentation is missing after the MoE has reviewed the application, the applicants will have 90 days to resubmit it. For both individuals and businesses, the cost to file a patent registration in the UAE may be different. 

The applicants can get the most recent information on filing fees from the UAE patent registration agencies. It takes a long time to get a patent since ideas and inventions must be thoroughly and formally examined. The full procedure could take a month to finish. 

If everything is in order, the patent grant is distributed and published in the Official Gazette of the United Arab Emirates as well as the Industrial Property Publication till the day it has been authorized. 

Once this has been completed, an inquiry will be launched to examine whether the patent grant complies with federal statutory requirements and whether the innovation or method is new, inventive, and serves its intended industrial purpose. A patent that has been approved is valid for 20 years, starting on the formal filing date. After that time, however, the duration of the patent cannot be prolonged. 

Hurdles And Mitigations  

The most frequent hurdles encountered throughout the procedure and easy strategies to mitigate are as follows: 

  • The applicant must make sure that the functionality of his or her invention is precisely described in writing. No information is unnecessary. It is usually advisable writing the paper in “narrative form”; that is, describe what gave you the inspiration to create a prototype of your innovation, the issues it is intended to address, and the technical features that make it useful, distinctive, and marketable. 
  • Ideally, your invention will have a working prototype or formula. To convince your assigned examiner at the local PTO, it is essential that the technical aspects of your invention be fully documented and should support all justifications for their practical use. 
  • You must make sure that your entity’s articles of association are properly written and notarized if you are submitting a patent application under a commercial license. 
  • You must submit an evidence summary that demonstrates how your idea can be used in an industrial context in addition to the main technical document. Pro-Tip: Don’t write more than 200 words. 
  • You must obtain a Power of Attorney that has been properly legalized and notarized in favor of your chosen patent representative in the event that you have designated a patent agent to represent your application before local authorities, which we hope you have done. 
  • You will need a letter of consent from the owner of the prior art if your invention is an extension of a patent that has already been awarded; getting this letter is essential to avoiding rejections right away. 
  • You must additionally produce authenticated copies of the issued patent certificates if your patent was granted in a jurisdiction other than the UAE. 

Conclusion 

Although the UAE receives patent applications from a variety of industries, they are currently mostly centered in the petrochemical, pharmaceutical, and computer technology fields. The development of the real estate, construction, tourism, food and beverage, and banking sectors will be significantly impacted by the diversification and expansion of the UAE economy, even if these traditional industries will continue to expand in the UAE.

General manufacturing, industrial machinery, transport equipment, and ICT equipment would all likely experience faster growth as a result of the UAE’s ambitions to make significant investments in its own infrastructure. Healthcare, energy, and aviation are further industries sponsored by UAE government officials and are predicted to experience significant growth.

It would be wise for anyone conducting business in the UAE or wanting to do so to think about obtaining patent protection there as a way to safeguard their financial investments and acquire a competitive advantage.

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