Miss IP experts introduce to you all you need to know about the new Intellectual Property legal reform in the UAE. The IP laws’ reformations approved by the president of the UAE, His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan are steps on the path of creating a more investment friendly sphere for foreign investors in the UAE or those studying the prospects of moving businesses to the country or those working on setting up new businesses in the UAE.

The reformations included many points but the significantly important points for IP laws are  in the answer to the following question.

What are the areas of the reformations and amendments to the Intellectual Properties law in the UAE?

The improvements touch base with great improvements to the legal environment itself. They include three main pinpoints: Trademarks Law, Industrial Property Rights Law and UAE Joining the Madrid System

  • What are the legal reformations relating to Trademark law?

The UAE government amended the federal law concerning trademarks in an effort to expand the capacity and area of protection to enclose three-dimensional trademarks, holograms, and sound trademarks.

Moreover, the trademark law reformation includes registration of geographical names of trademarks or names that are associated with specific geographic regions or their names or countries or their names and countries or regions which are renowned for producing certain products.

Among the trademark law improvements, comes the eradication of the requirement or the condition of having a trade license for the trademark registration to be permissible. As a result, this allows owners of Small and medium-sized enterprises a temporary safeguard protecting the trademark of their products and entities during participation in exhibitions, showcases, etc. In addition to that, under the new trademark law reformation, multiclass applications are permitted.

  • What are the Industrial Property Rights Law in the light of the newly allowed amendments?

The new industrial property rights law brings substantial modifications to the spotlight. The significant changes concern the utility certificate which could be converted into a patent application. This could happen by complying with the conditions set out by the executive regulations of the law.

In addition to that, disclosure of information by the inventor or by a third party who obtained the information directly or indirectly from the inventor shall not affect the process of obtaining a patent if this occurred within – 1 year –  12 months before the date of filing the application.

With regards to the industrial design, it is considered new only when it has not been disclosed to the public, prior to the filing date of the application, whether by publication, use, or any other method.

Additionally, the new law prolongs the period of protection for the industrial design to 20 years starting from the date of submission of the application. Conversely, the integrated Circuit Layout Designs can be filed in the UAE and the term of protection is as long as 10 years.

  • What is the Madrid System and how does the UAE Join the Madrid System?

The Madrid System is a convenient and cost-effective solution for registering and managing trademarks worldwide. File a single application and pay one set of fees to apply for protection in up to 126 countries. It allows a business to modify, renew, or expand a global trademark portfolio through one centralized system.

In what has been a long-awaited development, the United Arab Emirates agreed to join the Madrid Protocol on September 28, 2021. The UAE is now the 109th member of the Madrid System, and the 3rd country in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), alongside Bahrain and Oman on joining the Madrid Union. It is important to mention that provisional refusals, oppositions and appeals of international registrations will still require a local representative and there is more to be covered and clarified with experience and solid knowledge base.

Miss IP experts are proudly providing services with over 10 years’ experience on hand and unmatched knowledge base, providing unparalleled legal services and consultancy in the Middle East, Asia, Africa, and Europe for all the ventures related to trademark services, patent, design, copyright relevant services, and anticounterfeit.