The Constitution of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) of 1971 is the fundamental law of the UAE social and political systems, including the basic rules of political and constitutional institutions of the country. The Constitution contains the relevant provisions of private rights and intellectual property protection. The UAE IP Laws include the Federal Law No. 37 of 1992 on Trademarks (as amended by Law No. 19 of 2000 and Law No. 8 of 2002). The UAE joined the "Paris Convention" in September 1996, and adopted the 10th Edition of the Nice Classification of Goods & Services. Main IP Laws also include the Federal Law No. 7 of the Year 2002 Concerning Copyrights and Neighboring Rights. The UAE's first patent-related law is the Federal Law No. 44 of 1992 for Organizing and Protection of Industrial Property for Patents, Designs and Industrial Models.

The UAE has also issued a series of laws and regulations related to the protection of intellectual property rights, such as the Law No. 5 of 1973 on Commercial Register, the Federal Law No. 8 of 1980 on Regulation of Labour Relation, and the Federal Law No. 17 of 2009 on the Protection of New Plant Varieties.

UAE Judicial Protection for IPRs

The main administrative authority of IPRs in the UAE is the Copyright Department under the Ministry of Economy. The Copyright Department include three major divisions: industrial property, trademark and copyright.

The UAE judicial proceedings may provide relief for the right holder whose intellectual property is infringed; in addition to protecting the right holder's legitimate rights and interests, the judicial system also addresses the vesting of rights, technology contracts, compulsory licensing and other intellectual property disputes.  

According to the UAE judicial proceedings, in respect of intellectual property infringement, the right holder shall prepare the related instruments and proofs to facilitate the protection for their legitimate rights and interests.

In terms of IPR enforcement, the Consumer Protection Division of the UAE Ministry of Economy has the right to seize and destroy counterfeit products and punish the offenders; the UAE police may accept a complaint of intellectual property infringement, launch the procedures to seize and confiscate the infringing goods and transfer the case to the public prosecution authority of the country (the procuratorate), the public prosecution authority may decide to prosecute relevant infringement or offense to the criminal court.

UAE Major IP Protection Systems

Under the Federal Law No. 44 of 1992 for Organizing and Protection of Industrial Property for Patents, Designs and Industrial Models, the period of patent protection is 20 years.

Under the same law, a utility  model refers to a new invention to be applied into industrial purpose but whose nature of innovation does not meet the patent requirements. The period of utility model protection is 10 years.

A design refers to an innovation that can generate a line or colour of a kind of product. An industrial model refers to an innovative 3D model that can be applied into industries or processes.

Under Article 2 of the Federal Law No. 7 of the Year 2002 Concerning Copyrights and Neighboring Rights, the types of works include: books, text books, essays and other written works; computer programs and their application, database, lectures, speeches, sermons, plays, musicals, pantomime, lyricist or lyric-free music, audio and video works, architectural plans, engineering drawings and floor layouts, hand-paintings, paintings, buildings, printed works, photography works, plasticity works, geography/architecture-related illustrations and maps, sketches, and 3D drawings.

The Federal Law No. 37 of 1992 on Trademarks (as amended by Law No. 19 of 2000 and Law No. 8 of 2002) is the basis of registration and protection of trademarks in the United Arab Emirates, for trademark holders to protect their commercial interests and consumer rights and interests.

Geographic Indicator (GI) refers to a term that indicates, whether expressed or implied, a product is derived from a place, city, region or country, which term can also indicate the product quality, reputation or other characteristics depending on which is derived from the area.

IC refers to a product mounted on a series of materials, which has the function of power transmission. The design is a three-dimensional numerical matrix able to form an integrated circuit and to be used for the production purpose.

A patent license shall be granted to the invention of innovative thinking and original steps in the field of technology with scientific fundamentals which can be put into industrial application.

A patent license will be valid for 20 years, and a utility license will be valid for 10 years, from the date of application. The period of design or industrial model protection will be 10 years, from the date of application.

A patent license or utility license shall charge an annual renewal fee, the holder of license shall pay the fee at the beginning of every year after the application. If the holder of license fails to pay the fee in full within 3 months overdue, the holder shall be given a grace period of 3 months, during which the holder shall pay up the fee in addition to the grace fee.