Patent Registration in UAE

‘Patent’ is a term that gets thrown around a lot. But what is a patent? A patent is a type of protected innovation that gives its proprietor the lawful option to prevent others from making, utilizing, or selling a creation for a restricted time of years in return for distributing an empowering public divulgence of the development. In many nations, patent rights fall under private law and the patent holder must sue somebody violating the patent to authorize their privileges.

Patents serve an important purpose of preventing others from treacherously, and without a warrant, commercializing what you have worked hard for. Another purpose of a patent is that is open ways to unlimited opportunities. Patents are one of the different components by which organizations or people may use to shield their endeavors from personal or business abuse. Other discernable techniques for ensuring your licensed innovation incorporate trademarking and copyright. Patents provide you an elite right to your advancements for a certain duration. Patents give pioneers a legitimate recourse to any encroachment of their privileges.

However, exploring the way toward getting (or registering) a patent is both an extensive as well as an inconvenient process. Also, laws and regulations regarding the application and registration of patents vary from country to country. In this article, we will discuss all the important details related to patent registration in the UAE. We will provide information on the patent laws in the UAE, the process of application and registration of a patent, the time and cost involved in getting a patent, the rejection and validity of patents, and more.

Patent laws in the UAE

Federal Law Number 17 of 2002 (as altered by Federal Law Number 31, also known as ‘the patent law’ of 2006) directs patent insurance in the UAE. As indicated by Federal Law No. 31 of 2016, proclaimed by Law No. 17 of 2002 on Regulation and Protection of Industrial Property of Patents, Industrial Drawings, and Designs, patent security in the UAE is conceded for any new creation that came about as a result of an imaginative thought or creative improvement of a process in all fields of innovation, given that such a thought or inventive improvement has a logical premise and is pertinent. The development will be considered modernly relevant in its broadest term whenever utilized or used in sectors such as farming, fisheries, handiworks, and administrations.

Now, let’s have a look at the primary sources of law and guideline with respect to patents and patent cases in the UAE:

1. Patent security in the UAE is controlled under Federal Law No.17 of 2002 (later revised by Federal Law No.31 of 2006) on Regulation and Protection of Industrial Property of Patents, Industrial Drawings, and Designs.
2. The UAE is a participant of different global treaties and conventions such as the World Intellectual Property Organization Convention, the Patent Cooperation Treaty, the Paris Convention for Protection of Industrial Property, the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, and the Gulf Cooperation Council. As a result, the parties interested in patent security in the UAE can make use of the benefits provided by such arrangements.
3. The UAE works under two frameworks – the PCT framework for homegrown licenses and the GCC Patent framework which gives a system for local filings of patent applications in the GCC nations. The GCC itself isn’t essential for the PCT framework, yet GCC member countries are associated with PCT.
4. Candidates can likewise apply for a patent at the GCC Patent Office. When the patent has been acknowledged and granted, the candidate is qualified for patent insurance over all the GCC states.

Other than the regulations mentioned above, the following laws and guidelines are applicable when patent prosecution is concerned:

1. UAE Penal Code (Federal Law Number 3 of 1987)
2. UAE Criminal Procedures Law (Federal Law Number 35 of 1992)
3. UAE Civil Procedures Code (Federal Law Number 11 of 1992)
4. UAE Civil Transactions Law (Federal Law Number 5 of 1985)
5. UAE Commercial Transactions Law (Federal Law Number 18 of 1993
6. Government Law No (19) for the year 2016 in regard to combat commercial scams.

To know more about intellectual property law in the UAE and for more details on trademark, copyright, and patent in the country, you can visit the UAEs’ government portal.

How to register and apply for a patent in the UAE?

There are many steps involved in the process of getting a patent in the UAE. The authority to register patents in the UAE lies with the International Center for Patent Registration (ICPR) under the Ministry of Economy. You are required to register at the Ministry’s website and submit an online application in order to apply for a patent. You will also need to clear certain criteria and submit a set of documents before you can start the application process. It’s important to remember that the patent applications have to be submitted in both, the Arabic and English languages.

The documents ought to be submitted alongside the application form are listed below:

• An excerpt from the Commercial Register, or a legitimate copy of the Articles of Association or Incorporation, appropriately legitimized at the UAE Embassy (if the candidate is a corporation).
• A Deed of Assignment from the inventor(s) (owner), or an ensured duplicate of the first task, appropriately sanctioned at the UAE Embassy.
• Details of the invention, along with the title, summary, depiction, drawings (assuming any), and claims, in both Arabic and English.
• A legitimate copy of the priority report by a Notary Public, if the application has to be filed on priority.

You are required to submit all these documents to the Ministry within 90 days from the date of documenting the patent application.

The subsequent stage in the accommodation cycle is an assessment of the application by the UAE Patent Office. Whenever you are advised of your application’s availability for assessment, a considerable assessment charge must be paid. This takes up to 2 years. The application will be considered with respect to its curiosity, innovativeness, and mechanical application. The application’s needs will be considered upon the assessment of it. The inspector may not dismiss the application yet and may demand that alterations be made to it. All revisions must be made in both Arabic and English. Your application will be acknowledged or dismissed once this assessment process is over.

Now, let us have a look at the registration process. Following stages are involved in the application process for a patent:

1. Submission of the application form
2. Payment of the fee for a new application
3. Processing of the request
4. Formal examination of the application
5. Any complaints against the formal examination are investigated
6. A substantive examination of the application is requested
7. Substantive examination of the application
8. Request for the publication of the patent application
9. The patent application is published
10. Patent is granted

If you want to know the complete details about the registration of patents in the UAE, please visit the official website of the Ministry of Economy.

Charges and time required to get a patent

You are required to pay certain charges depending upon the stage of the application process to get your patent registered. The Ministry of Economy has listed out the charges which we have compiled in the table below:

The period for the application process, from submission of documents to get the patent, is around 8 years. After every year, you will be required to pay a patent fee to keep the patent substantial. It’s also important to note that if the organization or individual who registered the patent doesn’t utilize it within 3 years from the date of registration, a third party must be permitted to manufacture or develop the item.

Validity of patents

A patent registered in the UAE is only valid within the country. This means that registering a patent in the UAE will give you security only in the UAE. On the off chance that you want to protect your patent in different nations, you will have to record the application in that specific nation. Be that as it may, as UAE is a signatory to the Patent Cooperation Treaty of 1970, the World Intellectual Property Organization Convention, and the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property of 1883, you may submit a patent application in various nations. The PCT permits you to make the application in your nation of origin first and within a year you can document the application by utilizing the PCT system in another nation. Subsequently, an application documented in the UAE can be utilized as the reason for a PCT application and the other way around.

As the UAE is a representative of GCC, a solitary application can likewise incorporate patent rights for other GCC individuals. However, we recommend that you consult a local specialist at whatever time and place you wish to submit a patent application.

When a patent has been registered, it will be substantial for 20 years from the date of recording, with a non-extendable term of security. If the patent has to remain legitimate, you are required to pay the annual charges every year beginning from the date the application has been documented. You can pay the annual charges from the 1^st of January to the 31^st of March. There is also an extended time limit of 3 months to pay the annual installment, with overcharge. Nonetheless, if these expenses are not paid within the previously mentioned period, the patent application will lapse. As mentioned before, it is extremely important to note that if you don’t make use of the invention within 3 years from the date the patent has been registered, you must permit or allow a third party to use the invention.

Rejection of patents

The patents in the UAE are registered only if they meet the required standards. They must fulfill the criteria of originality, non-conspicuousness, and industrial utilization. To meet these three necessities is fundamental for acknowledgment of the application. The last standard, or the necessity for application in an industry (or industries), is significant and frequently neglected. This restricts the granting of licenses to the devices or processes that can be created and utilized inside an industry. Without this necessity, any sort of unique model could be patented and held, forestalling real progress at a later point in time when innovation and assembling abilities can gain on the scholarly idea of the development.

Sometimes, a particular type of patent may not be with regard to explicit limitations in the patent law. For instance, it isn’t conceivable to patent a living being, such as a plant or an animal specimen. You can, however, patent explicit scientific methods utilized in the advancement of microorganisms and microbiological procedures. Clinical treatment strategies, including surgeries, numerical or logical standards, or business techniques can’t be patented. Furthermore, any development that apparently has the possibility to abuse ethics or public order may not be licensed in the UAE.

Therefore, we highly recommend that you get in touch with a patent attorney before applying for a patent. Our firm has been in the business for over 2 decades and the professionals in our team are well-versed in the legal framework of the UAE. With specialized lawyers, our versatile team is always available to provide you a variety of legal services and legal opinions.