Intellectual property (IP) rights in UAE are legal rights conferred to IP owners or holders. They provide creators sufficient protection for inventions, original works, or appearance of artistic works, products, scientific developments, brands, and so on.
What are the different kinds of intellectual property?
There are several different kinds of IP rights granted to individuals and organizations in the UAE. They are as follows:
Copyrights
Copyrights don’t protect ideas. Instead, they protect the way in which the ideas are expressed – art, written works, architectural drawings, music, and even programming code for software. With certain exceptions, copyright allows the owner of a protected material to control the performance, reproduction, adaptation, or new versioning, distribution, and public performance of work.
Procedure for copyright registration: copyrights, generally speaking, are attached when original works are fixed in tangible mediums. However, they should be registered successfully with the UAE Ministry of Economy for optimal protection. Original works can be damaged from injunctions and confiscation. Copyright registration in UAE is a lot simpler in comparison to a trademark or patent. It can be obtained with the help of IP specialists in Dubai. The local authorities encourage the use of professional services for registrations. They would also require samples of the work which will be protected, as well as background information of the applicant.
Trademarks
Trademarks protect words, symbols, color schemes, sounds, smells, and phrases. Trademarks are considered as assets that describe or identify the sources of underlying goods or services companies provide.
The procedure of trademark registration: Trademarks don’t necessarily have to be registered to have protection as common law rights can offer them some level of entitlement for unique marks. This is, however, only applicable for marks that have been used abundantly in commerce. trademark registration in UAE affords far superior protection, which is gained through the filing of an application with UAE’s Ministry of Economy or through the Madrid Protocol. The latter is for international trademark registrations.
A trademark application in UAE will require an applicant to submit a clear representation and description of a proposed mark, including its uses for the associated goods or services. Partner with a trademark specialist in UAE to help ensure there’s a clear and unobstructed path for your trademark registration.
Read also: Why a Business Needs a Trademark in UAE?
Trade secrets
A trade secret is a proprietary procedure, system, device, strategy, formula, or any other information that’s both exclusive and confidential to an organization that utilizes it. It acts as a business’ competitive advantage.
Registration of a trade secret procedure: there’s no regulated registration process in UAE for a trade secret. However, trade secrets in UAE are protected by Federal Law (no. 31) of 2006, which provides businesses the right to maintaining them. The law protects a trade secret that’s not a new invention just as long as it is not patented.
There is no registration of a trade secret in the UAE as mentioned earlier. A preventative step that businesses can take to protect and maintain a trade secret is drafting a valid NDA or non-disclosure agreement. All third parties to whom a trade secret is revealed should sign a notarized NDA.
Patents
Patents are used in protecting inventive processes and ideas – things that are new, non-obvious, and useful. Patents are what often come to people’s minds when thinking of intellectual property protection. A patent is also very useful in protecting newly engineered plant strain or species.
Process of patent registration: patent registration involves the followings stages:
Conceptualization – innovation teams of companies work in addressing common issues faced by them, their industry or market, or the entire world at large as ideas are developed. When they arrive at a concept or solution, companies draw up plans then gather resources that are necessary for making the concept a reality. A drawing or prototype can be created in providing an accurate description of a process or end product.
Invention disclosure – an internal review will often occur for every invention. An innovation team will consist of IP specialists and an entire review panel of various disciplines. Reviewers will assess, rank, rate, highlight, and score potential flaws in supporting descriptions and documents for the invention. They will then be addressed by the innovating team. A review often takes place several times even for one invention.
Patent application – the application for patent registration is often farmed to IP specialists in UAE. Outside counsel or third-party trademark experts in Dubai or anywhere in UAE will manage the process, including all related docketing activities.
Read also: Tips to manage startup finances in UAE
Trademark specialists in UAE
Understanding the different kinds of intellectual property can be confusing. The registration process for each one can also be overwhelming. Intellectual property specialists in UAE such as FAR Consulting Middle East can help with your IP protection requirements. Call us here today for a consultation!
