The United Arab Emirates is a pioneer in the field of intellectual property protection, as it has an advanced legislative framework and a judicial system specialized in handling intellectual property rights issues. We are an expert law firm in this field, as we are distinguished by a team of lawyers with extensive experience of more than 25 years, who have achieved a success rate of up to 95% in cases related to intellectual property.
In this article, we will review a brief overview of the most important contracts and different types of intellectual property in the UAE, in addition to highlighting the most prominent issues and challenges facing this field. We will also present our exceptional expertise in dealing with these issues and the successful solutions we provide to our clients. Finally, we will present our future vision for developing and enhancing intellectual property protection in the UAE.
Types of Intellectual Property in the UAE
Intellectual property in the UAE includes many types and rights, the most prominent of which are:
- Patents: Patents provide legal protection for new innovations and discoveries, whether they are products or industrial processes. Obtaining a patent requires meeting specific criteria such as novelty, innovation and industrial applicability.
- Copyright and related rights: Copyright protects creative works in the fields of literature, arts and sciences, including books, articles, musical and cinematic works. Related rights also include the rights of artists, producers and broadcasting organizations.
- Trademarks: Any distinctive mark such as names, logos or symbols used to distinguish the products or services of a company from others. Trademarks provide legal protection to their owner against imitation or unauthorized use.
- Industrial designs: The protection of industrial designs includes the external appearance of products, in shape, drawings, colors and lines. This protection aims to encourage innovation and creativity in industrial designs.
- Geographical indications: These are marks used to distinguish certain products with a specific geographical origin, which enjoy a reputation or certain characteristics associated with this geographical origin.
- Confidential information (trade secret): The protection of confidential information includes any information of commercial value that is not known to the public, and whose owner takes reasonable measures to keep it confidential.
Types of intellectual property subject to protection
- Written works (books, brochures, articles)
- Computer applications and smart programs
- Oral and written sermons and sermons
- Representational works
- Musical works
- Visual works
- Architectural works and drawings
- Drawing works with lines and colors
- Photographic works, and other works…
Other matters not covered by protection
- Ideas and methods of work
- Mathematical concepts
- Official documents
- News
These different types of intellectual property are the focus of increasing interest in the UAE, given their vital role in protecting innovations and creativity and encouraging investment and economic growth.
What are the rights of the creator under the UAE Copyright Law
The UAE Federal Law on Copyright and Related Rights provides protection to creators, in the event of any violation of their rights in the United Arab Emirates.
The law defines the rights of the author as follows:
- The right to decide to publish the work for the first time.
- The right to attribute the work to him.
- The right to object to any modification of the work if the modification distorts or misrepresents the work or harms the author’s status.
- The right to withdraw his work from circulation.
- The author alone and his successors after him have the right to link the performance to their name, whether direct or recorded.
- The owners of copyrights enjoy the financial and moral rights (non-monetary rights) of the recorded work.
- The right to reproduce the work in all its forms.
- The right to record, broadcast and distribute to all channels.
In the event of the death of the author, his copyright remains protected in his name until 50 years after his death under the UAE Copyright Law, and if the work is published after the author’s death, the copyright is protected for years after the year of publication
Prominent Issues
Despite the legislative and judicial development in the field of intellectual property in the UAE, there are still some challenges and issues facing intellectual property owners, the most prominent of which are:
- Imitation and infringement issues: The UAE is witnessing a number of cases related to the infringement of intellectual property rights, imitation and unauthorized use of trademarks and patents. These issues require specialized legal expertise to deal with them effectively.
- Technological challenges: With the rapid development of technology and digital innovations, new challenges have emerged in the field of intellectual property protection, such as online copyright issues and infringement of software and digital works.
- Hacking and piracy: Hacking and piracy pose a major threat to intellectual property rights, especially in the fields of software and digital content. Confronting these practices requires close cooperation between legal and technical authorities.
The following are the most important intellectual property contracts in the UAE
- Licensing contracts:
- Patent licensing: Whereby the patent owner grants the right to another person to use his invention in exchange for an agreed sum of money or fees.
- Copyright License: The copyright owner grants another person the right to publish or exploit his work in return for a sum of money or an agreed fee.
- Trademark License: The trademark owner grants another person the right to use his trademark in return for a sum of money or an agreed fee.
- Industrial Design License: The industrial design owner grants another person the right to manufacture or sell products bearing his design in return for a sum of money or an agreed fee.
- Transfer Contracts:
- Patent Transfer: The ownership of the patent is transferred from its original owner to another person permanently.
- Copyright Transfer: The ownership of the copyright is transferred from its original owner to another person permanently.
- Trademark Transfer: The ownership of the trademark is transferred from its original owner to another person permanently.
- Industrial Design Transfer: The ownership of the industrial design is transferred from its original owner to another person permanently.
- Pledge Contracts:
- Patent Pledge: Whereby the patent owner pledges his invention as a guarantee to pay a debt owed by him.
- Copyright Pledge: Whereby the copyright owner pledges a classified property as a guarantee to pay a debt owed by him.
- Trademark Pledge: Whereby the trademark owner pledges his trademark as a guarantee to pay a debt owed by him.
- Industrial Design Pledge: Whereby the industrial design owner pledges his design as a guarantee to pay a debt owed by him.
- Franchise Contracts:
- Trademark Franchise Contract: Whereby the trademark owner grants another person the right to use his trademark, brand name and business system in return for an agreed sum of money or fees.
- Industrial Design Franchise Contract: Whereby the industrial design owner grants another person the right to manufacture or sell products bearing his design in return for an agreed sum of money or fees.
- Assignment Contracts:
- Assignment of Patents: Whereby the patent owner assigns his rights to the patent to another person for free or in exchange for a sum of money.
- Assignment of Copyright: Whereby the copyright owner assigns his rights to his work to another person for free or in exchange for a sum of money.
- Assignment of Trademarks: Whereby the trademark owner assigns his rights to his trademark to another person for free or in exchange for a sum of money.
- Assignment of Industrial Designs: Whereby the industrial design owner assigns his rights to his design to another person for free or in exchange for a sum of money.
Finally, if you have any creative work and want to protect or register it or your rights have been subjected to any type of violation, do not hesitate to contact us as we have a team of lawyers with over 25 years of experience in intellectual property with a success rate exceeding 95% of the most famous and complex cases in the UAE.