UAE Law and Practice Contributed by: Maria Farrukh Khan, Fatima Shah, Heera Sandeep and Essam Abdel Khaleq, United Trademark & Patent Services
4. Trade Mark Registrations and Applications 4.1 Trade Mark Registration
• applicant – name, nationality, capacity, address and notarised/legalised power of attorney (POA) if represented; • author – name, pseudonym, nationality, address and date of death (if applicable); • directing/assigning entity (with supporting docu - ments); • publisher – name, address, publication date/place and international number (if any); • transferee – type, duration and scope (with sup - porting documents); • copy of work; • passports/IDs of applicant, author and transferee; and • additional documents if requested by the Ministry. The Ministry examines applications; deficiencies are correctable within 60 days. Approved works receive a work registration certificate. Rejections are appeal - able to the Grievances Committee or courts, and the fees are AED50 (USD14) for individuals and AED200 (USD55) for companies. 3.9 Refusal of Registration Registration is refused if the work is unprotected under Article 3, requires an unobtained permit, lacks the required data/documents, is not in its final form (draft/idea) or violates law/regulations. Appeals may be made to the Grievances Committee, and then to the courts. Incomplete/incorrect infor - mation is correctable within 60 days; failure to make corrections may result in rejection. Corrected applica - tions can be resubmitted. 3.10 Related Rights Copyright and trade marks are separate IP rights. Works can have both protections (eg, a logo copy - righted as artwork and trademarked as a brand). Cop - yright law is not limited based on the existence of a trade mark. Copyright protects creative expression; trade marks protect market identifiers. They coexist without conflict.
The Trademark Law does not clearly protect unregis - tered marks or recognise “prior use” for opposition. Protection is based on trade mark registration. How - ever, courts have allowed prior users to defend own - ership rights against later registrations if they prove ongoing UAE use before the other party’s filing. Prior use must be in the UAE, not foreign countries. Despite court leniency towards prior use, registration remains essential for legal protection. For registered trade mark rights, see 2.3 Trade Mark Rights . 4.2 Trade Mark Register The UAE Trademark Office maintains a register (Article 5). Searching prior registered marks before filing is normal practice, though not mandatory; it helps iden - tify potential objections on relative grounds. Anyone can search the database by class upon paying the prescribed fee. 4.3 Term of Registration Registration is valid for ten years from filing and renewable for successive ten-year terms. Renewal can be effected in the ninth year. After expiry, there is a six-month grace period with a late fee. After the grace period, renewal or revival is not possible, and the mark lapses. There is no use requirement for renewal or mainte - nance. Expired registrations cannot be revived; re- filing is necessary. 4.4 Application Requirements Applications are filed electronically via the UAE Trade - mark Office portal, and the fee is USD205 per class. All applicants must provide: • contact details (name, address); • a high-resolution trade mark image (JPEG/PDF; not required for word marks); and
• a list of goods/services. Local companies require:
603 CHAMBERS.COM
Powered by FlippingBook