UAE Law and Practice Contributed by: Maria Farrukh Khan, Fatima Shah, Heera Sandeep and Essam Abdel Khaleq, United Trademark & Patent Services
of Copyright and Neighboring Rights can be appealed to the Federal Court of Appeal within 30 days. Civil judgments on copyright infringement may also be appealed following the usual procedures under the UAE Civil Procedure Law. 11.2 Timeframes for Appealing Trial Court Decisions The decision of the Federal Court of Appeal can be appealed before the Court of Cassation within 30 days from the date of the decision. A matter before the Fed - eral Court of Appeal is typically decided within 6–8 months. However, this timeline may vary on case-to- case basis. UAE Federal Decree-Law No 36/2021 and its Imple - menting Regulations of 2022 aim to provide adequate protection of trade mark rights. Key trends and developments include: • the provision of expedited examination of trade mark applications; • Madrid system integration; • trade mark cancellation actions can be filed with the trade mark department (appealable), and appeals can be made against the Grievance Com - mittee’s decisions before the Federal Court of Appeals (without the court of first instance), reduc - ing the length of the litigation process; • availability of protection for non-traditional marks such as 3D, sound and scent marks; 12. Additional Considerations 12.1 Emerging Issues Key Developments in Trade Mark Law • stronger enforcement – customs can confiscate infringing imports before clearance, with fines of up to AED1 million in cases of counterfeiting; and • establishment of a new service within the UAE Ministry of Economy to handle complaints related to domain name infringement. To date, there have been no court rulings related to AI in the UAE, whether in ordinary cases or IP disputes.
However, judicial authorities have begun taking pre - liminary steps and are showing interest in utilising AI in their future work. The UAE judiciary is open to learning
from legal precedents in other countries. Key Developments in Copyright Law The Copyright Law has:
• expanded the scope of protection – the law now covers traditional (literary, artistic) and new (com - puter programmes, databases, smart applications, applied artworks) fields. • achieved international alignment – exceptions were included to protect visually impaired individuals, in response to the UAE joining the Marrakesh Treaty, thus facilitating access to published works; • provided compensation for authors – civil compen - sation was added for authors affected by infringe - ments, in addition to the imposition of fines; • established a Dispute Resolution Committee – a specialised committee to review copyright dis - putes, expediting their resolution through stream - lined procedures; • increased penalties – the maximum penalties have been raised to deter violators and strengthen rights protection; and • granted automatic protection – protection is ensured as soon as the work is produced and does not require prior registration, and registration is available to document the right. 12.2 Trade Mark and Copyright Use on the Internet UAE law does not directly require consumers to “know” their IP rights, but it establishes strict laws to protect them. Producers and suppliers are responsi - ble for respecting these rights, while consumers are empowered to enjoy them and protect themselves from violations through consumer protection laws that secure access to genuine products. Institutions such as the Dubai Consumer Protection Department also play an awareness-raising role in addressing vio - lations.
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