Companies and individuals in the UAE can register their trademark across various forms

According to a senior official on Wednesday, companies and people in the United Arab Emirates can register their trademark in a variety of formats, such as sounds, fragrances, geographical indicator marks, and holograms. Speaking on Wednesday during the official opening of the new intellectual property (IP) system in Dubai, Minister of Economy Abdulla bin Touq Al Marri stated that the ministry is now working on expanding the scope of trademark registration by adding additional non-traditional trademark categories.

The United Arab Emirates updated its outdated intellectual property rules in 2021 with a brand-new framework as per Abdulla Al Saleh, undersecretary of commerce and industry at the Ministry of Economy. There was a notable increase in the quantity of trademark registration applications in 2023—a 9.6% increase over the previous year. Additionally, there was a 29.5% rise in the registration of intellectual works and a 2.9% increase in the number of registered marks.

In 2023, 3,415 patent applications were received by the ministry, an increase of 19.5% over the previous year. In 2023, there were 5,108 registered patents overall, an increase of 13.7% over 2022.

11 new initiatives:

The new intellectual property system covers 11 integrated initiatives in various fields and applications of intellectual property:

• The objective of the Patent Hive programme is to augment the quantity of patents awarded. By 2026, 6,000 additional patent registrations are expected to have been made in the nation.
• To improve the abilities and competitiveness of Emirati talent in the field of intellectual property is the goal of the "Fahes" (examiner) project.
• The Innovation Hub provides UAE inventors with an online incubation platform. It offers technical advice and support for the process of registering patents.
• One Day TM speeds up the process by allowing a trademark registration certificate to be issued in only one working day.
• The goal of InnovLAB is to assist and enhance the capabilities of innovation incubators.
• InstaBlock responds to concerns about copyright violations in livestreaming.
• IP Sport raises the quantity of trademarks in the UAE's sports industry that are registered.
• To link and combine data from several government departments in charge of enforcing intellectual property rights, the IP Platform project will be established.
• In order to interact with the public, spread knowledge of intellectual property rights, and respond to their questions, the virtual character "Aisha" is introduced. Social media channels or event participation will be used to accomplish this.
• The World Intellectual Property Organisation will support the IP School initiative, which will provide an extensive portfolio of intellectual property training courses.
• "Hayyakom" is introduced in conjunction with the INTA Meeting, which the UAE is hosting.

Protecting intellectual property rights, minimising infringements and resolving related conflicts, fostering the expansion of R&D-based projects, improving the services provided by the ministry for patents based on AI technology, and utilising the outcomes of intellectual property protection both domestically and internationally are the four main pillars of the new system.

The minister went on to say that this programme is a component of the UAE's goal to establish itself as the world's most wealthy society and a centre for the new economy by 2031.