Intellectual Property Rights In UAE

Intellectual Property Rights In UAE

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is a federation of seven emirates in the Middle East which was established in 1971. With a small-scale local population and relatively new Intellectual Property laws, UAE is still going through a continual development phase in the Intellectual Property Rights Portfolio. The IP laws established in UAE are in full compliance with the international agreement on TRIPS (Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights) and are governed by the Federal laws of UAE.
The Intellectual Property Rights as per the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights in UAE are as follows:

TRADEMARKS

A trademark could be any name, sign, symbol, logo, or phrase which is capable of uniquely identifying the goods, and services from one source or origin to another. In UAE, the Ministry of Economy, trademarks department, deals with the mechanism of Trademark Registration. This registration is compulsory for the owners to hold exclusive rights over their trademark and seek other means of protection as prescribed by the laws in UAE. Once a trademark is registered, it lasts for a period of 10 years from the date of filing, renewable every 10 years on the payment of the required fee.

PATENTS

A patent is an exclusive Intellectual Property Right granted to individuals for an invention, which can be a product or a process, offering a new way of doing something. In UAE, the patent is granted by the Ministry of Economy, patents department. Another way of seeking Patent Protection is by filing a GCC (Gulf Co-operation Council) Patent Application covering the GCC countries of UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, and Qatar. Once a patent is registered, it lasts for a period of 20 years from the date of filing, and annual annuity payments are compulsory to hold rights over the patent.

INDUSTRIAL DESIGNS

Industrial Design Protection is provided for the ornamental and aesthetic aspects of an article or a design which may constitute the features of shape, configuration, pattern, or composition in two or three-dimension. In UAE, Industrial Design Protection is accomplished by registering the design before the Ministry of Economy. The registration application can have more than one industrial design, if those designs are co-related with respect to their manufacturing or use. The industrial design protection lasts for 10 years from the date of filing, and annual annuity payments are required to hold the rights over the industrial design or drawings.

COPYRIGHTS

In a legal sense, copyrights describe the rights granted to owners for their original works of authorship. The subject matter of copyright includes music, paintings, sculpture, films, computer programs, databases, literary work, sound recordings, elements of fashion design, and so forth. In UAE, copyrights can be protected by filing an application before the copyright department.

DOMAIN NAMES

Domain names are the internet protocol addresses governing the unique online identity of an individual, firm, or an organization. In UAE, the domain names are protected and managed by the United Arab Emirates Network Centre (UAEnic) under the provisions of law.

IP CHALLENGES AND THEIR SOLUTIONS IN UAE

It is not surprising to say that IP rights and laws are not very well-established in UAE as compared to other countries across the globe with better and longer histories of IP regimes. Some challenges addressed by the UAE authorities along with their expected solutions are as follows:

1- ENFORCING IP RIGHTS IN FREE TRADE ZONES:

With more than 45 free trade zones in UAE, enforcement of IP rights by the brand owners becomes a complicated process as the procedure, and the authority with jurisdiction can differ between free zones. When IP right holders want to take an action against the issues of counterfeiting or infringement, they should verify who is responsible for enforcement in the free zone in question, and if there are any processes in place using which complaints can be filed.
Some steps must be initiated to remove ambiguities so that the IP right holders have a clear understanding of how complaints can be filed. The right holders want more cooperation among the authorities of free trade zones, customs, police, and themselves to fight against the issues of counterfeiting, and IP infringement in free trade zones.

2- LIMITED AMOUNT OF DAMAGES:

Manufacturers and distributors of counterfeit products remain indomitable by the limited award of damages given to the owners by the courts in UAE to make up for the damages suffered due to the act of infringement.
Improvements and revisions might take place with respect to the future implementation of the GCC Trademark Law, which would include a recovery of infringer’s profits in the damages awarded to the right holders.

3- RE-EXPORTATION OF INFRINGED PRODUCTS:

In UAE, the customs may re-export infringed goods rather than destroying them, which is another major challenge faced by the IP right owners.
However, this is expected to change with the improved Customs’ measures provisions of the GCC Trademark Law, which may order complete destruction of the infringed goods at the expense of the owner unless it poses a serious threat to environment or human health.

4- COMMENTS

In spite of the challenges that are yet to be addressed by the UAE authorities, brand owners and IP right holders have seen a considerable change and noteworthy progress in the IP rights enforcement, specifically through the establishment of specialized court circuits. The officials are now fighting against counterfeits with the help of the efficiencies provided by automation of processes. The UAE authorities are also making an effort to offer legal and technical training to companies regarding the protection of their brand names and entities.

Anti-Counterfeiting Measures and Strategies for Products

Anti-Counterfeiting Measures and Strategies for Products

In today’s era of rapid globalization, combating illicit trade and protecting your brand’s entity can be a cumbersome, tedious, and often an overwhelming process. Counterfeiting has a negative impact on the innovations and investments of not only the IP Rights holders but of the companies as well. Various counterfeit products like toys, spare parts, and pharmaceuticals are of low quality and pose a huge threat to the health and safety of consumers. Therefore, safeguarding goods and products against counterfeiting has become an increasingly crucial prospect for the IP rights holders across the globe. Filing an application form to obtain protection and maintaining a plethora of registered rights only contribute to the first step of acquiring protection towards the IP rights of a firm or a brand.

In the interest of enforceability, companies now organize more anti-counterfeit programs to seek the protection of their registered rights. Nowadays, many of the top managers strongly believe that fighting against counterfeit products is a critical priority as counterfeiters have now become operators of huge manufacturing capacities, sometimes even bigger than the makers of the original brands and entities.

The Anti-Counterfeiting scenario is changing and the IP right holders should acknowledge it by implementing the basic strategies and critical guidelines for protection as mentioned below:

USING LAW PROTECTION:

Law protection and enforcement can turn out to be super beneficial for the IP Right holders to prevent counterfeiters from capturing unauthorized access to the markets. They have the power to suspend the manufacture and release of products suspected to infringe IP Rights. Several big e-Commerce companies like Amazon, Alibaba, to name a few, are now facing lawsuits and proceedings after failing to do enough for protecting their markets against counterfeit goods and services. As a result of the decisions following the lawsuit, few products have already been removed from Amazon and other related companies. Therefore, it is imperative for any country to have a strong legal framework for providing remedies against the wide range and use of counterfeit products.

OBSERVING SERVICES AND MARKET SURVEILLANCE:

IP Right holders should carefully observe the registration of new applicants which could infringe their rights or adversely affect their brand’s reputation. This is generally implemented via “watching services” filtering out only relevant applications which are analyzed to figure out whether any action to raise an opposition is required or not. Such steps if taken in an immediate and efficient way can act as a clear signal to the infringers about how actively the IP Right holders are protecting their brands and entities.

Monitoring online activities is equally important as the internet is considered as a significant gateway for the selling and distribution of counterfeit items. This can be implemented by taking help from specialized firms which can filter the web results to offer relevant findings to the IP Rights owners.

ADDING PROTECTIVE ELEMENTS AND SAFETY FEATURES:

To make it easier for the customers to differentiate between genuine and fake items on their own, products are today produced with safety features and protective elements. These features have attained the utmost importance in the market and should be seriously considered by the IP Rightsholders.

TRACING AND TRACKING SERVICES:

These services involve tracking and tracing every product from the stage of production to distribution, along the way to stores and second-hand shops. Recently a blockchain platform, known as “AURA” was launched by LVMH, a French multinational luxury goods conglomerate headquartered in Paris, along with Microsoft and ConsenSys. AURA offers powerful and real product tracing and tracking services to verify the authenticity of luxury goods in the fashion world. Such initiatives would protect the integrity, interests, and privacy of each brand around the world and shall also safeguard the buyers from low-quality potential counterfeits.

CONCLUSION

In a nutshell, such measures would definitely not serve to put an end to fake trends but the global anti-counterfeiting policy includes a number of elements and strategies which can be taken into consideration while dealing with the potential for the decentralized manufacture of counterfeit goods and services. Naturally, changes to the economy must be observed carefully and policies should be amended and adapted where necessary.