TRADEMARK REGISTRATION
Trademark Registration in the UAE
Currently there are more than 350,000 Small and Medium Sized Businesses (SMEs) in the UAE, among them are similar companies with equal goods and services. A trademark can be used to distinguish your company as well as your products and services from the competitor’s and to create unique identification in a competitive market. A trademark registration will empower you with the exclusive rights to use your mark as a unique identification for your goods and services in the whole UAE.
The Strohal Legal Group recently registered as a UAE Trademark Agent with the Ministry of Economy to assist you with your trademark registration and to provide you with more additional services to support your successful business.
What is a trademark?
The UAE Federal Law No. 37 of 1992 (UAE Trademark Law), amended by Law No. 19 of 2000 and Law No. 8 of 2002, provides protection for registered trademarks in the UAE and aims to safeguard the interests of businesses and consumers in the country. As per Article 2 of the UAE Trademark Law, a trademark shall be considered as everything having a distinctive form used to distinguish goods or services, or to indicate the ownership such as: names, words, signatures, letters, figures, drawings, logos, pictures etc.
Why are trademarks important?
A trademark provides protection by ensuring the exclusive right to use it to identify specific goods or services. Furthermore, trademarks increase exposure in the marketplace and set the entrepreneur apart from competitors. If a trademark is successfully registered in the UAE, the trademark owner can sue other companies for trademark infringement if someone uses a trademark for similar goods and services without authorized permission. Finally, trademarks are additionally intangible assets that can drastically increase the value of a business in case of resale.
How can a trademark be registered?
Unfortunately, the UAE is not one of the 97 member countries of WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization) applying the Madrid System that allows internationally used trademarks to be registered for their use and protection in various classes and in several countries within the same application through WIPO. Therefore, a trademark that should be used and protected inside the UAE has to be registered locally inside the UAE.
The Ministry of Economy is responsible for trademark registration in the UAE. A trademark application needs to be filled out in Arabic and documents translated into Arabic have to be submitted to the Registrar. If the Registrar accepts the application, it will be published in the Trademark Journal and two daily Arabic newspapers. Any interested party can file a notice of opposition against the trademark registration within 30 days from the date of publication. In case no opposition is lodged within the timeframe given, a trademark is registered and a certificate of registration is issued.
What documents are needed?
In the UAE, only Registered Agents can register trademarks at the Ministry of Economy. To successfully register a trademark, the following documents will be needed:
- A Power of Attorney (POA) in favor of the Registered Agent
- A passport copy of the trademark owner
- A copy of the trade license, MOA and COI if the trademark owner is a company
- A list of goods or services the trademark will be used for
- Pictures of the trademark
The average duration for the successful trademark registration is approx. 6 to 9 months.
What are the costs of a trademark registration?
Whereas you can register a trademark for 3 classes in one application with WIPO, one application for every class is needed for trademark registration in the UAE.
| Cost per Class | AED |
| Initial Search | 506 AED |
| Application Fees | 1,006 AED |
| Publication in UAE Gazette | 1,006 AED |
| Publication in 2 local newspapers | 1,120 AED |
| Final registration fees | 10,000 AED |
| Total Government Fees | 13,638 AED |
The total governmental fees to register a trademark in one class are 13,638 AED. Additional fees for the service of the Registered Agent and expenses for translations etc. will apply.
A trademark registration is valid for 10 years and protects your intellectual property rights in all 7 emirates of the UAE.
How can a trademark be renewed?
The registration can be renewed every 10 years. The renewal fees with the current amount of 13,000 AED are paid during the final year of the protection period.
If you have any additional questions regarding trademark registrations in the UAE, please do not hesitate to contact us.