New and Updated! Law on Industrial property and patents by the Ministry of economy {2022}

Fundamental amendments to the new law to facilitate & stimulate innovation and intellectual property in the country

1. Ensures the complete protection of industrial property rights through the addition of industrial property rights that were not included in previous legislation, which are:

• Protection for integrated circuit layout designs, which are important in encouraging and protecting digital innovations and inventions, thus driving advanced technology growth in the country.
• Protection for undisclosed information, which will have an impact on encouraging research and development in the industrial and commercial fields.

1. Adoption of four new procedures to achieve flexibility in the management and examination of applications and facilitating and accelerating the procedures for receiving, examining, registering and granting them. This will contribute to increasing the confidence of inventors in the UAE’s business environment and encouraging them to innovate. The four new provisions are:-

• Expedited applications, a fast track channel for patent applications through which formal and substantive examinations of the submitted application can be completed quickly.
• Conversion of patent applications to utility certificate requests, and vice versa. This step has an important role in increasing the number of patents and utility certificates granted in the country. It also increases the benefit of utility certificates as an important and useful option in protecting simple inventions and innovations of a tangible nature, so that it becomes a flexible step towards obtaining the full patent.
• The possibility of dividing patent applications, utility certificates and industrial designs into several applications to allow protection for the invention in the various stages of its development.
• Retrieval of applications, as it allows the possibility of restoring a patent application or an industrial model before or after granting it.

1. Updates to the procedures for disputes regarding industrial property applications which make it more flexible and faster by allowing re-examination after granting, and creating a mechanism that allows submitting grievance to the Ministry before resorting to the judiciary.

In addition, H.E Al Falasi said that the Ministry of Economy provides integrated services regarding various industrial property applications according to the best international standards, through its website, which can be accessed via https://services.economy.ae/m/Pages/CategoryServices.aspx?CategoryID=14  He noted that efforts are still ongoing to develop these services to meet all requirements, procedures and mechanisms stemming from the new law.

At the conclusion of the media briefing, Al Falasi reviewed the most important expected outcomes of the new law during the next phase in support of Centennial 2071 and the ‘Project of the 50’ that was recently announced by the country, through several strategic and main tracks. The law plays a pivotal role in advancing the process of growth and progress through it, by:

• Grant additional facilities and flexibility in the field of patents and industrial property for the entrepreneurship sector, small and medium companies, start-ups, and establishments that have special wings for research, development and innovation. They will benefit from the industrial property services provided by the Ministry with a higher efficiency and in a manner that contributes to the development of innovation and knowledge in the national economy in a comprehensive manner.
• Creating a competitive and stimulating environment for qualitative investment, whether national or foreign, in areas related to innovation and invention, and increasing the attraction of investors in the technology, research, and development sectors. This will encourage inventions and innovations capable of driving industrial development and turning them into successful commercial projects.

• Supporting industrial development efforts in the country, especially those in the modern and advanced industry, by facilitating and stimulating industrial companies’ access to patents and industrial property applications.

• Enhancing the country’s overall attractiveness before talents and competencies and raising its position as a preferred destination in the new economy sectors.
• Increasing access to knowledge and benefit from R&D in the private sector, academic institutions, small and medium enterprises, and start-ups.

• Improving the country’s position on relevant global competitiveness indicators, such as the Global Innovation Index, the Global Entrepreneurship Index, and the Global Competitiveness Index.