In the current digital-first world, safeguarding a brand is becoming more important due to copying, duplication, and counterfeits. Protecting intellectual property in UAE is a crucial aspect for every organization in the digital world. Especially with the increasing competition in the market and the risk of copying brand assets, safeguarding the brand reputation is furthermore necessary.
Table of contents – Intellectual Property in UAE
Protecting Intellectual Property in UAE is a very important step organizations must take to avoid duplication of their products and services by third-party providers. So how can we safeguard the Brands and your business processes? It is through Trademark Registrations, Copyrights, and Patents we can protect the Brand Value.
What are the ways to Protect Intellectual Property in UAE?
There are following four common ways to protect Intellectual property globally by registering or categorizing the brand assets into any of the four below parameters.
- Copyrights
- Trademark
- Patents
- Trade Secrets
Organizations must protect ideas that are original and have economic value using Intelectual Properties in UAE. It helps in preventing anyone else from taking your idea or creation and profiting from it unless you permit them to replicate it.
1. Copyrights
Copyrights are mainly for artists and written works. It includes literary works of fiction, non-fiction, paintings, drawings, etc. It helps to prevent the organization from copying and duplicating the works without permission.
Copyrights are a type of Intellectual Property that will help the creator to stay protected from any unfair usage of their creative items.
So as per the Intellectual Property regulations in UAE, Copyrighting your work and including the copyright notice on all pages of the work will act as a preventive measure against illegal copying of the work.
Safeguarding the Rights via Copyright
The company must register the copyright with the US Copyright Office to prove its ownership in court in case of a dispute. Copyright Protection is a vital component for Startups and Small Businesses to Protect their Business Ideas and any new creation in the field of music, art, writing, design, business model, etc.
So, intellectual property such as a Copyright will help in preventing any illegal copying of work. Also, Copyright Protection seems to be a faster process than Trademark in terms of the number of days to complete the whole process.
On an ideal case, where everything is in place, trademarking typically takes a minimum of 3-4 months for the issuance of the Trademark Registration Certificate whereas Copyrights are issued with 15-20 days of submission.
Obtaining the Trademark Registration Certificate
This will help startups and small companies save time and avoid losing their ideas to big companies who can easily execute it into action as they have are no budget constraints.
Also, Copyrights offer long term protection for the Author, whereas the tenure for the trademark is only for 10 years. It has to then be re-registered to extend the validity of the Trademark Registration Certificate.
Copyright is protected across the world (167 countries). It gives your business idea or creation of global protection. Copyright in terms of pricing is also much affordable than trademarking and is a smarter choice for startups.
Benefits of Copyright Protection
The Copyrighted Work is a public notice of your ownership.
- Acts as legal evidence for ownership
- As far as Copyright is valid, nobody else has the right to reproduce or copy your work.
- You will have the ability to file for copyright infringement if you find somebody is copying or reproducing your work.
Works that can be Copyrighted
The following intellectual works are protected under the copyrights law in the UAE
- Books, Booklets, Articles, & Literature
- Computer Software and Applications, Databases, and similar works
- Recording or Text of Lectures, speeches, etc
- Theatre play, musicals, audio & video works
- Architectural plans and drawings
- Photographic work, graphics art, creatives, paintings, etc
2. Trademarks
Trademark will protect your brand assets such as taglines, pictures, logo, or combinations to identify the source of goods. Trademark Protection prevents others from using the brand assets that are trademark registered by a particular brand.
Intellectual Property is an important element in an organizations. It is a valuable asset that determine the research and product development capabilities. Trademarks are the most popular type of Intellectual Property in UAE. Many local and global brand opt for Trademark Registration in UAE.
There are different types or classes of trademark registration for companies that must consider while applying for a trademark in the UAE. Basically, in UAE it has a validity of 10 years. The Ministry of Economy has a dedicated wing that issues trademark registration certificates for organizations applying for a trademark in UAE.
We will assist you in coordinating with the relevant Government Authorities to protect your intellectual properties in the UAE at the lowest cost. Trademarks can be in any of the following forms names, signatures, words, logos, taglines, seals, etc.
Trademark helps in establishing the complete ownership on all the organizational and marketing assets and avoid any duplications.
Registration of a Trademark
In the UAE, the Ministry of Economy is the competent authority to register trademarks.
Trademark Registration Documents Required
- Trademark Logo
- A copy of the company business license
- Power of Attorney
- Passport copy
- Other attachments as required
To know more, Read: Trademark Registration in UAE
UAE is a member of a couple of International and Regional Treaties and Bodies for Patent Registration, Copyrights, and Trademark Registration.
The major ones for patent registration being the World Intellectual Property Organization(WIPO) Convention, the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), the Paris Convention and many more,
There are many rising sectors in the UAE like smart transportation, sustainable energy, petrochemicals, pharmaceuticals, etc., that are coming up with constant innovations.
Hence, patent registration is a vital component for the progress of new innovation in ethical means and contributes to the economy at a large-scale.
3. Patents
Patent protection is for inventions man has made. A company can apply patent for a new type of machine, process, and materials. So, the company can submit the application for a patent to the US Patent and Trademark Office for approval.
Patents are the most advanced form of Intellectual Property in UAE that a company can own. Also, globally Patents hold a high weightage among the intellectual property categories in the world.
A Patent in UAE is granted for any new invention. Any innovative idea or improvements in the field of technology that has a scientific basis and can be applied in reality.
The rapid economic development in the UAE in the field of information technology, communication, finance, and no oil sector has led to an important requirement for Patent Registration in the UAE.
To protect the rights of small and medium enterprises and individuals in the field of technology especially, Patents become great use.
International Center for Patent Registration (ICPR) under the Ministry of Economy is the competent authority to register patents in the UAE.
4. Trade Secret
Trade Secret is the least secure way of protecting intellectual property. The company can also protect their idea of creation through Trade Secret. You can keep control of economic value as far as the secret is not disclosed by anyone.
Steps to Follow for an Organization to protect their Brand Assists
Registration of patents and Trademarks; copyrighting the work and documenting a Trade Secret helps a long way for an organization to stay protected from others using the branding elements or assets without consent. Intellectual Property helps in providing legal protection to an organization in UAE. The tangible property helps in safeguarding the unique product ideas into reality by getting copied.
How to Protect the Intellectual Property in the UAE?
Organizations can follow certain steps to protect their Intellectual Property and any innovative ideas that are economically viable for the organization to achieve higher business productivity. Also often certain ideas get leaked or shared with the outside world and get replicated by other players in the market. It leads to the loss of reputation of the organization that originally had introduced the concept. To avoid such instances, the organizations must follow certain steps to remain protected from counterfeiting and copying of ideas, products, or service models.
1. Secure the Intellectual Property (IP)
The intellectual property must be secured in the organization. Hence, there must be restrictions to an employee who is accessing the brand assets. Thereby, the organization’s assets will remain secure within the organization, and the chances of the information or the details about the intellectual property leaking out can be eliminated.
2. Awareness of the IP rights
Train the innovative team of the organization with the latest IP rights and the benefits of IP registration. Also, the team must prepare a robust policy to protect the organizational assets from getting duplicated in an unauthorized way. For the same, an expert IP Consultant will help in organizing the things in place.
3. Engage an Expert Consultant
The expert consultant will help in preparing the framework to effectively record the asset and draft the policies that will help in safeguarding the company assets by protecting the IP. Also, the consultant helps in identifying assets and assist in filing the required IP protection paperwork effectively for the organization.
4. Genuineness of Idea
Ensure the idea or the brand assets are genuine to avoid replication by anyone. Do a thorough research online and through available sources to check the brand asset genuinely. Hence, register and secure your original ideas, logos, taglines, and literary works.
5. Hire an Auditor
To take a count of the IP registered and prospective and non-prospective assets in the organizations, it is advisable to hire an IP Auditor for an external assessment. The IP Auditor will provide the complete details after a thorough audit on the status of IP Assets, IP protection, and the road ahead for the organization.
6. Keep a Record of all IPs
Organizations must monitor and record the intellectual property to avoid any theft or unwanted loss. While filing the patent for an idea, it is important to record all the related information as evidence. Starting from the conception of the idea, the number of meetings attended, documentation preparation, place of meeting & date, name of persons attended, etc., need to be maintained. Large organizations must maintain a central repository of IP-registered assets. It helps in maintaining a secured environment with limited employee access.
7. File for Intellectual Property Rights in UAE
Finally, identify all the prospective ideas and brand assets and file them for the right Intellectual Property registration. It will enable the organization to protect its assets from duplication and get legal coverage.
To know more about protecting Intellectual Property in UAE, talk to our expert business consultants right away!
