In late 2021, the UAE Government issued 50 new laws, to coincide with the 50th Anniversary of the founding of the UAE. One of these new laws was the UAE Trademarks Law – Federal Trademarks Law No. 36 of 2021 that has long been waited as the change to the IP Law in this country has long been overdue. One of the most important changes with this new Law is the new update on the trademark publication requirement in the UAE.
Previous requirements of the trademark registration process in the UAE
In the UAE, only Registered Agents can register trademarks at the Ministry of Economy. When applying for a trademark registration in this country, the applicant needs to prepare the following documents:
- 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;
- Other necessary documents.
A trademark application needs to be filled out in Arabic and documents translated into Arabic have to be submitted to the Registrar.
Previously, 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.
New update on the trademark publication requirement in the UAE
However, since the publication of the GCC Trademarks Law in 2014, an updated trademarks law has been expected in the UAE and it has been officially passed through. The New Law takes on a number of the provisions of the GCC Trademarks Law, but there are some additional local elements.
One of the most important updates is the reduction of the burden of administrative procedures with the removal of the requirement to publish in two local newspapers as well as the official gazette. This means that, from now on, applicants will only need to publish in the official gazette in the future.
The official notification regarding the matter of the UAE Trademark Office are: “We are pleased to inform you that the UAE Trademark Office has done away with the local publication procedures (publication in two local newspapers) for trademarks matters such as registrations, renewals, recordals and amendments. As you may be aware, the UAE trademark law has now been changed with many new reforms and waiving of the publication in the local newspapers is seen as an added incentive to trademark owners. In light of this new announcement, the publication for all trademarks procedures will be now limited only to the official gazette which is published twice a month; the new practice has been applicable from 27/2/2022.”
With the full view, the changes to the Trademark Law of the UAE is largely good and beneficial for rights holders and especially to applicants who are wishing to register their IP assets in this country.
The changes also help to clarify some of the “unknowns” in the former law and also introduce new rights and concepts that are commonly used in many other countries, such as Geographical Indications and Collective Marks.
However, the Law is fixed but there is still room for clear implementation guidance. For now, we will have to wait for Implementing Regulations for the New Law, which are expected during the first half of 2022 as they will provide further guidance as to the procedures that the Office and brand owners will need to follow for provisions of the New Law.
You can see a list of UAE IP Firms here.