Intellectual property rights are protected in the UAE through a
set of federal laws. While intellectual property consists of a
broad-spectrum of rights, including trademarks, copyright, patents,
designs, geographical indication, utility, etc., in this article,
we are focusing on the law surrounding patents.
The law regulating patents in the UAE is the Federal Law No 11
of 2021 (Patents Law). It repealed the previously existing
law on patents, called the Federal Law No. 17 of 2002.
Conditions for Being Granted a Patent
Several conditions have to be satisfied before a patent is
granted. These conditions, as explained in Article 5 of the Patents
Law, are briefly set out below.
- It should be a new invention. Invention means a creative idea
in a technical field related to a product or a method of
manufacturing which should solve a particular problem in that
field. An invention would be treated as “new” if there
is no previous technology which has made the invention