The “intellectual property” signifies the creation of the human’s intellectual creation. It can be anything such as an invention, an idea, a discovery, or a design, that can receive recognition and financial gains. Most intellectual properties are named trademarks, copyrights, patents, and others.
Intellectual property protection is essential today and to continue safeguarding it from the third party using it. There exists a robust Intellectual Property regime when it comes to the Trademark Service in UAE, influenced by international treaties, such as the TRIPS Agreement and the WIPO Convention, to which the UAE is a signatory.
Copyright: In UAE, the copyright is governed by the Federal Decree-Law
No.38 2021, Copyrights and Neighbouring Rights. The Copyrights and Neighbouring Rights include works of literature, theatre, photography, speeches and lectures, computer programs, music, audio-visual works, etc.
by authors and creators. The authors and creators can protect their valuable works for either lifetime or an additional period of 50 years.
Article 5 Copyright Laws of authors and creators include:
- The first publication right of the works
- Claim paternity right over the work
- Prohibit modification right of the work
- Circulation requests the right of the work on justified reasons
If the work has already been published or displayed without permission then the authors and creators have the liberty to do the following:
- Stop the publication from taking place
- Provisional seizure of copies of the work
- Take the revenue from the publication or display of provisional seizure
- Prevent the ongoing display from going on and evidencing public performance
Trademark: Under Article 2 of Federal Decree-Law No. 36, 2021, Trademark, a trademark process in UAE can be anything that can be a shape, signature, drawing, 3D or hologram, colors or color combination or picture, etc. trademarks are used for the distinguishment of one good and service from the other.
The trademarks services in UAE are needed to be registered under the law for the owner to prevent the third party from using them. Once the registration is done in the specific field then the protection period is commerce and its limit is up to 10 years, unless renewed according to Article 21 Trademarks Laws in UAE.
The owner can avoid infringement of his rights by obtaining an order from the court having jurisdiction under Article 47 of the Trademarks Law for the following measure:
- Describing the infringement of the goods, which are the subject matter of the infringement, and the materials and tools used
- Impose seizure on the materials and tools
- Preventing the goods from entering in market and being exported
- Preventing any type of evidence of the subject matter of the infringement
Industrial Property: Regulation and Protection of Industrial Property
Rights, Federal Law No. 11 of 2021, governs patents along with designs, inventions, utility certificates, integrated circulated circuits, and other properties. A parent’s role is to protect an invention that is creative and industrially applicable. A utility is granted for 10 years and a patent is granted for 20 years and this starts from the date of the filling of the application (Article 18, Industrial Property Rights Law).
The holder of the patent or a utility certificate has the right to exploit the invention under Article 19 of the Industrial Property Rights Law, as well as the creation of the invention.
Penalties: Under the Copyrights Laws, Article 39, if the rights of the copyright owner have been violated and the person who did the volition is found guilty then he may be imprisoned for at least two months or/and is liable to be fined with upto 100,000 AED.
If the patent and trademarks survive in UAE are forged and documented then the penalty can be imprisonment and a fine could reach up to 1 million
AED under Article 69 of Industrial Property Rights Law and Article 49 Trademarks Law, respectively.
Compensation: In any case, where any moral or economic rights of the copyright owners have been violated, then they can claim compensation from the court under Article 43 of the Copyrights Law.
The trademark owners in UAE can also file compensation for infringement under Article 48 of the Trademarks Law and Article 67 of the Industrial Property Rights Law for patent and other industrial property owners.
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