From ideas to IP: How Dubai’s Intellectual Property Hub can help your business
Legally protect your inventions, designs and brands in Dubai with patents and trademarks
Dubai: In today's competitive world, if you have a business idea, you are writing a book, or creating a product, the only way to truly protect it is through intellectual property (IP) protection. Without this protection, your hard work and unique ideas could be copied without any legal consequences. This is where the Dubai Intellectual Property Hub steps in – to help start-ups, creatives, and businesses safeguard their innovations.
What is the Dubai Intellectual Property Hub?
Managed by the UAE's Ministry of Economy (MOE) and the Dubai Future Foundation, the Dubai Intellectual Property Hub is your go-to resource for everything related to IP in Dubai. It guides entrepreneurs, artists, and businesses on how to protect their creations, offering verified information and step-by-step guides for registering intellectual property.
What are Intellectual Property (IP) and Intangible Assets (IA)?
• Intellectual Property (IP) refers to the unique ideas and creations people produce – from inventions and books to designs, logos, and brand names. IP gives legal protection to your creations, ensuring that you receive credit and financial benefits from your ideas.
• Intangible Assets (IA) are the valuable yet invisible assets a business owns. These include things like secret recipes, customer databases, or even a good reputation. Although you can't see or touch them, they play a vital role in setting your business apart from the competition.
Source: Dubai Intellectual Property hub - www.dubaiip.ae
To sum it up, IPs and IAs are essential to ensure your business ideas, innovations and creative work is recognised and protected.
Types of Intellectual property (IP) in Dubai
According to the Dubai Intellectual Property Hub, here are the types of IP you can protect in the UAE. If you wish to apply for a trademark or patent, you must be a UAE citizen or resident, and applications are managed by the Ministry of Economy (MOE). You can also enlist the help of an IP attorney to handle the process on your behalf.
1. Patents
What it covers: Patents protect various types of inventions, such as processes, methods, products, or improvements to existing innovations. They require detailed proof of novelty, utility, and inventiveness.
• Examples: A new cancer treatment drug, a chemical production process, or a vacuum cleaner's suction system.
• Costs: Starts at Dh13,000.
• Time to acquire: Seven to 40 months (depending on filing quality and the complexity of the examination, including novelty assessments and prior art reviews).
• Duration of protection: 20 years
2. Trademarks
What it covers: Trademarks protect distinctive symbols, words, or logos that set your brand apart in the market. They are essential for brand recognition and protection.
• Examples: Logos, words, colours, symbols, phrases, trade names, etc.
• Costs: Starts at Dh6,500.
• Time to acquire: Three months
• Duration of protection: 10 years
3. Copyrights
What it covers: Copyrights automatically protect original works upon their creation. As the owner of a copyright, you can legally use the © symbol to guard against copying or infringement. Most countries secure your rights automatically once your work is published, with or without the symbol.
• Examples: Photography, art, literature, code, software, etc.
• Costs: Starts at Dh50.
• Time to acquire: Three working days
• Duration of protection: 25 to 50 years, depending on the type of work
4. Industrial designs
What it covers: Industrial designs safeguard the aesthetic or ornamental aspects of a product, including its visual appearance, shape, configuration, or decoration. Protecting these features ensures your product's unique look remains exclusive to your brand.
• Examples: Device shapes, furniture styles, ornaments, jewellery, etc.
• Costs: Starts at Dh1,000.
• Time to acquire: One to four months
• Duration of protection: 20 years
5. Domain names
What it covers: The .ae domain signals to your audience that your business is based in the UAE, building trust and credibility. It is essential for establishing your brand’s online presence. It is recommended to maintain consistency between your domain and brand name to improve search-ability.
• Examples: u.ae, tasjeel.ae, etisalat.ae, du.ae, etc.
• Costs: Starts at Dh150.
• Time to acquire: Instant
• Duration of protection: One to 10 years
6. Trade Secrets
What it covers: Trade secrets protect confidential business information, like proprietary methods or custom software, that is not widely known and adds value through its secrecy. This ensures your unique strategies and know-how remain exclusive to your company, offering long-term competitive advantages.
Examples: Manufacturing processes, secret recipes, customer lists, business strategies, etc.
Other forms of intellectual property include Integrated Circuit Layouts, which protect the design of electrical circuits used in everything from refrigerators to aerospace systems, and Plant Varieties, which grant agricultural experts exclusive rights over new plant varieties they have developed or discovered.
Example of Intellectual property (IP) – the Museum of the Future
The hub cited the real-life example of IP protection, Dubai’s Museum of the Future. The iconic oval shape of the building in both 2D and 3D formats is trademarked, while the poetry engraved on the structure, along with the calligraphy style, is copyrighted. Additionally, the domain name, museumofthefuture.ae, is registered. Every element of this landmark is protected by IP law, preventing other entities from copying its unique design or concept.
How do I apply for the service?
The hub has been created to raise greater awareness regarding the different types of IP and IA protections that are available to businesses. If you, too, would like to use the service, here is how the Dubai Intellectual Property Hub can assist:
• Visit dubaiip.ae
• Click on the menu, which will give you the following IP and IA protection options available in the UAE:
- Patents
- Trademarks
- Copyrights
- Utility models
- Industrial designs
- Integrated circuit layouts
- Plant varieties
- Domain names
- Trade secrets
• Click on the type of legal protection that you are looking for the website will provide you with details of each type of IP/IA protection. If the protection appears to be suitable to your needs, click on ‘Apply now’.
• The website will then redirect you to the Ministry of Economy’s website for that particular service. You can get details of the cost, process and required documents based on the service you are applying for, after which you can complete the application process online.