Trademarks Law

Replaces the 1992 trademark law: defines registrable marks including names, logos, shapes, colours, sounds and smells, excludes deceptive marks and protected state symbols, provides registration with the Ministry of Economy for a renewable ten-year term from filing, reflects the UAE's accession to the Madrid Protocol and punishes counterfeiting with imprisonment and fines of AED 100,000 to 1,000,000.

Summary

Federal Decree-Law No. 36 of 2021 is the UAE Trademarks Law. Issued on 20 September 2021, it came into force on 2 January 2022 (Article 61) and repealed Federal Law No. 37 of 1992 and its amendments (Article 60). Its preamble cites Federal Law No. 67 of 2021 on the UAE's accession to the Madrid Protocol, though the Decree-Law itself contains no operative article on international registration. The portal lists no amendment.

Article 2 defines a trademark widely: any distinctive sign that distinguishes one undertaking's goods or services from another's, including words, names, symbols, figures, packaging, colours, shapes, three-dimensional and hologram marks, and sound and smell. Article 3 lists what cannot be registered: non-distinctive or generic signs, marks against public order, state and official emblems, religious symbols, misleading geographical names, third-party names or trade names without consent, marks that conflict with earlier filings or copy well-known marks, and shapes dictated by the product or a technical result. Article 4 protects famous marks against registration by others, and Article 6 lets any natural or legal person register a mark.

The procedure runs through the Ministry of Economy (Article 7). The Ministry decides within 90 days of filing and the applicant has 30 days to respond to required amendments (Article 12); a rejection goes to the Grievance Committee within 30 days and from there to court within 30 days (Article 13); an accepted mark is published in the Ministry's bulletin and any interested party may oppose within 30 days of publication (Article 15). Protection lasts 10 years from the application date and is renewable for further periods without re-examination, the window and fees being set by the Executive Regulations; a mark not renewed is struck off at expiry (Articles 21 and 22). Article 24 allows cancellation of a mark unused for 5 consecutive years on an interested person's application, save for emergency circumstances, and lets the owner of a well-known mark seek cancellation of a conflicting registration within 5 years unless bad faith is shown.

Assignments, transfers and pledges bind third parties only once recorded in the register and published (Article 28); licences must be written and notarised and are recorded on request (Article 31). Chapter Eight sets the criminal penalties. Article 49 punishes counterfeiting or misleading imitation, knowing commercial use of a counterfeit mark, bad-faith use of another's mark, possession of counterfeiting tools and knowing import or export of counterfeit goods with imprisonment and/or a fine of AED 100,000 to AED 1,000,000. Article 50 punishes knowingly selling, offering or holding counterfeit goods for sale, and using an unregistered mark as if registered, with imprisonment of up to one year and/or a fine of AED 50,000 to AED 200,000. Article 51 doubles the maximum for repeat offences and allows closure and confiscation; Article 52 allows publication of the judgment at the convict's expense. Status: in force.

Who it applies to

Any natural or legal person, UAE or foreign, that uses or wishes to protect a brand, name, logo, shape, colour, sound or other distinctive sign for goods or services in the UAE, licensees and assignees of marks, and traders and importers who deal in branded goods; the Ministry of Economy as registrar and the criminal courts for counterfeiting.

Contents

English official text in 59 articles. Open the full text or jump to a provision:

1. Article 1
2. Article 2
3. Article 3
4. Article 4 — Registration of the Famous Trademark
5. Article 5
6. Article 6 — The Right to Register the Trademark
7. Article 7 — Trademark Registration Application
8. Article 8 — Registration of Trademark for More than One Category
9. Article 9 — Registration of a Set of Identical Trademarks
10. Article 10 — Registration of A Single Trademark by Two or More Persons
11. Article 11 — Priority Right to Apply for Trademark Registration
12. Article 12 — Trademark Registration Controls and Procedures
13. Article 13 — Grievance Against the Rejection or Suspension of Registration
14. Article 14 — Grievance Committee
15. Article 15 — Trademark Announcement
16. Article 16 — Procedures for Deciding on the Objections Submitted to the Ministry
17. Article 17 — Trademark Registration Certificate
18. Article 18 — Ownership and Disputed Ownership of Trademark
19. Article 19 — Trademark Modifications
20. Article 20 — Amendment in the Register
21. Article 21 — Trademark's Protection Period and its Extension
22. Article 22 — Registration Renewal Application Procedures and Fees
23. Article 23
24. Article 24 — Trademark Deregistration
25. Article 25 — Announcement of Deregistration and Renewal of the Trademark
26. Article 26 — Amendments of the Register
27. Article 27 — Trademark Re-registration
28. Article 28
29. Article 29
30. Article 30
31. Article 31 — Conditions of the Agreements Licensing the Use of Trademarks
32. Article 32 — Removal of Registered License from the Register
33. Article 33 — Limitations on the License to Use the Trademark
34. Article 34
35. Article 35 — Collective Trademarks
36. Article 36 — Registration of the Trademark for the Purposes of Control or Inspection
37. Article 37 — Registration of the Trademark for Non-Commercial Purposes
38. Article 38 — Types of Geographical Indications
39. Article 39 — Prohibitions
40. Article 41
41. Article 42 — Geographical Indications Register
42. Article 43 — Cases of Non-Registration of the Geographical Indication
43. Article 44 — Provisions Applicability to the Geographical Indications
44. Article 46 — Exceptions
45. Article 47 — Precautionary Measures Upon Infringement of Rights
46. Article 48 — Claim for Compensation
47. Article 49
48. Article 50
49. Article 51
50. Article 52
51. Article 53
52. Article 54 — Electronic System for Trademark Registration
53. Article 55 — Supervision and Oversight
54. Article 56 — Judicial Officers
55. Article 57 — Fees
56. Article 58 — The Executive Regulations
57. Article 59 — Implementing Decisions
58. Article 60 — Repeals
59. Article 61 — Publication and Entry into Force

Key provisions

Obligations and deadlines

• File any opposition within 30 days of the mark's publication in the Ministry's bulletin.
• Respond to a Ministry amendment request within 30 days and appeal a rejection to the Grievance Committee within 30 days.
• Renew the registration at the end of each 10-year term or the mark is removed from the register.
• Use the mark; five consecutive years of non-use exposes it to cancellation.
• Record assignments and pledges in the register before relying on them against third parties.

Penalties

Imprisonment and/or a fine of AED 100,000 to AED 1,000,000 for counterfeiting, imitation, bad-faith use of another's mark, holding counterfeiting tools or knowingly importing or exporting counterfeits (Article 49); imprisonment up to one year and/or AED 50,000 to AED 200,000 for knowingly dealing in counterfeit goods or using an unregistered mark as registered (Article 50); double the maximum for repeat offences with possible closure and confiscation (Article 51); publication of the judgment at the convict's expense (Article 52).

History and citations

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