Replaces the 2002 patents law: governs patents (20 years), utility model certificates and integrated-circuit layout designs (10 years), industrial designs (20 years) and undisclosed information, with examination and grant by the Ministry of Economy's International Centre for Patent Registration, a public register and bulletin, and receipt of international applications under the Patent Cooperation Treaty.
Federal Law No. 11 of 2021 governs patents, utility models, industrial designs, integrated-circuit layout designs and undisclosed information in the UAE. It repealed Federal Law No. 17 of 2002 (Article 78), kept the old implementing regulations alive until replaced (Article 79) and took effect six months after its publication in the Official Gazette (Article 80); it was issued on 19 May 2021 and the portal records 1 December 2021 as the effective date. It is in force and unamended.
Article 3 applies the law to industrial property registered in the State, including the free zones. A patent requires an invention that is new, involves an inventive step and is industrially applicable (Article 5); disclosure within the 12 months before filing does not destroy novelty. Article 7 excludes plant and animal varieties, diagnostic, therapeutic and surgical methods, scientific principles and discoveries, business methods and computer programs as such, natural materials and anything contrary to public order, morality, health or the environment. Article 18 gives a patent a term of 20 years from filing and a utility model certificate 10 years; an industrial design lasts 20 years from filing (Article 45); an integrated-circuit layout design 10 years from filing or first commercial exploitation (Article 59). Undisclosed information is protected for as long as it stays secret (Articles 61 and 63), with pharmaceutical and agrochemical test data protected for up to five years (Article 62).
Article 10 decides ownership of employee inventions. Absent a contractual term to the contrary, an invention made in performance of the employment contract belongs to the employer, and an application filed within two years after the employment ends is treated as made during it. Where the employee invents outside the contract's scope but with the employer's resources, the employer must declare its interest within four months of being told, failing which the right passes to the employee; where the employer claims it, the employee is entitled to equitable compensation fixed by the court if not agreed, and any waiver of that compensation is void.
Applications are filed with the Ministry of Economy's International Centre for Patent Registration in Arabic and English (Article 11); priority runs 12 months for patents (Article 12) and six months for designs (Article 42); the Ministry examines and publishes accepted applications (Article 13) and receives international applications under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (Articles 37 and 38). Articles 25 to 33 allow compulsory licences through the courts after three years without adequate exploitation, or by the Minister for public interest. Decisions are challenged before a grievance committee chaired by a judge, and no court action lies until a grievance has been filed (Article 74). Article 69 punishes forged filings, imitation and intentional infringement with imprisonment and/or a fine of AED 100,000 to AED 1,000,000, with confiscation and publication of the judgment under Article 70.
Inventors, employers, applicants and owners of patents, utility models, industrial designs, integrated-circuit layout designs and undisclosed information registered or held in the UAE, including the free zones, together with their licensees, employees and anyone who exploits or imitates such rights. The Ministry of Economy's International Centre for Patent Registration administers the system.
| Article 3 | The law applies to patents, industrial designs, integrated circuits, undisclosed information and utility model certificates registered in the State, including the free zones. |
| Article 5 | A patent is granted for an invention that is new, involves an inventive step and is industrially applicable; disclosure in the 12 months before filing does not defeat novelty. |
| Article 7 | Excludes from patentability plant and animal varieties, diagnostic, therapeutic and surgical methods, scientific principles and discoveries, business methods and computer programs, natural materials as found, and inventions contrary to public order, morality, health or the environment. |
| Article 10 | An invention made in performance of an employment contract belongs to the employer unless agreed otherwise, including applications filed within two years after employment ends; the employee receives equitable compensation, which cannot be waived, and keeps inventions outside the contract's scope unless the employer claims them within four months. |
| Article 11 | Applications are filed with the Ministry of Economy in Arabic and English, and the applicant has 90 days to supply any information the Ministry requests. |
| Article 18 | A patent lasts 20 years and a utility model certificate 10 years, each from the filing date. |
| Article 25 | A court may grant a non-exclusive compulsory licence after at least three years without adequate exploitation, where efforts to obtain a licence on reasonable terms have failed, for supply to the local market and against fair compensation. |
| Articles 37–38 | The Ministry receives international applications under the Patent Cooperation Treaty; international-phase fees follow the PCT Regulations and the national phase follows the ordinary filing rules. |
| Article 45 | An industrial design is protected for 20 years from the filing date. |
| Articles 61–63 | Undisclosed information is protected for as long as it remains secret, and test data for pharmaceutical and agrochemical products for up to five years. |
| Article 69 | Imprisonment and/or a fine of AED 100,000 to AED 1,000,000 for obtaining protection with false or forged documents, imitating a protected invention or process, or intentionally infringing protected rights. |
| Article 74 | A grievance committee chaired by a judge with two industrial property experts hears challenges to Ministry decisions; registration decisions must first go through re-examination, and no court action lies until a grievance has been filed. |
Article 69: imprisonment and/or a fine of AED 100,000 to AED 1,000,000 for submitting false or forged documents to obtain protection, imitating a protected invention or process, or intentionally infringing a protected right, without prejudice to harsher penalties in other laws. Article 70: the court may order confiscation or destruction of the infringing articles and equipment and publication of the judgment at the convict's expense.
Industrial and technology clients who hold inventions or designs in a UAE company ask us two things: who owns what the engineers produce, and where the IP should sit in the group. Article 10 answers the first in the employer's favour for work done under the contract, but only if the four-month window and the compensation rule are respected, so we put an invention clause and a reporting procedure into the employment contracts of mainland and free zone companies we form. For the second, we structure holding companies in RAK ICC, DIFC or ADGM to own and license the registered rights, with the 20-year patent and design terms in Article 18 and Article 45 feeding the valuation and the transfer pricing file. Because Article 3 reaches the free zones, a design or patent registered through the Ministry protects the client's product whichever zone the operating company sits in.
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