Overview of Trademark Registration

A Trademark is a type of intellectual property that is used to distinguish the goods and services from one business from another. Businesses aim to always earn the trust of it’s clients, which makes it important to protect the business’s reputation and distinguish the originality of it’s products and/or services from other competitors, this is what makes understanding the process trademark registration in UAE important to know for all business owners.

Types of Trademarks

A Trademark as mentioned in Federal Decree Law No. 36 of 2021 on Trademarks, is “Every object that has a distinctive form”, the phrase “object” could mean any word, signature, letter, symbol, figures, address, stamp, photo, packaging, figurative elements, shape, colour, combination of colours or any of the mentioned elements.

As mentioned below, trademark registration in UAE may have several types, but we will go into details about the most common types:

Product mark: Which is used to distinguish a certain product from others, to insure the source of the product and it’s quality, like the bitten apple symbol for Apple.

Service mark: Which signifies the source of the service rather than products, like the FedEx logo for the delivery services.

Shape mark: Which is the unique shape of the design, or the product itself is protected, like the triangular prism shape of the chocolate bar in Toblerone Chocolate Bar.

Certification mark: Which indicates that this product or service meets the specific standards or certified by a specific organization, like the ISO certification mark

Sound mark: Which in this case the customer associates a sound with a product, like the music used in Zain’s ads.

Color mark: Which a set of colors are associated with a brand, like where the bright pink (Pantone 219C) is associated with Barbie dolls and brand.

Motion mark: Which specific moving animation or continuous images represent a brand, like the Pixar logo opening.

Steps to Register your Trademark in UAE

The process of trademark registration in UAE is done online through the website of the Ministry of Economy. It can be done through the trademark owner or a trademark agent. As below:

1.     Trademark Re-search

To begin with, a lawyer or trademark agent can help you in understanding the probabilities regarding trademark registration in UAE, in terms of whether this trademark is already in use or not. Only after making sure that the same trademark is not in use by a different business the process can start.

2.     Trademark application submission

Filling the online application, and uploading the required documents for registering a trademark in the UAE, which are:

• Owner’s passport copy if the owner is an individual
• Company’s license if the owner is a company
• POA from the owner to the trademark agent -if done through a trademark agent-
• The file of the trademark (photo, mp3 sound, etc)
• Contact details of applicant and owner
• Goods and services to be protected (1 class per application)

3.     Reviewing the application by the ministry

After payment and submitting the application, it will be reviewed by the Ministry of Economics, if there are any incorrect information in the application it can be rejected, this step takes 1-3 months.

4.     Publishing in the newspaper

Directly after the approval, the ministry will publish the trademark in a newspaper to check if there is any objection on the trademark registration from other trademark owners.

5.     Final registration and certificate

If there are no complaints about the trademark within 30 days, the ministry will issue the trademark certificate which includes:

• The date of the application
• Trademark owner’s name
• Trademark registration number
• Class and description of goods and services

The validity of the trademark will be 10 years from the registration date.

Benefits of Trademark Registration in UAE

Even though the trademark registration under Federal Decree Law No. 36 of 2021 is not compulsory, there are several benefits of registering your trademark in the UAE, for it helps in building the brand’s reputation and the service provided,  and it is also considered an asset of the company that can be sold, bought, licensed or sometimes used as a security interest in securing a loan for the business.

Why Choose CorpLex for Trademark Registration?

The trademark registration process can seem like a complicated process, but that’s where our expertise comes in hand! CorpLex Corporate Services is your perfect assistant in registering your trademark in the UAE. Our team has extensive experience in understanding and processing trademark registration in UAE in compliance with Federal Decree Law No. 36 of 2021, which will ease the process of understanding the different classes for trademark and getting your application done efficiently! Contact us.