According to UAE Patent Law Article No. 6(1), No letters of patent or utility certificate shall be issued for the following:
a. Plant varieties, animal species, or biological methods of producing plants or animals. Exceptions shall be allowed for the microbiological methods and their products.
b. Diagnostic methods, treatments, and surgical operations needed for humans and animals.
c. Scientific and Mathematical principles, discoveries, and methods.
d. Guides, rules, or methods followed to conduct business or perform mental activities or play games.
e. Invention that may lead to violation of the public order or morals.

Yes and the protection period is 10 years from the filing date of the application.

Yes, worldwide novelty is required.

No, unless it is combined with any hardware that does not operate without the software.

Yes.

No.

No, according to the requirement of patent law it is mandatory to submit the application in both English and Arabic languages.

- Power of attorney from the applicant duly legalized by the UAE consulate
- Deed of assignment from the applicant dully legalized from the UAE Consulate
- Certificate of incorporation or extract from the applicant duly legalized from the UAE consulate
- Certified copy of the priority document.

A certificate of Incorporation is an official document that attests to the legal existence of the company issued by a competent authority in the applicant’s country or an extract from the commercial register.

Yes, it is possible to submit the Articles of Association for Universities and Government entities and the document should be duly legalized by the UAE consulate.

Yes, we can submit an assignment of the priority application as an alternative to the deed of assignment provided that the said document assigns the inventor’s right worldwide. In case more than one priority is claimed for the corresponding UAE application then an assignment of each priority is required.

The supporting documents can be submitted while filing the application or within 90 days from the national filing date. No extension is allowed as per the law.

Non-submission of documents within the 90 days grace period will result in the irrevocable lapse of the application.

No, according to the requirements of the UAE Patent Office documents should be legalized from the UAE consulate.
However, if the documents are legalized from any other consulate further super legalization of the documents is required up to the UAE Consulate. Direct legalization is recommended for time and cost effects.

No, local attestation is not required for the supporting documents of the above-mentioned applications.

The charges for legalization vary from country to country where the legalization is carried out.

No, a certified copy of the priority document is required for an application filed claiming any foreign priority for non-PCT applications.

No.

Annuities are due on the anniversary of the international filing date for the PCT national phase application and on the anniversary of the national filing date for non PCT application (priority and non-priority application)

They should be timely settled throughout the term of the patent in UAE starting from the next year of filing the application or from the PCT filing date.

Yes, the annuity should be paid within 6 months from the due date. The first three months without surcharge and the latter three months with surcharge.

Non-payment of an annuity within the above-mentioned grace period will result in the irrevocable lapse of the application. No exceptions are allowed.

Yes, it is possible to pay the annual fees in advance for the entire term till the end of the protection period or in parts thereof.

No. The same has to be monitored by the client’s agent or annuity service.

An official search from the Patent Office is not possible. However, we conduct searches from our internal database among published applications.

Yes, within12 months from the date of the first filing of the priority application.

Yes, within 30 months from the earliest priority date.

No, the grace period is also not allowed after the expiry of the deadline.

Twenty (20) years starting from the UAE filing date, (in the case of PCT, starting from the PCT filing date). The term protection is non-extendable.

No. They are treated like any other patents of other fields.

No.

No.

Yes, accepted patents are published in the Industrial Property Journal.

Yes, but the only valid and non-valid status inquiry is possible.

No.

Yes, but before the application reaches the examination stage.

Yes, within 3 years from the grant date.

Yes.

As per Article 24(1) of the UAE Patent Law, the following conditions will result in compulsory licensing:
a) The non-working period of the patent is at least three years since the issuance of the letter patent has passed.
b) If appropriate efforts have been put up by the interested party to obtain the license at a reasonable price and under reasonable commercial conditions.
c) If the patentee is unable to meet the basic requirement of the masses.