A trademark is essential for the growth of a company. It is an intellectual property which can be in the form of a logo, a slogan, or an image which represents the brand of the company. When it comes to selecting or choosing a “Trademark” it is very important to do the research work prior to the registration, as there are various grounds on which the competent authority which grants the trademark may refuse or reject the application of your registration.
Therefore, it is very important to know which types of slogans, images, marks etc. are prohibited by the law so that there shall be no delay in the registration process.
Some of the grounds on which Trademark is not granted are- signs that offend public morals; symbols of the red crescent or red cross and such other similar logos; similar or identical signs to a religion; geographical names that may mislead people; already registered Trademarks or similar to them, or such as without limitation among other grounds. Therefore, choosing a Trademark requires consideration of each of these factors.
Here under this article, we will discuss how to get your Trademark registered in the United Arab Emirates (the UAE) by highlighting the following points (i) What is Trademark; (ii) Why it is important to register a Trademark; (iii) Why registration of a Trademark in a correct class is important; (iv) Publication of the Trademark; (v) Duration of the protection; and (iv) Documents required for a Trademark registration in the UAE.
According to the Article 2 of the UAE Federal Decree-Law no. (36) of 2021, A Trademark is anything that has a distinctive shape, such as names, words, signatures, letters, symbols, numbers, addresses, seals, drawings, pictures, engravings, packaging, graphic elements, forms, color or colors or a combination thereof, a sign or a group of signs, including three-dimensional marks, hologram mark or any other mark used or intended to be used to distinguish the goods or services of a facility from the goods or services of other facilities, A trademark might be a distinctive sound or fragrance.
Now that we know what is a trademark under the UAE Law, it is worth highlighting why it is important to register a trademark.
By registering a trademark, the owner will get various advantages which protects him from unlawful acts of third person or any kind of infringement to his mark. Registration of the Trademark provides the owner an exclusive right over such mark. Below are some of the importance of registered Trademark.
- It's a valuable intangible asset: it may be licensed, franchised, or sold. i.e., the owner of the Trademark have an exclusive right over particular Trademark, and he has right to transfer or sell that to any other person against a certain amount in a form of a royalty.
- If a person has the right over a Trademark than he has right to sue his for-Trademark infringement.
- It protects you against others using the same or similar Trademark who trade in the same industry but have a negative reputation, as when you registered your Trademark no other person can register the same or similar mark by which there shall be no confusion between the people.
Furthermore, In the UAE, Trademarks are registered using the Nice Classification. The UAE adopts the 10th edition of the Nice Classification of goods & services. The 10th edition of the Nice Classification Convention of goods & services has come into effect on 1st January 2012 and the UAE is one of the many countries that adopt this edition.
Different items and services are covered by each class of the Nice Classification. Within Nice Classification, Trademarks can be registered in 45 different classifications. Each class of Trademark registration necessitates a separate application. You may find that registering your Trademark in classes that are unrelated to your goods or services is both costly and worthless. Therefore, it is very important while selecting the appropriate class to ensuring adequate protection and minimizing needless costs.
Once you apply for the registration after selecting a particular class the next step prior to registration is that the ministry will examine and accept or reject the Trademark's registration and if accepted then publish it in the Official Gazette. The publication in the Official Gazette gives right to any interested person to raise any objection within thirty (30) days from the date of publication to the Trademark's registration with the ministry.
Besides, to your Trademark registration in the UAE has been accepted and approved and no objection arises then, you will need to have an announcement of your Trademark published in the Official Gazette.
Moreover, the Trademark registration provides a ten-year period of protection beginning on the date the application is filed. However, the owner of such Trademark can also apply for renewal for the same period by filling a request of an application to renew the Trademark registration with the Ministry within the period of last year of the validity term or within a grace period of three months from the registration expiry date. After the renewal application is filled and accepted the Trademark registration will be renewed and published in the ministry's bulletin without further inspection.
In addition, if any person wants to register a Trademark in the UAE, such a person has to consider what documents will be needed to prepare for the Trademark application. The following is the list of such documents which are required by the person or owner to register his Trademark in the UAE:
1. Trademark Logo
2. Commercial Registration (if the applicant is a company)
3. Power of Attorney (In the event the applicant is organizing the POA outside the UAE, then such POA shall be legalized up to the Emirati Embassy)
4. Priority Document (If applicable)
5. Passport Copy (if the applicant is an individual)