Ministry of Economy Celebrates World Intellectual Property Day

Abu Dhabi-UAE: April 27, 2014 - Under the patronage of the UAE Minister of Economy His Excellency Sultan Bin Saeed Al Mansouri, the Ministry of Economy commemorated World Intellectual Property Day 2014 on April 26.

The celebrations marked the UAE and the Ministry’s keenness to raise awareness on the importance of intellectual property, protecting the rights of the owners and stakeholders, and more importantly, encouraging innovation in an environment of transparency and creativity. 

Dr Ali Al-Hosni, Assistant Undersecretary for Intellectual Property Affairs, said: “This occasion is of great importance for both local and global communities, and we take this opportunity to showcase the qualitative progress achieved by our country in 2013 in the field of intellectual property rights protection. Patents registered with the IP sector totaled 1,426 applications, while the number of industrial designs submitted reached 544 applications. From among 19,189 applications, the number of trademarks registered totaled 13,336. Additionally, 777 copyright applications have also been registered with the Ministry.” 

Dr Al-Hosni noted that the Ministry’s IP division has established strategic partnerships with the departments of Economic Development, Chambers of Commerce and Industry, as well as the National Media Council and other government and semi-governmental agencies and organizations towards strengthening procedures and practices for the protection of intellectual property. 

He added: "The UAE ranked 15th in the US Chamber's Global Intellectual Property Center (GIPC) Index that was announced in January 2014 ahead of major global players such as China and Brazil, and is the only Middle Eastern country included in the index. The UAE also ranked 38th globally and number one regionally in the Global Innovation Index 2013 issued by the prestigious INSEAD, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and Cornell University. We aspire for more efforts in this direction to reach the number one position globally in line with the orientations of our government, our national agenda, and the shift to the knowledge-based economy as per the UAE Vision 2021.”

Commenting on the legislation enacted by the UAE, Dr Ali Al Hosni said: “Shaping the regulatory environment of any country is integral to raising its level of competitiveness in the global marketplace. In the UAE, our efforts are directed towards developing legislations that protect investment in innovation and invention. Such efforts are certain to shape a robust IP infrastructure that strengthens the resilience of our knowledge economy.”

Under the directives of His Excellency Sultan Bin Saeed Al Mansouri, Minister of Economy, the Ministry filed a draft amendment of Federal Law No (17) of 2002 on the regulation and protection of industrial property patents and industrial designs with the Technical Committee mandated with overseeing the legislation. 

The Ministry has also completed preparing a draft amendment to the Federal Decree No (7) of 2005 concerning the ratification of the unified law on anti-dumping and countervailing for the GCC countries. The Federal Law draft regarding the rules and certificates of origin for national products in the UAE is under process of completion, as the Ministry is currently reviewing the draft regulations for the unified GCC law for trademarks.

A number of intellectual property laws are currently applicable in the UAE covering three main areas: the Federal Law No (7) of 2002 and its amendments concerning copyrights, Federal Law No (37) of 1992 and its amendments concerning trademarks and Federal Law No (17) of 2002 and its amendments on the regulation and protection of industrial property patents and industrial designs.