Q & A on UAE Design Patent Application

For UAE design applicants:

• In the UAE, a design application can be filed by the designer, the owner or co-owners of the design rights from the designer. The applicant for a design shall be a natural or legal person who enjoys UAE nationality, or a foreign citizen who is entitled to file an application under the provisions of any international agreement to which the UAE is a party, or a citizen of a country with which the UAE maintains a reciprocal relationship. Minors can apply for a design, but a declaration from their legal guardian is required. Ownership of a design can be transferred by agreement or operation of law, such as inheritance.

UAE Design Protection Clients:

• Any two-dimensional or three-dimensional decorative or aesthetic combination that can produce a special design and can be used as an industrial or handicraft product can be protected as a design. In order to be registered, a design must be new, innovative and decorative, and must not violate public order or public morality.
• A design registration can only cover one design, unless the design belongs to a group of articles. For example, a uniform consists of different articles of clothing that are worn together to form a group of articles of uniform. Multiple designs filed in one application will be required to be deleted or split during examination unless the above conditions are met. There is no specific exclusion for parts.
  

Industrial Design Fees in the UAE:

• The new official fee schedule, which will take effect on January 15, 2024, stipulates that the official fees are as follows:

Relevant provisions on the novelty grace period:

• Disclosure of the information by the designer or another person who directly or indirectly obtained the information from the designer within 12 months before the filing date will not destroy novelty.
• This exclusion should be treated with caution as it is a new and untested provision with many exceptions and nuances. For example, a design application must be filed in the UAE within 12 months of first publication to benefit from the 12-month grace period. A foreign design application filed within 12 months of publication will not satisfy the filing requirement in the UAE, and claiming the priority date in an application filed in the UAE after 12 months from the design publication date will not satisfy the grace period requirement (as the application was not filed in the UAE within the 12-month grace period).
• If the disclosure is made in any foreign country or region or at WIPO, the 12-month novelty grace period does not apply.