The review was announced during a media briefing, organised by the Ministry of Economy (MoE), on Federal Law No. 11 of 2021 on Industrial Property and Patents, which forms part of the largest legislative amendments in the UAE’s history. Dr. Ahmad Belhoul Al Falasi, Minister of State for Entrepreneurship and SME, noted that the UAE was ranked first in the Arab world for the sixth consecutive year by the Global Innovation Index 2021 owing to its success in developing an integrated system for intellectual property applications and services.
Driving growth
Al Falasi said, “The new industrial property law is one of the most important initiatives that the Ministry of Economy and its partners have developed in order to drive growth based on knowledge and innovation and support entrepreneurship. These efforts fall in line with the vision, principles and projects launched by the UAE government to establish a new phase of growth, both domestically and globally. This objective will be achieved by accelerating the transformation towards a new, more flexible and sustainable knowledge-based economic model that keeps pace with the latest economic trends in which innovation, technology, research and development, national competencies, inventors, talents and entrepreneurs are the key drivers of progress.”
Legal protections
The law aids in the development of systems and procedures to ensure legal protection of inventions to encourage the creation of new ideas, innovation and inventions from individuals and companies in various sectors including education, health care, technology, and transportation, renewable energy, space and water.
Applications on the rise
According to the Minister, the number of patent applications submitted to the Ministry of Economy by the end of the year 2021 reflected a growth of more than 20 percent compared to 2020. He also listed indicators that reflect the development of the industrial property and patent system in the country, including a substantial growth in the number of patent applications submitted annually to the MoE, up from 157 in 2000 to 1,288 in 2010, and to 1,917 in 2020.
Last year the Ministry received 2,428 new patent applications, with a growth rate of 26.7 percent compared to the previous year. The total number of patent applications tripled over the past decade. The total number of industrial model requests increased by 290 percent over the last decade, according to the Minister.
Al Falasi added that the new law covers all segments of society, including individuals and companies, inventors, universities and academic institutions, and companies that have inventions, innovations or research centres. Entrepreneurs, small and medium-sized companies, start-ups based on innovation and invention, and companies operating in the fields of information and communications technology and new economy sectors will also benefit from the law.
Streamlining services
The law focuses on the speed, flexibility and effectiveness of the patent examination processes, registration procedures and services and grants for all industrial property applications, which include patents, utility certificates, industrial designs, and integrated circuits. The Ministry aims to shorten the time taken to issue their findings to six months compared to the current 42 months.
Al Falasi said that the Ministry of Economy provides integrated services regarding various industrial property applications according to the best international standards, which can be accessed via its website.
The MoE recently agreed a deal to work with LinkedIn to help attract global talent to the UAE.
