Patent Registration & Advisory

Patent protection is governed by Federal Law No. 17 of 2002 (being updated under Federal Law No. 11/2021 on Industrial Property). Requirements are strict: novelty (no prior public disclosure anywhere), non-obviousness, utility, and enablement — meaning any public disclosure before filing can destroy patentability, making confidentiality essential.

Examination involves filing a detailed specification, drawings, and claims; a 6-18 month prior-art search and examination; publication 18 months after filing; and final grant, typically taking 3-5 years overall. International protection runs through the Patent Cooperation Treaty, extending a single application to 150+ countries with a 30-month window to select national phase jurisdictions.

A critical strategic step is freedom-to-operate analysis — confirming your product does not infringe others’ existing patents — alongside the broader decision of whether to patent at all versus protect core innovations as trade secrets, depending on how long the competitive advantage will last and how easily it could be reverse-engineered.

What We Offer

Patentability assessments and freedom-to-operate analysis before investment in prosecution

Professional patent application drafting with detailed specifications, drawings, and strategically-scoped claims

Prosecution and examination support, including overcoming examiner objections

International patent protection strategy via PCT and multiple-jurisdiction filings

Patent portfolio management, maintenance, and enforcement

Who this applies to: Inventors and research institutions protecting novel inventions; pharmaceutical and biotech companies with new formulations and devices; technology and manufacturing companies developing new processes; startups seeking IP-protected products to attract investment.

Common questions

Patent Registration & Advisory FAQs

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Patents protect functional innovation and last 20 years; designs protect ornamental appearance and last 10 years with easier registration. Many products warrant both — a patent for the mechanism and a design for the distinctive look.

Potentially — public disclosure before filing generally destroys novelty, though a limited grace period may apply if the disclosure was by the inventor and filing follows within 6 months. Seek advice immediately if disclosure has occurred.

UAE prosecution typically runs AED 5,000-15,000, with PCT and national-phase filings adding significantly more per country. Whether it is worthwhile depends on revenue potential, competitor threat, and the invention’s likely market lifespan.

Software is automatically copyright-protected, but a patent can additionally protect a novel algorithm or process if it solves a genuine technical problem rather than being an abstract idea — a combined copyright, patent, and trade-secret strategy is usually strongest.

Yes — it enters the public domain. Maintaining a rolling pipeline of new patents on improvements, alongside trade secrets and brand strength, is how successful companies sustain competitive advantage beyond any single patent’s term.

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