All you need to know for a trademark registration in United Arab Emirates

A smooth trademark registration generally passes through three phases:

Filing – which you file the trademark at the TM department.

Publication – if the mark is accepted and not rejected, it will be published for 90 days (opposition period).

Registration – after the opposition/publication period ends, you can pay the final registration fees and receive your trademark certificate.

After filing a trademark at the trademark office, and settling official fees relating to filing the trademark examiners at the Ministry of Economy in the UAE to examine trademark applications, the examination process takes place on two levels:

Formal examinations of trademarks in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) - are examinations which take into account regulatory, formal or documentary aspects of the trademark filing requirements. In other words, an examiner will look at, whether all the required documents for filing have been submitted, whether these documents have been properly authenticated (legalized or locally legalized), whether the fees have been settled, whether the applicant is entitled to register a trademark locally, whether the classes designated are available locally, and whether priority documents are included or not.

Substantive examinations of trademarks in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) - are conducted by examiners at the trademark office within the ministry of economy.

Costs relating to trademark registration are both official and professional. Official fees are fees paid to the government for processing your trademark registration and are required to be paid for each phase of the process.

Trademark registration is valid for 10 years calculated from the filing date. In order to maintain protection after 10 years, a brand owner should renew the trademark by filing a renewal application.

A Power of Attorney

• If you are not a resident of the UAE, then a legalized power of attorney is required for trademark registration in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). A legalized power of attorney means that the power should be stamped at the UAE embassy the applicant is from in order to be enforceable locally within the UAE. 
• If you are a resident or a national of the UAE living in the UAE, the power of attorney should be notarized and a copy of your trade license or Emirates ID will be sufficient to file the trademark locally. Notarizing the POA can be completed online directly with the Dubai or Abu Dhabi courts, or through a quick visit to the notary.
• The power of attorney can be submitted within 60 days of filing a trademark in the UAE. Late fees may apply if an office action is issued before you submit the power of attorney.

Trade License / Commercial Certificate / Certificate of Good Standing:

• If you are a local entity, then a trade license is required, and a simple copy of the license as long as it is valid.
• If you are an international company, a license is NOT required.