INSIGHTS

A group of specialists discussed in a virtual symposium the path towards a patent, the steps for registering patents, trademarks, post-registration process and intellectual property rights. The specialists addressed the mechanisms and methods of registering patents during a symposium organized by the Emirates Science Club at the Culture and Science Symposium in cooperation with the Dahi Khalfan Center for Intellectual Property, the Emirates Intellectual Property Association and the Emirates Inventors Association, entitled “Your Path Towards Patent”, in which the brigade  Dr. Abdul Quddus Al Obaidli, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Emirates Intellectual Property Association, Assistant Commander-in-Chief for Excellence and Leadership Affairs in the Dubai Police General Command, and Dr. Abdul Rahman Al Maeeni, Secretary General of the Association Emirates Intellectual Property, Khalfan Al-Suwaidi, Director of the Innovation Development Department in the Economy and Patents at the Ministry of Economy, Emirati inventor Ahmed Majan, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Emirates Inventors Association, and Ahmed El Zourqani, Executive Director of Baianat Intellectual Property Group in the Arab Republic of Egypt, in the presence of a group of specialists and concerned people in the field.

The discussion was made by Dr. Issa Al Bastaki, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Emirates Science Club – President of the University of Dubai, stressing that invention is partial of innovation and in turn is part of creativity, and pointed out that the UAE launched in 2014 the national strategy for innovation in 7 sectors, including transport, health, education, water resources, renewable energy, space and technology which is the basis for continued innovation.

Al Bastaki said that the path to a patent is considered a beginning for other stages, so what is the importance of intellectual property and its role in promoting comprehensive development and preserving rights, what are the various types of intellectual property and the various ways of protecting them, and the steps for registering patents and trademarks and post-registration process.

The brigade Dr. Abdul Quddus Al Obaidli pointed the importance of innovation, and the efforts made by the wise leadership of the UAE to enhance innovation,  He mentioned that on one of his visits to Korea, he visited a university that was ranked fifth in the world, and watched the innovation lab and learned from officials that the laboratory’s income is spent on the state budget.

Al Obaidli stressed that the UAE Centennial seeks to build a knowledge economy that aims to raise the level of productivity and support national companies to reach the world-wide level, investing in research and development, and focusing on national sectors that depend on innovation and advanced industries, to place the UAE among the major economies in the world, and develop a generation of inventors and Emirati scientists, and support their contribution to the development of science and technology.

Al Obaidli pointed out that the UAE has initiatives and programs that enhance this progress, such as the Takamul program, which is a national program that supports innovation since 2011 with the aim of providing support to inventors and establishing the culture of innovation in the UAE, as it contributes to making the UAE among the most innovative societies in the world, by supporting the implementation of innovative local ideas and transforming them into commercial activities that economically and socially benefit the state, this program, at the local level of the state, has achieved remarkable progress, evaluating 420 technology applications, assessing 894 patents, supporting 349 patents and supporting 378 Emirati inventors. Takamul program also evaluated 99 startups and provided support to 50 of these companies.

He stressed that the Emirates Intellectual Property Association, under the Covid-19 crisis, did not stop its societal role in providing awareness in the field of intellectual property rights protection and continued to provide workshops and training courses.

Al-Muaini stated that in view of the current policies, there are projects such as Emirates that innovates and programs that support the intellectual property system, the digital economy and its innovations, and the Emirates strategy for artificial intelligence, and there is an initiative of “Made in The Emirates” by creating an integrated system and full support and granting licenses and patents to reach an Emirati industry that reaches the global system. He referred to the UAE Advanced Science Agenda 2031 that supports the scientific research and the national strategy for advanced innovation.

Al-Muaini stressed that all efforts are aimed at relying on the knowledge-based economy and the export of intellectual property rights. Schools and universities are the basis and incubators to support the future entrepreneurs and access to globalization can only be achieved by supporting the scientific research and creativity, cooperating with educational and academic institutions, and supporting creative industries. Khalfan Al-Suwaidi stated that the vision of the Ministry of Economy is to achieve a diversified global economy based on knowledge, innovation and national leadershipز

On the types of intellectual property protections in the Ministry of Economy, he said that there are intellectual works to protect rights holders in the literary, artistic and scientific fields, protect copyright and neighboring rights, and protect trademarks, symbols and signs. He explained that the focus will be on industrial property, patents and utility certificates to protect rights holders of invention regulated by the Federal Law No. 31 of 2006 amending Law No. 17 of 2002 regulating and protecting industrial property for patents, industrial designs and models.

Al-Suwaidi pointed out that there has been a continuous increase in patent applications since 2010, calling the inventors to enter the website of the Ministry of Economy and choose the patent application service, fill out the required data, made the payments, the patent is classified according to the applicable regulations, then the patent is accepted, rejected, modified or resubmitted.

He stressed that there are many initiatives between the Ministry of Economy and the Department of Economic Development in Abu Dhabi to support innovation and the growth environment for small and medium-sized companies and to support inventors and innovators in several areas such as health care, environmental technology, energy and invention.

In addition to the participation of inventors in exhibitions and the initiative to support 200 patents to regulate the telecommunications and information technology sector, the Ministry of Economy aims at the leadership in the field of patent granting, create a supportive innovative environment and empower Emirati examiners.

He stressed that the aim of the patent system is to protect rights and enhance the economy and industry in the field of encouraging innovation in technology, which contributes in its development and creation of new industries. He also stressed on the importance of registering the invention before disclosure as it is a protection for the innovator, and there are some legislations that are part of the solutions for publication, and there are temporary protections for a period of six months before registration.

Ahmed Majan, Emirati inventor, stated that the Emirati Inventors Association was a dream come true, stressing that innovative minds are the fuel for the association’s work, pointing out to the role of the Ministry of Economy in protecting and supporting the inventors highlighting what the Ministry of Community Development has made to support the establishment of the association.

Majan pointed out to the workshops and programs that the Emirati Inventors Association is doing to support and guide innovators, in addition to creating a database of current and future inventors, including school students and amateurs.

Mr. Ahmad El Zourqani pointed out that the patent system aims to encourage the production of new technologies by motivating the scientific research in the field of industry, thereby improving the local technological base and contributing in granting the patent an exclusive right to the inventor over his invention for a specific period of time in which he can retrieve the cost of initial investments and thus motivating the activities of research and innovation again, finding new products and developing existing products to meet the needs of consumers, creating new job opportunities and developing new technology that contribute to solving existing problems and creating a state of economic prosperity resulting from all of the above.