United arab emirates Country Commercial Guide
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Protecting Intellectual Property
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In 2018, the UAE was placed on the United States Trade Representative’s (USTR) Special 301 Report Watch List for failing to provide adequate and effective protection of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR). After making important improvements to its IPR enforcement regime, the UAE was removed from the Special 301 Report in April 2021. The UAE continued to enhance their IPR regime in 2021 by passing three pieces of legislation to update their patent, trademark, copyright, industrial design, and trade secret protections and enforcement mechanisms. In December 2021, the UAE joined the Madrid Protocol, a seminal international trademark treaty that lowers burdens for obtaining trademark rights in multiple countries. In February 2024, the UAE Ministry of Economy announced 11 initiatives under its new IP Ecosystem, and in May 2024 signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office to enhance its registration and enforcement capabilities.

IPR Enforcement

IPR enforcement generally takes place at the emirate level (i.e., state level). However, stakeholders note that a more coordinated approach would be helpful between emirates and customs authorities to control the transshipment of counterfeit goods, especially in the free trade zones in the UAE. In Dubai, for example, the Dubai Police, Dubai Customs, and the Dubai Department of Economic Development (DED) share the power to search for and seize counterfeit products. Dubai Customs has authority to do so at the emirate’s borders and in free trade zones, while Dubai Police and DED authority applies only to in-market and non-free trade zone areas. Each emirate works with individual stakeholders regarding counterfeits of its brands.

Copyright

Copyrights are protected under UAE Federal Law. The UAE is also a member of several treaties administered by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), including the Berne Convention, the Rome Convention, the WIPO Copyright Treaty and the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty. In March 2022, the UAE launched the first collective management organization (CMO) in the Gulf region to allow copyright licensing and collecting royalty payments for literary rights. The UAE also made tremendous and long-awaited progress towards establishing a CMO for musical rights in April 2025 by granting operating permits to two distinct entities—Emirates Music Rights Association (EMRA) and Music Nation. The emergence of diverse CMOs’ models in the UAE boosts its creative ecosystem and expands licensing and monetization opportunities for U.S. rights holders across the MENA region. 

Patents

Rights holders can obtain patent protection in the UAE by filing a national UAE patent application with the UAE patent office or through the Patent Cooperation Treaty system. With respect to pharmaceutical products, the UAE resolved long-standing industry concerns by passing Decree 321 in September 2020, providing effective protection against unfair commercial use and unauthorized disclosure of undisclosed test or other data generated to obtain marketing approval for pharmaceutical products. The period of protection of this regulatory data under Decree 321 is eight years, the longest in the GCC. 

In January 2025, the UAE further modernized its pharmaceutical regulatory framework through Federal Decree-Law No. 38/2024, introducing enhanced marketing approval pathways and strengthening protections for innovative medical products. In July 2025, the UAE entered into an Accelerated Patent Grant Agreement with the USPTO, enabling U.S. innovators to obtain patents more quickly and with greater predictability in the UAE, while opening up new opportunities for investment and business expansion across foreign markets. In any foreign market, companies should consider several general principles for effective protection of their intellectual property. For background, link to our article on Protecting Intellectual Property and Stopfakes.gov for more resources.

For additional information about IPR matters in the Middle East and North Africa specifically, please contact the regional Intellectual Property Attaché, Aisha Salem-Howey, at Aisha.Salem-Howey@trade.gov or the regional Intellectual Property Specialist, Rasha Abdel Magid, at Rasha.AbdelMagid@trade.gov. For information on IP Attachés in other markets, please visit https://www.uspto.gov/ip-policy/ip-attache-program. 

To access UAE’s ICS, which includes information on the protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights, visit the U.S. Department of State Investment Climate Statement website.