Patent Registration in the UAE: Filing, Examination, Fees and Protection Term

Direct answer. To register a patent in the UAE, you file an application with the Ministry of Economy and Tourism under Federal Law No. 11 of 2021 on industrial property rights, either directly or by entering the national phase of an international (PCT) application. The invention must be new, involve an inventive step and be capable of industrial application. The Ministry checks the formalities, you pay an examination fee when invited, a substantive examination follows, and if the application is accepted you pay a registration fee and the grant is published. A patent lasts 20 years from the filing date as long as the annual fees are paid. A utility model certificate, for a device that falls short of a patent's inventive step, lasts 10 years. The most expensive mistake is disclosing the invention publicly before you file. The fees and service times below come from the Ministry's published service page at the time of writing and can change, so confirm them with the Ministry before you budget.

What can be patented in the UAE

The controlling statute is Federal Law No. 11 of 2021 on the Regulation and Protection of Industrial Property Rights. Its Executive Regulations, Cabinet Resolution No. 6 of 2022, supply the deadlines and paperwork. The 2021 law replaced Federal Law No. 17 of 2002. It is a Federal Law, not a Decree-Law. That detail matters because some older pages, including government pages that were never updated, still cite earlier legislation.

Article 5 sets three tests. All three must be met.

• New. The invention must not be anticipated by prior art. It must not have been disclosed to the public in writing, orally, by use or in any other way before the filing date, or before the priority date if you claim one.
• Inventive step. It must not be obvious to a person with ordinary skill in the field.
• Industrial application. It must be capable of being made or used in any sector.

Some subject matter is excluded however clever it is. Article 7 lists:

• plant and animal varieties, and biological processes for producing plants or animals (microbiological processes and their products excepted);
• diagnostic, therapeutic and surgical methods;
• discoveries, scientific theories and mathematical methods;
• schemes, rules, computer programs, and methods for doing business, performing mental acts or playing games;
• natural materials, even if purified or isolated from nature (though a method of purifying or isolating them can be patented);
• inventions whose exploitation would be contrary to public order or morality, or harmful to human health or life or to the environment.

Computer programs are on that list, so software founders should not assume a UAE patent will cover an app. Ask a patent professional before relying on one.

The utility model certificate. If your invention is new and industrially applicable but does not reach the inventive step a patent needs, Article 6 offers a utility model certificate. It lasts 10 years instead of 20 (Article 18), and the Executive Regulations cap it at 10 claims instead of 50. A utility model is available only for a device with a tangible form or structure, not for a process or method (Executive Regulations, Article 19(10)). Article 6(3) of the law allows an application to be converted from one route to the other, in either direction, but only while the application is still pending, and the original application is then treated as withdrawn (Executive Regulations, Article 29(2)).

Still unsure whether you need a patent at all, rather than a trademark or copyright? Read the short explainer on the difference between a trademark, copyright and patent, or the glossary entry for patent. Brand names and logos go through trademark registration instead.

Who can file, and who owns the invention

The UAE is a first-to-file system. When two people apply for the same invention, only the applicant who filed first is entitled to the patent. Waiting to "perfect" an invention can cost you the right to it.

An application may be filed by the inventor, by a registration agent, or by anyone to whom the patent rights have been transferred. If you are based in the UAE, you can file yourself without an agent. Applicants based outside the UAE, individuals and companies alike, must provide a power of attorney under the Ministry's list of mandatory documents, so in practice they file through a representative. A registration agent must be entered in the Ministry's list of registration agents (Article 75). The law extends the rights it gives citizens to nationals of states with which the UAE has a reciprocity relationship, without overriding the treaties the UAE is party to (Article 3). Our guide to powers of attorney in the UAE explains how those are prepared and authenticated.

Inventions made at work. Article 10 separates two situations. If an invention is made in performing a contract, for example in a role that involves inventing, the right to the patent belongs to the employer unless the contract says otherwise. An application the employee files within two years after leaving is treated as made during that service. If the invention's economic value turns out to be far greater than the parties could have foreseen, the employee is entitled to extra remuneration, set by a court if the parties cannot agree.

If inventing is not part of your job but you make an invention in your employer's field using its expertise, documents, tools or materials, the rule is different. You must report the invention to the employer in writing. The right to the patent becomes yours four months after the report unless the employer declares a written interest in it. If the employer does, it owns the invention and you are entitled to equitable compensation, and any agreement that removes that compensation is void. Outside these two situations, Article 8 gives the right to the inventor. If ownership of future inventions matters to you, as employer or employee, put it in writing. An employment contract addendum is the usual place.

National filing, the PCT route and priority

There are two ways to reach a UAE patent.

Direct national filing. You apply to the Ministry through its patent e-service. This is the usual route for an inventor starting in the UAE.

PCT national phase. The Ministry receives international applications filed under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT). If you filed a PCT application elsewhere, you must enter the UAE national phase within 30 months of the international filing date or the earliest priority date, whichever is earlier. Miss it, and the Executive Regulations allow a written reinstatement request that explains the reasons. You must show the delay was unintentional or happened despite due care, submit the supporting documents the Ministry asks for, and file the request within two months of the cause of the delay ending, or within 12 months of the deadline expiring, whichever comes first.

Priority from an earlier filing. If you filed first in a state that is party to a convention or treaty the UAE has acceded to, you can claim that earlier date as your priority date by filing in the UAE within 12 months of the first filing. A priority claim can be added or amended within 16 months of the earliest priority date, or before the application is published or the patent registered if that comes first. In a PCT national phase, only the priority accepted in the international phase counts.

A UAE patent protects in the UAE only. Article 4 makes industrial property obtained in the UAE independent of rights for the same invention in other states. A UAE grant does not protect you abroad, and a foreign grant does not protect you here.

What the application must contain

Language. The law calls for Arabic and English. The hard minimum on the filing day is a description of the invention in English or Arabic. Without it, the Ministry rejects the application, and the rejection cannot be cured afterwards. Translations can follow within a period the Ministry sets, of at least 90 days.

Missing items. If documents are missing or need correcting, the Ministry gives you at least 90 days. Miss that period and the application is treated as void. It can be reactivated within nine months by paying reactivation fees plus late fees.

From filing to grant, step by step

1. File. Submit through the Ministry's patent e-service and pay the application fee.
2. Formal (legal) examination. The Ministry checks the formalities. Its published service standard is about two months to this stage.
3. Pay the examination fee. Once invited, you have 90 days to pay. If you do not, the application becomes void, with revival possible within nine months on payment of a re-activation fee plus late fees.
4. Publication. The Ministry may publish the application 18 months after the filing date (the international filing date for a PCT application), or after the earliest priority date if one is claimed, or earlier if you ask. After publication you can send a written notice to anyone using the invention commercially. Once the patent is registered, a court can order that user to pay compensation equal to a normal licence fee for the period from the notice to registration, if it finds the use infringes the registered patent.
5. Substantive examination. The examiner tests novelty, inventive step and industrial application. The Ministry's published target is about 18 months from paying the examination fee to receiving results. You can request express examination for an extra fee.
6. Objections. If the Ministry does not accept the application, it gives its reasons and may invite you to pay the re-examination fee within 90 days and respond with any amendments. Separate requests to correct formal defects or amend claims or drawings allow 90 days, and 90 more on a second request. The Ministry may reject the application once you have had at least two chances at re-examination without addressing the reasons for rejection.
7. Acceptance and registration fee. On acceptance you have 60 days to pay the registration fee, together with any annual fees already due. The grant is then published in the Industrial Property Bulletin. The Ministry's published target is about two months from payment to publication.
8. Post-grant re-examination window. For 90 days after publication, anyone may ask for the grant to be re-examined. After that, only someone with a substantial interest can. The registration certificate is issued once those 90 days have passed, unless a post-grant re-examination has been requested. Issuance then waits until the examiners confirm the registration is valid, and a registration they cancel is void (Executive Regulations, Article 42(6) and (7)).

If the Ministry refuses

Ministry decisions can be challenged before the Industrial Property Grievance Committee set up under Cabinet Resolution No. 36 of 2025. The 2025 resolution gives 60 working days from notification to file a grievance; the Executive Regulations had said 60 days. The committee decides within 60 days, and its decision can be appealed to court within 30 days. An objection to a registration itself goes through post-grant re-examination first. These deadlines are short and the counting rules matter, so confirm the current position with the Ministry or a licensed UAE lawyer as soon as a refusal arrives.

What patent registration costs

Industrial property service fees are set in a Cabinet fee schedule (Cabinet Resolution No. 112 of 2023, the schedule referred to in Cabinet Resolution No. 136 of 2026), and the Ministry publishes the working figures on its patent registration service page. At the time of writing, that page lists the following, in AED:

Three points on reading it. First, the examination fee is banded by the number of claims, so a 12-claim application sits in the 11 to 30 band. Second, which column applies depends on the applicant category the Ministry assigns you. Third, older Ministry pages still show different, flat figures and cite repealed law. Rely on the current service page and check it on the day you file.

Annual fees are not in that table. Article 18 of the law and Article 45 of the Executive Regulations require annual fees for the whole term. At the time of writing, the Ministry's Pay Annual Fee service page says no fee is required within three months of the due date, but the payment process must still be completed. It lists late charges of AED 200 a month for individuals and AED 400 a month for companies, which differs from the grace periods in the Executive Regulations. The exact figure is set by the Ministry of Economy and Tourism and can change; confirm the current value with the Ministry or a licensed UAE lawyer.

The 2026 fee exemption. Cabinet Resolution No. 136 of 2026 exempts student inventors and People of Determination from certain industrial property service fees. It was published in the Official Gazette on 14 August 2026 and has been in force since mid-September 2026, 30 days after publication. The resolution names the exempt services by number rather than by description, so ask the Ministry which of your fees are covered before you pay.

How long protection lasts, and how to keep it

A patent lasts 20 years and a utility model certificate 10 years. Both are counted from the filing date, not the grant date. Because examination can take more than a year, part of the term runs while you wait.

Annual fees. Annual fees fall due each year from the year after filing. For a PCT national-phase application, they are counted from the international filing date. You have three months after the due date to pay with no late fee. For a granted patent, a further nine months is allowed with late fees. After that the patent lapses, and a lapsed registration cannot be re-registered. The Ministry's annual-fee service page describes late charges differently, so confirm the deadline that applies to you with the Ministry. Put the renewal date in a calendar the day you file.

What the patent gives you. The owner can stop others from making, using, offering for sale, selling or importing the patented product. For a process patent, protection extends to products made directly by that process. There are limits. Someone who, in good faith, was already making or using the invention in the UAE, or had made serious preparations to, before your filing or priority date may carry on without extending that use. That right stays with their business and cannot be transferred separately from it. Education and research are exempt, as is use on means of transport that are only temporarily in the UAE, and certain preparations by a pharmacist.

Use it, or face a compulsory licence. If at least three years pass after grant without the invention being exploited, or with inadequate exploitation, an interested party can apply for a compulsory licence. It must first have tried to get a licence on reasonable commercial terms. The licence is non-exclusive, serves local-market needs and carries fair compensation for the owner, and none is granted if the owner has valid grounds.

Selling it. An assignment of a patent must be in writing, signed by both parties at the Ministry or authenticated by a notary public in the UAE, and recorded with the Ministry after the fees are paid.

Penalties. Under Article 69, forging documents or intentionally infringing can lead to imprisonment and/or a fine of AED 100,000 to AED 1,000,000.

Common mistakes, and where to go next

• Telling the world first. Publishing, pitching publicly or selling before you file can destroy novelty. The 12-month grace window covers disclosure by you, or by someone who learned of the invention from you, with or without your permission. It is narrower than it sounds: you must ask the Ministry to exclude the disclosure from prior art and prove its date, and it does not apply if the invention was disclosed in the Industrial Property Bulletin, to a foreign or regional patent office, or to WIPO.
• Filing without an English or Arabic description. The Ministry rejects that application outright, with no chance to fix it.
• Missing a 90-day invitation. Examination-fee invitations and objection deadlines run from Ministry notices. Watch for them closely.
• Missing the 30-month PCT deadline. Reinstatement exists, but it is time-limited.
• Assuming the employer, or you, automatically owns a work invention. It depends on whether inventing is part of your job and whether you used the employer's resources.
• Letting annual fees slide. Once the grace periods run out, the patent is gone for good.
• Trusting old pages. Guides that cite Federal Law No. 17 of 2002, or a single examination fee with no claim bands, are out of date. The current page bands the first examination at AED 7,000, 8,000 or 9,000 by claim count for individuals and companies.

For direct questions, the Ministry's call centre is on 8001222, and its patents and industrial design services page lists each e-service. If you want someone to assess patentability, draft claims or answer objections, you can find an intellectual property lawyer on LEXAI or browse corporate and commercial lawyers. Our guide to working with an intellectual property lawyer in Dubai explains what to ask first.

This is general legal information, not legal advice. Confirm current procedure with the relevant authority or a licensed UAE lawyer.