Trademark enforcement in UAE
31 March 2023
Saranya Mohan
The owner of a duly registered trademark can file administrative governmental action or a court action, i.e., a criminal action or a civil action.
Administrative action
The IPPD at the Ministry of Economy
and/or the DED in the UAE have the authority to enforce IP rights
The available remedies for
administrative actions are:
• Fines to be determined by the Dubai
DED, and to the destruction or confiscation of the infringing products.
Criminal action
In Dubai, the economic development at
Dubai police is dedicated to infringement cases:
• Upon filing a complaint, the police
officers will investigate and check whether the infringing products are
available or not;
• The public prosecution will carry
out the necessary investigation and take the testimonies of the parties. It
will refer the matter to the Dubai court of first instance to follow the same
procedure as a criminal case.
The available remedies for criminal actions
are:
• Fines from AED 50,000 to AED
1,000,000, and/or
• Imprisonment up to one year
• The destruction of the infringing
products
Civil actions
The claimant must file the civil
lawsuit along with all the supporting documentary evidence, and, in response,
the infringing party must submit a counterstatement along with their evidence.
Thereafter, the court will hold several hearings, and the parties will be
allowed to submit their written memorandums and pleadings.
The available remedies in civil actions
include:
• The precautionary measures and
attachment
• Destruction of counterfeit or
infringing products
• Compensation for the damages
resulting from the trademark infringement
• Closure of the infringing business,
and
• Publication of the judgment
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