Trademark registration fee payment period cut by half

Companies wishing to register their trademark in the UAE would have to pay Dh6,200 within 30 days after their application is accepted by the UAE Trade Marks Office, or half the time frame companies were required to pay to in the past.

This new procedure introduced under Ministerial Resolution No541 was issued by the UAE Ministry of Economy on November 17. It will affect all applications accepted after this date.

These changes are a substantial departure from the former procedure of requiring the registration fee to be paid after conclusion of the opposition period.

Law firm Clyde & Co said this will have a major impact on applicants for UAE trademarks as they will now be asked to produce all post filing official fees quickly after acceptance in order to meet the new government registration deadlines.

Prior to Ministerial Resolution No541, the applicant had 30 days from acceptance to pay the publication fees, and 30 days after the conclusion of the opposition period – usually 60 to 90 days – in which to pay the registration fees.

The resolution brings the deadline for both fees forward to 30 days from issue of acceptance. According to Melissa Maguire, trademarks lawyer at Clyde & Co, standard official and newspaper publication fees in the UAE cost about Dh1,200 per application, while registration fees cost Dh5,000 per application.

A total of Dh6,200 is thus payable upon the acceptance of a UAE trademark application whereas before these fees are required to paid only after the conclusion of the opposition period.

"This could have an impact on a company's cash flow in that period," she said.

Failure to meet the payment deadline will incur an official late fee of Dh550 per month – Dh50 per month for publication and Dh500 per month for registration.

If an application is opposed, or the applicant decides to withdraw the application prior to the conclusion of the opposition period, then the registration fee will be refunded.

As per the new rule, firms would first have to file the application with the Trade Marks Section of the Ministry of Economy. The application is filed in paper format and the filing fees of Dh500 are payable at this point.

Thereafter, the application is examined by a ministry examiner for compliance with the Trade Marks Law. Under current practices, it can take 12 to18 months for the application to be examined.

If objections are raised by the examiner, the applicant is given the opportunity to address the objections to bring the application in line with the Trade Marks Law.

Once examined and accepted, a notice of acceptance is issued. The applicant now has 30 days from the date of the notice (the publication deadline) in which to pay the government publication fees of Dh500.

 

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