In the current digital-first world, safeguarding a brand is becoming more important due to copying, duplication, and counterfeits.

The Brand value that has taken years of hard work to build could go in drain easily in the digital world.

So how can we safeguard the Brands and your business processes? It is through Trademark Registrations, Copyrights and Patents we can protect the Brand Value.

Copyrights, Patents, and Trademarks – Key Difference

Copyright – Original works of authorship such as books, articles, songs, photographs, sculptures, choreography, sound recordings, motion pictures, and other works can be subjected to Copyrights Protection.

Patents – Inventions such as process optimizations, new machines, new manufacturing practices, the composition of matter as well as improvements to these, etc., can be Patented.

Trademarks – Any word, phrase, symbol, and/or design that identifies and distinguishes the source of the goods of one brand with the other can be Trademark Registered.

Copyright, patent, and trademark are all different types of intellectual property (IP).

The three are distinct practices of Safeguarding Organizational and Individual assets from duplication or counterfeiting.

Intellectual Property – The family of Copyrights, Patents, and Trademarks

UAE has become an entrepreneur’s first business ecosystem and a digital hub of the middle east.

With cost-effective business setup packages, startup and freelance permits, there is a host of digital service providers and digital companies setting up their base in the UAE.

Copyrights, Patents & Trademark – Why do Business Need them?

It has become ever more important to protect a brand’s assets in the modern complex world as often brands are likely to copy or duplicate logos, taglines, brand colors, etc.

To create an evident differentiation from the noise, Intellectual Property protection of brand assets is the only solution.

In UAE, you can register a Trademark, Copyright, and Patent through the Ministry of Economy website.

Also, There are expert Business Consultants who will guide to through the Trademark Registration Process and you can seamlessly register and get your Trademark Registration Certificate at the earliest at an affordable cost.

Copyrights

Copyright Protection is a vital component for Startups and Small Businesses to Protect their Business Ideas and any new creation in the field of music, art, writing, design, business model, etc.

Copyright Protection seems to be a faster process than Trademarking in terms of the number of days to complete the whole process.

On an ideal case, where everything is in place, trademarking typically takes a minimum of 3-4 months for the issuance of the Trademark Registration Certificate whereas Copyrights are issued with 15-20 days of submission.

This will help startups and small companies save time and avoid losing their ideas to big companies who can easily execute it into action as they have are no budget constraints.

Also, Copyrights offer long term protection for the Author, whereas the tenure for the trademark is only for 10 years. It has to then be re-registered to extend the validity of the Trademark Registration Certificate.

Copyright is protected across the world (167 countries). It gives your business idea or creation of global protection.

Copyright in terms of pricing is also much affordable than trademarking and is a smarter choice for startups.

Benefits of Copyright Protection

• The Copyrighted Work is a public notice of your ownership.
• Acts as legal evidence for ownership
• As far as Copyright is valid, nobody else has the right to reproduce or copy your work.
• You will have the ability to file for copyright infringement if you find somebody is copying or reproducing your work.

Works that can be Copyrighted

The following intellectual works are protected under the copyrights law in the UAE

• Books, Booklets, Articles, & Literature
• Computer Software and Applications, Databases and similar works
• Recording or Text of Lectures, speeches, etc
• Theatre play, musicals, audio & video works
• Architectural plans and drawings
• Photographic work, graphics art, creatives, paintings, etc

Patents

A Patent in UAE is granted for any new invention. Any innovative idea or improvements in the field of technology that has a scientific basis and can be applied in reality.

The rapid economic development in the UAE in the field of information technology, communication, finance, no oil sector has led to an important requirement of Patent Registration in the UAE.

To protect the rights of the small and medium enterprises and individuals in the field of technology especially, Patents become great use.

International Center for Patent Registration (ICPR) under the Ministry of Economy is the competent authority to register patents in the UAE.

Trademarks

Trademarks can be in any of the following forms like names, signature, words, logos, taglines, seals, etc.

Trademark helps in establishing the complete ownership on all the organizational and marketing assets and avoid any duplications.

Registration of a Trademark

In the UAE, the Ministry of Economy is the competent authority to register trademarks.

Trademark Registration Documents Required

• Trademark Logo
• A Copy of company business license
• Power of Attorney
• Passport copy
• Other attachments as required

To know more, Read:  Trademark Registration in UAE

UAE is a member of a couple of International and Regional Treaties and Bodies for Patent Registration, Copyrights, and Trademark Registration.

The major ones for patent registration being the World Intellectual Property Organization(WIPO) Convention, the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), the Paris Convention and many more,

There are many rising sectors in the UAE like smart transportation, sustainable energy, petrochemicals, pharmaceuticals, etc., that are coming up with constant innovations.

Hence, patent registration is a vital component for the progress of new innovation in ethical means and contributes to the economy at a large-scale.