U.A.E. Intellectual Property - Case Study Example

Intellectual Property Name Institution Date Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 Intellectual Property 3 Introduction 3 The Potential Problem 3 U.A.E. Intellectual Property Law 4 Patent Law 4 Designs and Industrial Models 5 Trademarks 5 Copyrights 6 World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) 7 Apple v. Samsung Litigation 8 Intellectual Property Licensing Agreement 9 Copies 10 Ownership 10 Use of the Patent Design 10 Conclusion 11 References 13 Intellectual Property Introduction Intellectual property is the creations of the minds, which includes patents, literary and art works and symbols, names, images in addition to designs utilized within business (Mohr, 2008). Intellectual property is divided in two classifications, namely industrial property which consists of patents, trademarks, industrial designs along with geographic illustrations of source. The other intellectual property is copyright, which consists of literary and art works like books, poetry, movies, music and art works like drawings, pictures, statues and architectural designs. Rights allied to copyright consist of those of performing artists during their performance, recording and those of broadcasts during their radio and TV programs (Davis, 2000). Basically, the existing intellectual property systems do not entirely protect the patents and creations of indigenous and local communities. World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) is developing balanced and suitable legal and reasonable responses to such matters, which include accessing and also fair benefit-sharing of genetic resources (Lubna, 2006). The Potential Problem The economy of UAE has been increasing rapidly and this has made it to be among the fastest developing economies worldwide. As a result, this has results to increased foreign investment level, which has led to UAE making efforts to align its intellectual property laws with international standards (Rogers, 2010). Nonetheless, dependable copies of the intellectual property laws and regulations in UAE which are in Arabic are hard to get and understand for most Western lawyers. Reliable English translations and interpretations of intellectual property law in UAE are difficult. Additionally, development of new technologies within UAE might be very alike to the technologies utilized within other technology gadgets. As a result, UAE technology manufacturers and markets can be accused of patent infringement if they use a similar technology because this results to violation of patents (Mark, 2009). U.A.E. Intellectual Property Law The UAE has well established laws that protect intellectual property. The Federal Laws ratified in 1992 protects the intellectual property as well as copyright and also protects the holders’ rights of intellectual property, design patents, trademarks and such (Peter, 2006). Patent Law Whenever a grant for pais is applied, its conformity with requirements and patentability according to the Patent Law is assessed and this includes its originality, inventiveness in addition to its industrial applicability. When the application satisfies all the required requirements it is published within the Official Gazette and anybody can appeal to the Patent Committee in 60 days following the publication and if there is no opposition, the letters-patent is awarded. According to the patent law, a patent is only valid for 15 years and cannot be renewed for duration of more than 5 years. However, patents for process inventions regarding drugs and pharmaceuticals are awarded for a non-renewable duration of 10 years (Peter, 2006). The right to a patent can be licensed or assigned. If it is assigned, it cannot affect third parties except if it has been recorded at the Patent Office and a publication has been made within the Official Gazette (Peter, 2006). Working of patents within the UAE is a legal prerequisite. In case the individual owning the patent invention doesn’t fulfill the established working prerequisites in 4 years from the filing date of 3 years from when the patent was granted, if the person has stopped the working for 2 successive years, its usage doesn’t cover the UAE demands, or when the patent owner refuses to license the patent under contract on fair term, then the patent is subject to obligatory licensing according to the Patent Law provisions in AUE. The duration for a utility model is 3 years from the date when the patent was applied for and 2 years from the time the patent was granted. Nonetheless, importation of patented products doesn’t satisfy the use prerequisite (Peter, 2006). Designs and Industrial Models In AUE, the examination procedure for designs and industrial models in just like in patents. Registration of design and industrial models can only be legal and valid fro 5 years and can only be renewed for two more successive 5 year durations. Annuities should be paid within the last 3 months of the protection duration; although late imbursement having a surcharge can be made within 30 days form the due date (Campbell, 2007). Trademarks UAE follows the international categorization of goods and services. After a trademark application is made, the application is assessed to examine if the trademark meets the requirements of trademark registration. After the Registrar accepts a trademark application, the trademark publication is then made within the Official Gazette. Additionally, after the Registrar accepts the trademark application, it is published within two daily Arabic newspapers as well as in the notices’ cuttings (Hansen, 2009). Anyone can oppose the application by filing a notice to the Register within 30 days from the day the trademark was published. If the trademark is not opposed, it is registered and the pertinent registration certificate is issued to the applicant. A trademark registration is valid for 10 years from the day it was applied and can be renewed for similar durations. Normally, the rights of a registered trademark may be assigned with or without the commercial enterprise by use of the trademark. For the trademark assignment to have effect vis-avis third parties, it should be recorded within the Official Gazette. Any person can alse request the court to nullify a trademark registration in case the owner of the trademark does not utilize the trademark within the UAE for 5 successive years from the date it was registered (Hansen, 2009). Copyrights In UAE, copyright are protected under the Copyright and Authorship Protection Law No.40. Registration can be done with the fit authority, although such registrations are perceived as the solid reference to the copyrighted information. Failure to register amounts to infringement of the author’s right. A copyright registration is valid for the lifetime of the author in addition to 25 years after the author dies. The valid time for cinema artworks along with works published for the first time following the death of the author are protected for just 25 years. Additionally, the copyright protection of photographic works is just 10 years (Hansen, 2009). World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) WIPO refers to the United Nations body that protects intellectual property as a way of promoting innovation and creativity. WIPO stimulates the development and usage of the international Intellectual Property by: Services: WIPO runs systems that simplify the obtaining of intellectual property protection worldwide for trademarks, designs in addition to appellations of origin and also resolves intellectual property disputes. Law: WIPO assists in the development of the international legal intellectual property structure in accordance with the society’s developing requirements. Infrastructure: WIPO develops shared networks as well as technological policies to share knowledge and simplify business dealings involving intellectual property and this includes free databases and tools for exchanging information. Development: WIPO builds capacity in the usage of intellectual property in supporting economic development (WIPO, 1996). Additionally, WIPO works with its member states along with the stakeholders to improve understanding and respect for Intellectual Property internationally. It also provides economic analysis and statistics and contributes Intellectual Property-based solutions to assist in tackling worldwide challenges. For a state to be a member of WIPO, it should deposit a ratification instrument or access with the Director General of WIPO. UAE is a member of WIPO (WIPO, 2004). Apple v. Samsung Litigation Apple v. Samsung litigation was the initial of the current court cases between Samsung and Apple concerning the design of smart phones along with tablet computers. The companies manufactured more than half of smart phones sold internationally as of July 2012. In the beginning of 2011, Apple Company started taking a legal action against Samsung in patent breach. Apple’s worldwide legal actions because of technology patents became known as component of the mobile device patent disputes; widespread court case within vicious competition within the international market for consumer mobile communications. By august 2011, Apple and Samsung had about 19 court cases within 9 countries and by October 2011, the court cases were in ten countries. In July 2012, both firms were in more than 50 court case worldwide, where the companies were claiming billions of money between them. Apple won a case in United States, while Samsung won in South Korea, Japan and UK as well (Miller, 2012). Generally, smart phones are extremely diverse. Any patent judgment can slow a competitor for some months but cannot block it. For instance, Samsung engineers have already formulated an option to one of the patents established to have been breached. One of the latest Samsung smart phones, the one where a sliding finger stroke brings a blue glow at the bottom Apple Company, filed its patent violation court case within April 2011. Apple won this court case and the judge established that numerous Samsung products unlawfully utilized Apple creations like the “bounce-back” feature where the user normally rolls to an end image, as well as the capacity to zoom text by tapping using a finger. Additionally, it was also ruled that Samsung breached Apple’s technology concerning the smart phone feature that makes the screen to bounce back upon scrolling to the end image. On the other hand, Apple was found to have infringed on Samsung’s wireless technology patents (Miller, 2012). Due to the complexity of the legal and technology matters, a patent professional argued that the final ruling of the current court cases involving the two companies would be determined by whether the judges feels that Samsung’s products and identical to Apple’s iPhone and iPad. To trounce this challenge during the court proceedings, Samsung argument was that Apple’s innovation claims were apparent models or ideas stolen from Sony Company and other comparable companies. According to patent experts, this argument is a high-risk strategy since Apple has a reputation of being innovative in its products. The Apple’s argument was that its products and Samsung’s products are similar and Apple presented internal Samsung document indicating that Samsung has copied Apple designs (Miller, 2012). Basically, Apple has won numerous claims on patent regarding the design and usage of some of Apple’s well-known gadgets, and more importantly Intellectual Property regarding multi-touch gestures (Miller, 2012). Intellectual Property Licensing Agreement Acceptance: When using an Apple or Samsung design or any other connected services, the involved company should first agree to the License Agreement. Failure to agree, it is not allowed to use the patent. You accept and agree to the license agreement terms on behalf of the company. Allowed Uses and Restrictions Subject to the terms and conditions of this Agreement, Apple/Samsung hereby permits during the term, revocable, and non-sub licensable license to: 1. Install copies of Apple/Samsung designs to be utilized internally for development and testing of Applications 2. Make practical number of copies to certified developer for solely internal use and to test and develop applications 3. Install a provisioning profile on all registered devices to enable distribution and usage of applications The patent owner reserves the right to determine the restricted number of products that every licensee can register with Apple/Samsung and acquire licenses (Miller, 2012). Copies You agree to maintain and copy the owner of the copyright, disclaimers in addition to additional proprietary notices within all copies of Apple/Samsung designs that you are allowed to make in accordance with this agreement (Miller, 2012). Ownership The patent owner retains all rights, title as well as interest in the design. You agree to cooperate with the patent owner to retain the ownership of the patent design, and to the level that you recognize any claims allied to the patent design, you should utilize practical efforts to promptly notify the patent owner company (Samsung or Apple) (May, 2007). Use of the Patent Design As a perquisite of utilizing the patent design including any other services, you agree that: 1. You will utilize the patent design and any other services for the purposes and in a way expressly allowed through this agreement and according to all relevant laws and regulations 2. You will not utilize the patent design or any other services for any unlawful activity 3. To the best of your knowledge, your licensed design information don’t and won’t breach or infringe any patent design’s owner copyrights, trademarks and patent legal rights (George, 2008). Conclusion In conclusion, it is worth noting that intellectual property refers to minds’ creations and it involves patents, literary and art works and symbols, names, images in addition to designs utilized within business. Therefore, in order to avoid being involved in intellectual property cases, companies should ensure that they do not use other companies’ innovations and such. The UAE has well established laws that protect intellectual property. The Federal Laws ratified in 1992 protects the intellectual property as well as copyright and also protects the holders’ rights of intellectual property, design patents, trademarks. WIPO is a body that protects intellectual property as a way of promoting innovation and creativity and UAE is a member of WIPO. Apple v. Samsung litigation is an example of a patent breach which involved court cases where Apple started suing Samsung for patent breach. In conclusion, companies should draft licensing agreements to ensure that they have agreements on usage of their designs and patents. References Campbell, C. (2007). Legal Aspects of Doing Business in the Middle East. International Business,Lulu.com. Davis. M. (2000). Intellectual Property: Patents, Trademarks, and Copyright. New York: West/Wadsworth. George, R. (2008). Intellectual Property Rights. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press. Hansen, P. (2009). Intellectual Property Law and Practice of the United Arab Emirates: Law and Practice. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Lubna, K. (2006). The Diffusion of E-Commerce in Developing Economies: A Resource-Based Approach. Austria: Edward Elgar Publishing. Mark, A. (2009). The Patent Crisis and How the Courts Can Solve It. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. May, C. (2007). The Global Intellectual Property Organization: The Global Governance of Knowledge Ownership. Sydney: Taylor & Francis. Mohr, S. (2008). Exclusive Jurisdiction in Intellectual Property. Hampshire: Mohr Siebeck. Miller, R. (2012). Fundamentals of Business Law: Excerpted Cases. New York: Cengage Learning. Peter, H. (2006). The United Arab Emirates Yearbook. Dubai: Trident Press Ltd. Rogers, M. (2010). Innovation, Intellectual Property, and Economic Growth. New Jersey: Princeton University Press. WIPO. (1996). Model Provisions on Protection against Unfair Competition. WIPO publication, Issue 832. WIPO. (2004). WIPO Guide on the Licensing of Copyright and Related Rights. WIPO publication, Issue 897. Read More