Intellectual Property Rights in UAE - Coursework Example

Name Course Tutor Date Introduction Intellectual property rights compounds a judicial concept that mainly refers to mind creations of all recognized exclusive rights. These are rights that deal with property law, intangible assets, artistic works, inventions and discoveries. The most common types of intellectual property rights include trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets jurisdictions and industrial design rights. There has been an evolving of principles that govern intellectual property rights over the centuries. In the beginning of the 19th century, intellectual property rights came into full use. This report will assess four different aspects. One of them is the discussion of the intellectual property laws in the U.A.E. The discussion will review ways in which patents, copyrights as well as trademarks are obtained in the U.A.E. The second one addresses the role of the World Intellectual Property Organization. The third section will address the summary of decisions reached in recent court discussions in the USA. This is in reference to litigation involving Apple and Samsung. The fourth section will finally create a draft license agreement that can be used to enable the company to use Apple’s technology in order to avoid any potential litigation (Salzberger, 2012). The intellectual property laws in the U.A.E There are federal laws that were enacted in 1992. These laws granted enough protection for trademarks, patents and copyrights. However since UAE became GATT member, the established rules are undergoing revision in order for them to comply with world trade organization standards. These revised laws are expected to be implemented by 2000 in the January. UAE has already signed the Paris convention. Patents Once grant applications of a pair are files, there are examinations that are with respect to compliance. This is with potentiality and formalities. This is under patent law that includes novelty, industrial applicability and inventiveness. During cases of refusal, applicants have rights to appeal to the committee. This is in the Patent Office. All accepted applications are put to publication in an Official Gazette. Any party that is interested has rights to make appeals within close to 60 days to the specific committee. In case of any absence all the letters that are patent or all utility certificates are issued. A patent is always valid for close to 15 years. They also have renewable periods of not more than five years. All the patents that are granted for the process of invention that are related to pharmaceuticals and drugs are granted renewable periods of ten years. Right to patent can be licensed or assigned. Any assignment cannot have effect against any third parties not unless there is a record at the main patent office and put to publication in the main official Gazette. In U.A.E it is important to use patents. If the owner of any patented invention does not bring satisfaction to the laid down working requirements in a period of four years from the specified date of filing date of the period of three years from a specified grant date. The patent is subject to any compulsory licensing especially if the owner does not comply with the fair terms of the contract. It is also subject to compulsory licensing if the owner does not follow any demands from the U.A.E. Corresponding periods for all utility models run for three years. Importation of all products does not satisfy usage of the requirement (Barrett, Bloomberg Businessweek, 2012). Designs and Industrial Models Examination procedures for industrial models and designs are equally same as the one for patents. The registration for an industrial model is valid for close to five years. It is also renewable for two more five year periods. Annuities must be paid in three months with a bid to protect any arising problems. Late payments have surcharges that are possible within close to thirty days. Trademarks In the UAE, international classification of services and goods must be followed. Once there is the filling of a trademark application, the application must be examined to ensure it can be registered. U.A.E’s Official Gazette has all the details of trademark applications that have been fully accepted by the registrar. There is a trademark office that is responsible for accepting all the publications and publishing them in the daily Arabic newspaper. All the cuttings as published in all newspapers must be always submitted to this office. Any party that is interested has the right to file opposition notices to the trademarks’ registration within a period of thirty days. This has to be from the last date’s publication. Registrar’s decision in any mater can be appealed to any committee located in the office belonging to the Trademark. The committee’s decision can be appealed to any competent court. Any party that is interested has rights to cancel the registration of any trademark located in the U.A.E. This however has to be for close to five years from the registration date (Neumann, 2011). Copyrights Copyrights interests’ protection can be under the Authorship and Copyright Protection Law of 1992. It is optional to register with any competent authority. Registration shall however be regarded as an authoritative reference towards the information that is put to copyright. Failing to register cannot entail infringing any author’s rights. Copyright registration has validity for a lifetime for any author and up to a period of 25 years after his or death. Validity periods for applied art works, cinematographic works and other corporate bodies work are under protection for a period of 25 years. Photographic works protection period is only for ten years (Barrett, Bloomberg Businessweek, 2012). Role of World Intellectual Property Organization The world intellectual property organization is also known as WIPO. It is a specialized agency from the United Nations that coordinates all intellectual treaties that regard property rights. U.A.E is a member. Close to 184 countries who are members of WIPO comprise of over 90 of all countries in the world. These countries who have membership participate always in WIPO. This is in negotiating treaties as well as setting policies concerned with intellectual property matters for example copyrights, patents and trademarks. WIPO was established in 1967 after the WIPO convention. Its main objective is to promote the entire protection of all intellectual property in the world. The headquarters of WIPO is in Geneva Switzerland. There are five main strategic goals laid down by WIPO especially in 2005 to 206. The first one is to promote extensive intellectual property culture. The second one is to integrate intellectual property laws into national development programs and policies. The third one is to develop international property standards and laws. These are defined partially as promoting laws that are forbidden to circumvention of any technological restrictions. The fourth one is to deliver high quality services. This is in global intellectual property systems of protection. The fifth one is to increase the level of efficiency of the management of WIPO as well as all the support processes that accompany it (Neumann, 2011). WIPO operates in 184 countries. Its operation is on a one country one vote basis. The governance of WIPO is by a general assembly that convenes each year’s autumn. This assembly oversees all the organization’s activities including the organization’s budget. There are established committees that oversee other issue specific and substantive issues. Revenues that are generated from trademark fees and patent enable WIPO to support the entire staff run by UN standards. WIPO secretariat coordinates the committees, assemblies as well as all working groups. WIPO has relations with international institutions as well as the multilateral system. WIPO administers close to 24 treaties as one of its roles. These treaties majorly deal with intellectual property rights. WIPO therefore administers the most important treaty on trade related matters. This is for an organization known as Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights. TRIPS agreements include all powerful enforcement mechanisms that include trade sanction as well as all forms of litigation before the World Court. These force countries into a forceful compliance with the agreement’s provisions. WIPO has the full commitment to equality, development and openness. Its main agenda is to accelerate social, economic and cultural development. This is in alignment with United Nation’s humanitarian objectives put in place for all countries to follow. There are global civil activities that came up from 2004 to fight for more representation of countries in the economic and intellectual property front. The reforming of WIPO’s policies as well as practices aims at addressing needs of all developing countries (Shen, 2012). The main objective of these civil society movements is to help in promoting knowledge access. Several other member states have rose towards the change call and ensuring that countries adapt to the emerging change requirements. There is a laid down development agenda that aims at ensuring that all the attempts to reform any current problems passes through. There has also been an increase in participation by women. They participate in various delegations both in private and in public. There are women delegates that come from developed countries like India and Argentina. These women have provided instrumental leadership in promoting as well as building consensus on the development agenda of this organization (Hoppner, 2011). WIPO also plays a role in Information and technology in its member states. Before 1990, WIPO did not play a huge role in setting the required rules and regulations in the area of information and communication technology. In the past, all intellectual property rules did not in any way apply to any form of personal communication technologies. There has however been a development over the years. Currently, WIPO deals with computers and internet communication. Intellectual property rules currently play a major determinant in setting all ICT policy as well as regulation. Digital technology currently has the ability to make copies of copyright rules, data copies and other materials. All of these are automatically triggered in the set digital environment. Internet provides new forums for copyright as well as trademark infringement as well as copyright infringement. This has led to the development of new rules and regulation that have become put into high prominence. Trade secrets and patents are used in all technical standards. Such rules have similar growth into importance in ICT policy of WIPO. This has greatly increased the role of WIPO since it is now more relevant in the regulation of communication (LeVere, 2012). Apple-Samsung litigation After close to one year of litigation that was scorched earth. The jury made decisions that Samsung Company has ripped off the innovative technology that was used by Apple. This was in the creation of the revolutionary iPod and I phone. The jury therein ordered Samsung to make payments of $10.5 billion to Samsung. This was in the latest legal skirmish of the legal battle. Apple filed its lawsuit on patent infringement. Apple engaged the highest paid country patent lawyers. They demanded for a compensation of $2.5 billion while Samsung electronics on the other hand fired back seeking 399 million. The verdict at the end however belonged fully to Apple since the jury rejected Samsung’s claims against Apple. There are jurors who decided against Apple’s claims that involved two dozen Samsung devices that were at issue. They therefore declined to award a full amount of 2.5 billion that Apple had demanded while filing the lawsuit (Ajuria, 2012). The jury also found out that several of Samsung products has used Apple creations illegally. These included bounce-back feature. This is whereby a user can scroll to end a specific image and then there is also the ability to zoom any text with the finger’s tap. Apple lawyers plan to demand Samsung formally to pull most of its popular cell phones as well as computer tabloids from the USA market. They also have a right to ask the judge to triple all the damages incurred to close to $3billion. On the fateful Friday, Apple won a decisive victory against Samsung. The verdict gave Apple ammunition in the patent war of the smart phone business. The nine jurors returned the verdict after close to three deliberating days. The decision made by the court however forced Samsung as well as other companies to redesign their products in order for them to risk any future legal defects. Licensing Draft There is a draft that can be licensed as an agreement. This can enable the company to use Apple’s technology in order to avoid any potential litigation. Having an attorney to draft licensing agreements or licensing experts to make negotiations on licensing agreements can be the best option for Samsung and other companies. In order to draft a license it is important to begin with clauses that originate from other agreements. After this the next step is to modify them to fit the Samsung Apple situation as well as the desires of these two companies. Sampling licensing agreements can begin from a law library. There are several contract and licensing books that any attorney can use. It can also be important to consider coming up with front guaranteed payments that can get at least something. Sometimes they can seem to be overly pessimistic (Hoppner, 2011). The agreement can never in any way contemplate all the things. With respect to payments however, one needs protection. It is also important to consider percentage of sales. This involves the consideration whether the entire royalty will be paid in net proceeds or in profits. Net proceeds are always calculated as total sale amounts that are associated with the sales. There are non-payment related considerations. This includes patent marking. There are no damages that can be recovered by any patentee in any form of infringement. The type of license, license duration, patent and trade secrets and dispute resolution need to be well marked. References Ajuria, I. (2012). Emerging Markets Monitor. Apple-Samsung Ruling: Emerging Markets View , 1-9. Ash, K. A. (2012). Licensing Journal. Licensing Markets , 27-30. Barrett, P. M. (2012). Bloomberg Businessweek. APPLE'S JIHAD , 56-63. Barrett, P. M. (2012). Bloomberg Businessweek. Apple vs. Samsung: The Longer View , 32-33. Hoppner, T. (2011). European Competition Journal. COMPETITION LAW IN INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LITIGATION: THE CASE FOR A COMPULSORY LICENCE DEFENCE UNDER ARTICLE 102 TFEU , 297-322. LeVere, T. (2012). Licensing Journal. Where You End Depends On Where You Begin: A Litigator's View of Remedies and Post-Termination Provisions in Trademark License Agreements—Part II , 10-15. Neumann, S. (2011). Journal of Private International Law. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS INFRINGEMENTS IN EUROPEAN PRIVATE INTERNATIONAL LAW: MEETING THE REQUIREMENTS OF TERRITORIALITY AND PRIVATE INTERNATIONAL LAW , 583-600. Rodrigues, M. P. (2012). Secured Lender. Asset Security in the United Arab Emirates , 26-29. Salzberger, E. M. (2012). Review of Law and Economics. The Law and Economics Analysis of Intellectual Property: Paradigmatic Shift from Incentives to Traditional Property , 435-480. Shen, C.-L. (2012). Journal of International Commercial Law & Technology. Intellectual Property Rights and International Free Trade: New Jurisprudence of International Exhaustion Doctrine under the Traditional Legal System , 176-211. Read More