Bilingual brand guidelines checklist for UAE businesses
What an Arabic and English brand guide must settle in writing so printers, developers and writers in the UAE apply it the same way.
Read the articleTrademark registration in the UAE is handled by the Ministry of Economy and Tourism under Federal Decree-Law No. 36 of 2021 Concerning Trademarks, which came into force on 2 January 2022. A registered logo is protected for ten years from the application date, renewable, and gives the owner the right to stop others using an identical or confusingly similar mark for related goods or services. Designing a logo does not create that protection; filing does.
This guide to trademark registration in the UAE explains, from the law and the Ministry’s own service pages as read in September 2026, what can be registered, what is refused, how the process runs and what it means for your logo brief. It is not legal advice. Filing is a legal step for you or a registered trademark agent, and fees are set by the Ministry, so check them on its website.
Key points
- Article 2 of the law covers words, letters, drawings, colours, shapes, packaging, 3D and hologram marks, and allows sound and smell marks
- Article 3 lists signs that cannot be registered, including non distinctive marks, state emblems and words like “registered” or “copyright”
- A registry enquiry helps, but the Ministry states that its result does not imply acceptance
- Accepted marks are published, and interested parties then have 30 days to object
- A mark unused for five consecutive years can face a cancellation request
What UAE trademark law protects
For trademark registration in the UAE, Article 2 of Federal Decree-Law No. 36 of 2021 defines a trademark broadly. It includes names, words, signatures, letters, symbols, figures, stamps, drawings, photos, packaging, figurative elements, shapes, a colour or set of colours, or any combination of these, as well as 3D marks and hologram marks, used or intended to be used to distinguish one organisation’s goods or services from another’s. The same article says objects related to sound and smell may also be classified as a trademark.
For most businesses the relevant forms are a word mark, meaning the name itself, and a figurative mark, meaning the logo artwork. Once registered, Article 17 gives the owner the right to prevent anyone without consent from using the mark, or an identical or similar one, for connected goods or services where that use is likely to confuse consumers. Article 17 also says the legal effect of registration starts from the date the application was submitted, which is one reason not to delay filing once a logo is final.
Logos the law says cannot be registered
For trademark registration in the UAE, Article 3 lists signs that may not be treated as a trademark or registered. Several of them are directly relevant to logo design decisions.
| Article 3 restriction | What it means for a logo brief |
|---|---|
| Marks lacking any distinctive feature, or made of common names for the goods, familiar drawings or normal images of them | A coffee cup icon for a café, or the plain word for your product, is weak; distinctiveness should be a design goal |
| Public logos, flags, military insignia, honours, coins, banknotes and symbols of the UAE, other states or organisations, or imitations | Avoid the UAE flag, falcon emblems or official looking seals as part of the mark |
| Red Crescent and Red Cross symbols and similar signs | Clinics and pharmacies need a different visual cue for health |
| Marks identical or similar to symbols of a religious nature | Leave religious symbols out of commercial marks |
| Geographical names likely to cause confusion about origin | Place names in a logo need care if the product does not come from there |
| A third party’s name, photo, logo or nickname without prior consent | Another person’s portrait, name or nickname in the mark needs their prior approval |
| Misleading marks, or marks containing a trade name owned by others | Check that no element suggests a false origin or borrows another company’s name |
| Marks identical or similar to earlier filed or registered marks for the same or related goods or services | Search before design is locked, not after |
| Copying, imitation, translation, Arabization or vocal translation of a famous mark | An Arabic rendering of a famous brand can be refused, not only a direct copy |
| Marks including words such as franchise, franchised, registered, registered drawing or copyright | Keep these words out of the artwork itself |
Article 4 adds specific protection for famous marks whose reputation extends beyond the country where they are registered. For UAE businesses naming a new brand, the practical lesson is that echoing a well known international name, in either language, is a risk even in a different product category.
Before you file: search, spelling and design decisions
Before trademark registration in the UAE, the Ministry offers an Enquire About Registration of Trademarks service that searches the register for identical or similar marks, available to companies, establishments and individuals, with results returned immediately. The Ministry is clear about its limits: the enquiry result, whether or not something appears, does not imply that a registration application will be accepted. Treat it as a first filter, and have an agent assess similarity properly.
A few design decisions matter for trademark registration in the UAE and are easier to make before filing than after.
- Word mark or logo, or both: A word mark protects the name however it is styled; a figurative mark protects the artwork as filed. Many owners consider both.
- Arabic and English: Decide whether the Arabic wordmark, the English one and the bilingual lockup are filed together or separately, based on how each will be used.
- Colour: Article 9 allows one application for a set of marks identical in their essential elements that differ only in matters such as colour, where the goods or services fall in the same category. Ask your agent how best to file colour and mono versions.
- Final artwork: The Ministry’s service page asks for a copy of the mark in JPEG format. File the version you will actually use, cleanly exported, not a draft.
- Rights in the artwork: Make sure your agreement with whoever designed the logo, in house or external, states who owns the design rights, and take legal advice on the wording.
Classes and the goods and services list
For trademark registration in the UAE, Article 8 allows a single application to cover one or more categories of goods or services, following the classification the Ministry determines. It adds an important caution: goods or services are not automatically similar because they sit in the same category, and not automatically different because they sit in different ones.
Write the list around what you actually sell now and what you realistically plan to sell. A restaurant brand that also sells packaged sauces, merchandise or a delivery app touches several categories. Article 24 lets an interested person request cancellation of a mark not used for five consecutive years, unless emergency circumstances prevented use, so filing for everything imaginable is not a strategy.
The UAE trademark registration process and its time limits
For trademark registration in the UAE, the Ministry’s Register Trademark service page and the law together describe the route. Applications are made through the Ministry’s website or smart app.
| Stage | What happens | Time limit stated |
|---|---|---|
| Application | Details of the mark and the goods or services, a JPEG of the mark, a trade licence copy for companies, and a notarised power of attorney if an agent files | Not applicable |
| Examination | The Ministry checks the mark against the register; the service page lists an expedited examination option | Service page: a study period of 20 working days. Law, Article 12: decision within 90 days of submission |
| Requested amendments | The Ministry may set restrictions or amendments to avoid confusion with other marks | Article 12: reply within 30 days or the application is treated as waived |
| Grievance against refusal | Applicant may go to the Trademark Grievance Committee, then the competent court | Article 13: 30 days from notice, then 30 days to appeal |
| Publication and objection | Accepted marks are announced in the Ministry’s bulletin; interested parties may object | Article 15: objections within 30 days of publication |
| Registration certificate | Issued after the objection period, showing registration number, dates, owner and goods or services | Service page: within 30 days |
If you filed first in another country that is party to the Paris Convention or a relevant agreement, Article 11 sets out how to claim priority from that earlier application, including the documents to attach and a six month period. An agent should handle that timing.
This table summarises Federal Decree-Law No. 36 of 2021 on the UAE Legislation portal and the Ministry of Economy and Tourism service pages, read on 14 September 2026. Where the two state different periods, the Ministry’s current practice and your agent’s advice should guide you. This is not legal advice.
After UAE trademark registration: renewal, use and changes
After trademark registration in the UAE, protection lasts ten years from the application date under Article 21, and can be renewed for similar periods without a new examination. Article 22 says that if the renewal period set in the Executive Regulations passes without a renewal application, the mark is treated as removed from the register from the expiry date. Put the renewal date in the same calendar as your trade licence renewal.
- Keep using it: Five consecutive years without use opens the door to a cancellation request under Article 24.
- Keep evidence: Article 18 says ownership cannot be disputed once a mark has been registered and used without interruption for at least five years with no legal proceedings, unless bad faith is proven. It also lets an earlier user seek cancellation within five years of registration. Dated packaging, invoices and campaign files help show use.
- Refreshing the logo: Article 19 allows modifications that do not fundamentally affect the mark’s particularity. A full redesign may need a new filing, so consult your agent before launching one.
- Licensing: Article 31 requires a licence to use a trademark to be in writing and notarised, which matters for franchisees and distributors using your logo.
- Changes of owner details: The Ministry lists services to amend owner information, transfer a mark and record licences.
How Digital Marketing Dubai can help
We do not handle trademark registration in the UAE or give legal opinions, but we can make the design side ready for the agent who does. Our logo design work avoids the Article 3 pitfalls above from the first sketch and supplies clean final artwork in Arabic and English. Where a new name is involved, brand identity design builds the checks into the naming stage, and packaging design carries the registered mark consistently onto products. To keep both scripts consistent after filing, see our bilingual brand guidelines checklist, and browse every visual service on the design services hub. Tell us where your brand stands and we will reply with a written fixed price proposal within 45 minutes during business hours.
