Trademark Registration in the UAE: Cost per Class, Timeline, Renewal

Trademark Registration in the UAE: Cost, Timeline and Protection

UAE trademarks are registered federally with the Ministry of Economy and Tourism under Federal Decree-Law No. 36 of 2021. Official fees are AED 6,500 per class (AED 750 examination + AED 750 publication + AED 5,000 registration), third parties get 30 days to oppose after publication, and protection lasts 10 years from the filing date, renewable. Owners based outside the UAE must file through a trademark agent registered with the Ministry.

The misconception we correct most often: a trade licence or a registered company name is not a trademark. The brand on your free zone licence has no trademark protection until it is on the Ministry's register.

The legal framework

• Federal Decree-Law No. 36 of 2021 on Trademarks, in force since 2 January 2022, replacing Federal Law No. 37 of 1992.
• Implementing Regulation — Cabinet Resolution No. 57 of 2022.
• Fees — the Cabinet decision on trademark service fees announced by the Ministry on 21 October 2025.
• The Trademarks Register is kept by the Ministry (Article 5). In the Ministry's own words, the law protects in the UAE only marks registered in the UAE.

What you can and cannot register

The definition is wide: words, names, letters, numbers, drawings, packaging, colours or colour combinations, 3D shapes, holograms, and distinctive sounds or smells (Article 2).

Article 3 lists what cannot be registered. The grounds that trip up businesses most often:

• no distinctiveness — the generic name of the product or its ordinary picture;
• conflict with an earlier filing or registration — identical or similar marks for the same or related goods or services where confusion or harm to the earlier owner is likely;
• well-known marks — copies, imitations, translations or transliterations of someone else's well-known mark, even for different goods if a link is suggested;
• misleading marks — false indications of origin or characteristics, or marks containing someone else's trade name;
• geographical names that would confuse consumers about origin;
• third-party names, portraits or logos without their (or their heirs') consent;
• public emblems, flags, Red Crescent and Red Cross symbols, religious symbols and their imitations;
• terms like "Registered" or "Copyright";
• 3D shapes dictated by the nature of the goods or by a technical function;
• marks of persons with whom dealings are prohibited under UAE legislation.

Classes

You register for specific goods and services grouped into classes. In practice the Ministry uses the international Nice Classification — 45 classes, 1–34 for goods and 35–45 for services. One application can cover several classes (Article 8), but the Ministry's fee announcement is explicit that fees are charged per class, even within a single application.

Also note Article 8(2): goods are not treated as similar merely because they sit in the same class, or different merely because they sit in different classes.

Official fees (as of 24 September 2026)

Worked example. A restaurant group filing in class 43 (restaurant services), 30 (food products) and 35 (retail and franchising): 3 × AED 6,500 = AED 19,500 in official fees with standard examination, or 3 × (2,250 + 750 + 5,000) = AED 24,000 with one-day examination. Agent fees come on top.

Discounts. Members of the National SME Programme get 50% off trademark service fees; People of Determination are fully exempt.

Late payment. The publication fee is due within 30 days of acceptance — after that, AED 100 per month (capped at AED 1,000 a year). The registration fee is due within 30 days after the opposition period — after that, AED 1,000 per month (capped at AED 10,000 a year).

Timeline step by step

1. Clearance search. Search the Ministry's register and WIPO's Madrid database for identical and similar marks, and test the mark against Article 3. Most refusals are avoidable at this stage.
2. Specification. Draft the list of goods and services for what you will actually sell in the next few years; each extra class is another AED 6,500.
3. Documents. The mark as a JPEG; the trade licence if the applicant is a company; for overseas owners, a notarised, legalised power of attorney translated into Arabic (see our document legalisation service).
4. Examination. The law gives the Ministry up to 90 days (Article 12); the Ministry's service card states 20 working days, or one working day on the expedited track. If the Ministry imposes restrictions or amendments, you have 30 days to respond or the application is treated as withdrawn.
5. Publication in the Trademark Bulletin once the AED 750 fee is paid.
6. Opposition window — 30 days from the Bulletin's issue date (Article 15).
7. Registration fee and certificate — AED 5,000, with the certificate issued within 30 days after the opposition period.

Rights date back to the filing date (Article 17). If you filed first in another Paris Convention country, you can claim priority, supplying the earlier application within 6 months (Article 11).

Refusals and oppositions

• A refusal or suspension can be challenged before the Ministry's Trademarks Grievances Committee within 30 days of notification, and the Committee's decision before the Federal Court of Appeal within a further 30 days (Article 13). Court action is not admissible without the grievance first.
• A third-party opposition costs AED 7,500 and must be filed within the 30-day window. The applicant is given 30 days to respond and a hearing is scheduled.
• Challenging a decision that rejects an opposition does not by itself stop the registration unless the court suspends it (Article 16).

Protection term, non-use and renewal

Protection runs 10 years from filing, renewable for further 10-year periods without re-examination (Article 21). File the renewal during the tenth year (AED 5,750) or within 6 months after expiry (AED 6,500). Miss that and the mark is removed from the register.

Two five-year rules matter for strategy (Articles 18 and 24):

• any interested party can apply to cancel a mark not used for 5 consecutive years;
• after 5 years of continuous registration and use without challenge, ownership can no longer be disputed, except for bad faith.

Licensing and assignment

• Assignment. Applications and registered marks can be assigned, with or without consideration, and pass on inheritance. But a transfer is not enforceable against third parties until it is recorded in the register and published (Article 28). In an acquisition, record the transfer — see our note on buying a business.
• Licences must be in writing and documented. Recording them is not mandatory (Article 31), but can be done on request for AED 2,000 — worth it for franchise and distribution networks. A licence cannot outlast the protection term, and the licensee cannot sub-license unless the contract allows (Articles 30 and 34). Drafting points are in our piece on contracts under UAE law.

Enforcement against counterfeits: civil and administrative routes

• Ministry complaint against infringement of a registered mark — AED 2,250.
• Customs may suspend clearance of infringing goods for up to 20 days at the right holder's request (Article 45); small non-commercial quantities in personal luggage are excluded.
• Provisional measures from the summary judge of the civil court (Article 47): inventory of infringing goods, seizure of goods and equipment, blocking goods from commercial channels and export, preserving evidence. The judge decides within 10 days; the right holder must sue on the merits within 20 days or the order can be lifted. A guarantee may be required.
• Damages through a civil claim (Article 48).

The law also contains criminal penalties for counterfeiting; criminal matters are handled separately by an advocate.

Free zones and Madrid

There is one trademark register for the UAE — the federal register at the Ministry (Article 5). Setting up in a free zone, or registering a company or trade name there, does not create trademark rights: the mark still goes on the federal register wherever your company sits. For structuring the company itself, see how to set up a company.

The UAE is part of the Madrid System: according to WIPO, the Protocol entered into force for the UAE on 28 December 2021. Foreign owners can designate the UAE in an international application; UAE owners can file internationally through the Ministry (AED 400 plus WIPO fees).

FAQ

How much does trademark registration cost in the UAE?

AED 6,500 per class in official fees on the standard track. Agent fees are extra.

How long does it take?

Examination is legally capped at 90 days (20 working days per the Ministry's service card), then publication and a 30-day opposition window, then the registration fee and certificate.

Can I file myself?

UAE-based owners can. Owners based abroad must use a registered trademark agent under a notarised power of attorney.

Does a DIFC or free zone licence protect my brand?

No. Trademark protection comes only from registration with the Ministry of Economy and Tourism.

Sources

• Federal Decree-Law No. 36 of 2021 on Trademarks (text on the Ministry website): https://www.moet.gov.ae/documents/20121/376326/Trademarks.pdf/691876a6-2dbb-90b1-f8b1-c52d4dfce538 — checked 24.09.2026
• Ministry of Economy and Tourism — Register Trademark (fees, timeline, documents): https://www.moet.gov.ae/en/w/register-trademark%C2%A0 — checked 24.09.2026
• Ministry — new trademark service fees (21.10.2025): https://www.moet.gov.ae/en/-/ministry-of-economy-and-tourism-introduces-trademark-service-fees-as-part-of-efforts-to-enhance-uae-s-appeal-for-national-and-international-brands-and-support-sme-owners — checked 24.09.2026
• Ministry — trademark services (renewal, opposition, licence, transfer, infringement complaint): https://www.moet.gov.ae/en/w/trademark-services-1 — checked 24.09.2026
• WIPO — the United Arab Emirates joins the Madrid System: https://www.wipo.int/en/web/madrid-system/w/news/2021/news_0026 — checked 24.09.2026

This is a general framework, not legal advice. Ministry fees change, and a mark's chances depend on the clearance search and the class specification. We review each brand individually.