As a core country of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), the United Arab Emirates' patent system integrates the framework of civil law, principles of Islamic law (Sharia), and special rules of free trade zones, forming a globally unique three track invalidation mechanism. This article uses the 2021 Federal Law No. 11 and the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) Intellectual Property Regulations as benchmarks to analyze the offensive and defensive strategies of companies in dealing with patent invalidity in the United Arab Emirates.

Legal Basis: Five Legal Reasons for Invalidation Declaration

Note: DIFC Free Trade Zone applies the common law system, and invalid reasons exclude religious examination (DIFC Law No. 4/2019, Art. 12)

Three track system program: the game between federation, free trade zones, and religious censorship

Process:Application → Religious preliminary review → Technical review → Adjudication (cycle 24-36 months)

Core rules:

Medical/biotechnology patents automatically trigger religious review by the Ministry of Health (MOHAP)

Evidence must be authenticated by The Hague and double authenticated by the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Success rate: Only 28% in 2023 (due to frequent program defects)

Three review structure:

Key features:

Adopting the reversal of burden of proof (patent holder self proving validity)

Technical Expert Committee intervention can be requested (cost approximately $20000)

Average cycle: 4-7 years

Advantage:

Exclude religious censorship (such as claiming effectiveness of alcohol preparation methods)

English trials accept common law precedents

Shorten the cycle to 12-18 months

Limitations:Only covering patents registered in the free trade zone (accounting for 15% of the total)

MOHAP religious veto power:If the drug contains contraindicated ingredients (such as porcine insulin), it is directly ineffective

Pricing review linkage:Drug prices exceeding 20% of the median national income can trigger invalidity (Novartis v. MOHAP, 2021)

AI Patent Examination Guidelines to be Issued in 2023:

Algorithms need to prove that they do not replace human will (such as the invalidation of ethical decision-making patents for autonomous driving)

Training data must undergo content review by the Islamic Ministry of Culture

Based on the GCC Convention on the Protection of Traditional Knowledge: If the patent involves Arabic medicine (such as frankincense therapy), proof of origin from the Ministry of Culture of the Emirate must be submitted

The burden of proof shifts to the patentee (P&G v. Ajman University, 2022)

1. Language security strategy:

The key parameters are described using interval description method (such as temperature of 20-30 ℃ instead of about 25 ℃)

Disable machine translation: Hire a registered translator from the Ministry of Justice (see UAEIPO Decree No. 37/2022 for the list)

2. Religious Avoidance Techniques:

Gene technology renamed as Detailed Repair

Alcohol solvent labeling is limited to industrial use only

After joining the BRICS countries, the United Arab Emirates will promote rapid mutual recognition of patents, but the invalidation process will still be subject to local law, resulting in:

The stability of authorized patents has declined (invalid applications surged 210% in the first quarter of 2024)

Religious censorship conflicts internationalization (such as Indian yoga therapy patent being found to violate Islamic law in UAE)

Translation of Disaster:35% of invalid cases have been narrowed in scope due to the Chinese translation of approximately 'بالضبط' (precise)

Program overdue:The deadline for responding to review opinions is only 30 days (usually 3-6 months in Europe and America)

Cultural misjudgment:Failure to declare similarity between traditional Chinese medicine formula and Arabic traditional medicine (triggering invalidity of traditional knowledge)

Starting from 2024, UAEIPO will accept AI Hashariah certified blockchain storage:

Priority evidence needs to be converted by Islamic calendar timestamp

50% reduction in deposit fees (but requires a 40% increase in technical disclosure)