Articles 23-24-25 of the Patent and Designs Law as recently amended state out that: If the owner of a patent or a utility certificate have not used the invention or have used it in an insufficient manner, any interested party may apply for a compulsory licence pursuant to the procedures indicated in article (29) of the law herein, according to the following conditions: - the lapse of at least three years after granting the patent; - the applicant for licensing should prove that he exerted, within a reasonable period of time, efforts for obtaining a licence from the patent owner with a reasonable compensation and under reasonable commercial conditions; - the licence shall be non-exclusive; - the licence should be basically for the purpose of fulfilling the demands of the local market; - the licensing decision should determine the scope and period of licensing pursuant to the purpose for which it was granted; - if the invention is related to semiconductors technology the licensing should only be granted for public and non-commercial use or to remedy a practice determined after Judicial or administrative process to be anti-competitive; - the granting of a compulsory licence shall not preclude granting of other compulsory licences. The competent court shall decide pursuant to the request of the interested parties, either to prevent the owner of the letters patent or the utility certificate, from using the invention itself, or otherwise grant him other licences for using thereof; - the competent court may not disregard the first and second item if the compulsory licence was granted as a result of public emergency, the dire need of the public for such, or for public and non-commercial uses; - a compulsory licence for exploiting the patent may be issued if the invention is important for the public interest; - pursuant to a decree by the Minister, a compulsory licence for exploiting the patent or utility certificate protected invention may be issued if the invention is important for the public interest; - the licensee shall have the right to use the civil and penal rights of the owner of the patent or the utility certificate to protect or to use the invention if such owner had omitted such use in spite of notifying or informing him of any illegal action; - article 25 of the above-mentioned Law provides that if it is impossible to use an invention protected by a patent or a utility certificate in the United Arab Emirates without violating rights derived from a patent or a utility certificate granted by virtue of a previous application, then it is permissible to grant the owner of the letters patent or the utility certificate a compulsory licence according to the conditions set forth in article (28) of such law to the degree necessary to use his invention if such invention serves industrial purposes different from such purposes related to the invention of the former patent or utility certificate or represents a marked technical advance in relation thereto; - if the two inventions serve the same industrial purpose, the compulsory licence shall be granted to the subsequent patent or utility certificate while keeping the right for the owner of the former patent or utility certificate to obtain a licence for the subsequent patent or utility certificate, if he applies for such; - the two parties may also agree in writing between them and notify the Administration of their agreement to record it in the related register. Article 29 of the same Law states out the following: - the application for the compulsory licence shall be submitted to the competent court in the form of an action filed against the owner of the patent or utility certificate, and the Administration shall be informed to arrange for the attendance of an administration representative. The court may grant the two parties a period of time it determines for them to come to an agreement and it is permissible to extend the period if the court recognizes a reason to do so. Upon the termination of the period, the court shall examine the application for either rejecting or granting the compulsory licence. If granted the court shall define the conditions and the scope thereof and determine the compensation for the owner of the patent or the utility certificate according to the provision of article (23) of such act, and the judgment shall be served to the other party and to the Administration to register it in the related register and to be published in the official gazette after paying the fixed fee, and the judgment shall have no impact concerning the third party except from the date of publication.

The current Law does not indicate the notion of anti-competitive practices as referred to in Article 31(k) of the TRIPS Agreement. However the draft amendment indicates that if the invention is related to semiconductors technology, the licensing should only be granted for public and non-commercial use or to remedy a practice determined after Judicial or administrative process to be anti-competitive. The notion of anti-competitive practices is indicated in various laws such as the Industrial Law and the Anti-fraud and Defraud Law.

The 1992 Patent and Industrial Design Law in its Article 35 provides for judicial review of the legal validity of any decision by administrative authorities relating to the compulsory licence.

In defending its position, the owner of the patent cannot introduce imported product as a valid ground. It does not present a legitimate reason for avoiding compulsory licensing if one or more of the reasons referred to in the above-mentioned Article 23 (Patent Law) are meet.

The Patent and Designs Law does not provide for any provision aimed at discriminating patents on the basis of the place of invention, the field of technology and whether the products are imported or locally produced. The approved amendment of the Article 23 of the Patent and Designs Law doesn’t stipulate any more that the importation of the product is not considered legal justification for the owner to avoid compulsory licence. Therefore, the Patent law related provisions are now in conformity with Article 27 and 31 of the TRIPS Agreement.

The term of patent protection is 15 years renewable for 5 additional years in accordance with the current law. The draft amendment will provide a protection for 20 years as referred to in TRIPS Article 33.

The existing Patent and Designs Law No. 44 (1992) does not provide for the principle of the reversal of burden of proof in a process patent litigation. However, the Draft amendment envisages the introduction of this principle in order to conform to Article 34 of the TRIPS Agreement. The new Article provides that in case of litigation concerning process patent, the court shall have the authority to order the defendant to prove that the manufacturing process, which he has used, is different from the patented process protected by a patent.

The 1992 Patent and Industrial Design Law No. 44 (Articles 39-42) governs the protection of know-how. According to this Law, protection of undisclosed information related to the know-how should ensured through a contract concluded for this purpose. In all cases, the holder shall take the necessary steps to preserve the confidentiality of its information. The Civil Service Act prevents from any disclosure of information made by the public servant. Article 39 of the 1992 Patent and Industrial Design Law No. 44 indicates that know-how is protected against any unlawful use, disclosure or communications by third parties unless it has been published or made available to the public.

The 1992 Patent and Industrial Designs law No. 44 defines in its Article 1 "know-how" as the technical information, data or knowledge that result from professional experience and are applicable in practice. Article 39 states that know-how shall be protected against any unlawful use, disclosure or communication by third parties unless it has been published or made available to the public. The same Article states clearly that in order to enjoy protection, the owner of the know-how shall take the necessary steps to preserve the confidentiality of its elements. Article 42 of the above-mentioned Law provides for a provision ensuring that a third party will not be allowed to use disclose or communicate any element of know-how without consent of its owner. The same Article states that any of these acts shall be deemed an unlawful act, provided that the person committing the act was aware of the confidential nature of the know-how or could not have ignored such nature. Furthermore, the Bylaws of the 1992 Patent Law (The 1993 Decision No. 11 of the Ministerial Council) lays down procedures required to ensure the protection of know-how as well as its contracting aspects. As regards pharmaceutical products specifically, the Law No. 4 of 1983 related to pharmaceutical institutions and pharmacy profession and its Bylaws provide for establishment of a Committee in charge of pharmaceutical registration and pricing. All the confidential information submitted to it must be kept confidential, provided that it is confidential and the owner has undertaken the necessary steps to keep it confidential.

The three intellectual property rights-related laws provide for measures aimed at preventing violation of intellectual property rights. - the 1992 Trade Marks Law No.37 in its Chapter VI on Penalty (Articles 37-43); - the 1992 Copyright Law in its Chapter VIII (Articles 38-44) on Penalty; - the 1992 Patent and Design Law in its Chapter V on Preventive Measures, Offences and Penalty (Articles 58-61) lay down measures to prevent any infringement or unlawful act which violate rights of the owner of intellectual property.

These laws also provides for remedy measures like preventive seizure, confiscation, destruction of products and equipment as well as removing of the effects of the illegal acts and compensation.

In addition to specific laws related to the protection of public health and nutrition, including the Anti-fraud and Defraud Law, Civil Law, the 1992 Patent and Design Law No. 44 in Section one on Patents and Utility Certificates (Article 6) stipulates that neither a patent nor a utility certificate shall be granted for the following: - plant or animal research, or biological processes for the production of plants or animals, with the exception of microbiological processes and products thereof, - chemical inventions related to foodstuffs, drugs or pharmaceuticals, unless such products are made by means of special chemical process, in which case protection shall extend only to the process and not to the products of the processes, - scientific principles and discoveries, - inventions related to national defense, - inventions, which, if disclosed or exploited, would be contrary to public policy and morality. It is to be noted however that, in order to be consistent with the provisions of the TRIPS Agreement, the draft amendment of the 1992 Patent and Design Law No. 44 will introduce new elements by eliminating the mention of the second above-mentioned sub-paragraph (ii) as exception from granting patent. In addition, the amendment will introduce diagnostic, therapeutic and surgical methods for the treatment of humans or animals among exceptions from granting patent as provided for in Article 27 of the TRIPS Agreement. Furthermore, Section two of the 1992 Patent Law provides for compulsory licences and the reasons of obtaining them in addition to the procedure stipulated in Article 29 under which they are granted. These provisions are also amended to bring the above-mentioned Law in conformity with Articles 30 and 31 of the TRIPS Agreement and to facilitate reading and understanding thereof. The new elements introduced through the amendment are mainly related to the non-exclusivity of compulsory licenses, their restriction to the local market, and the fair compensation for the patent owner. The efforts to be exerted within reasonable period of time for obtaining voluntary license, the prohibition to transfer compulsory licenses and other conditions are also introduced through the amendment to conform to the TRIPS provisions. The public emergency, the public interest and non-commercial uses are also mentioned as grounds of granting compulsory licences.

The 1992 Copyrights Law No. 40 lays down provisions to protect the exclusive rights of authors in relation with their literary and artistic works and determine the scope of the protection. The 1992 Copyrights Law, Articles 37-44, provides for preventive measures and penalty including confiscation, the closing of the institution violating copyright and prison and compensation. The draft amendment will provide additional measures to allow enforcement of copyrights as referred to in the TRIPS Agreement. The obligations contained in Article 9 of the TRIPS Agreement (Berne Convention Articles 1-21 except Article 6bis) will be met through the extension of the scope of copyright in terms of categories and subjects covered as well as the nature of the protection.

The 1992 Copyrights Law No. 40 protects computer programs. Article 2 of this law mentions computer programs under the scope of protection. As mentioned in the answer to question no. 2, Articles 37-44 provide for preventive measures and penalty in order to enforce and protect the owner rights, including computer programs. The draft amendment will bring computer programs applications as well as databases into the scope of copyright protection. It will introduce in clear terms the exclusive rights to exploit literary works, including computer programs, databases and compilation of data.

The rental right is available under the existing law through the right of free exploitation provided for in Article 14 of the 1992 Copyright Law. The rental right applies to all copyrights except for the computer program if the program does not constitute itself the main subject of the rental. It does not apply also to cinematography works unless the rental right is affecting their normal exploitation.

The 1992 Copyright Law includes the rights of producers of phonograms and broadcasting organisations under the protection of copyrights. However, the broadcasting of normal news and events do not fall under the umbrella of the protection unless they are assembled an innovative way or were subject to a personal effort that deserves protection.

The protection doesn’t cover just ideas, procedures, methods of work or function, concepts, principles, inventions and information as such even when they are expressed or explained or clarified or included a copyright. The protection does not cover also official documents regardless of their original language or the language to which is translated. The broadcasting of normal news and events does not benefit from the protection unless they are assembled in an innovative manner or subject to a personal effort that deserves such a protection as mentioned above.

The term of protection of copyrights and neighbouring rights is determined as follows: - As regards the author rights, the term of protection is determined by the period of life of the owner and 25 years after his death. The draft amendment will extend this period to 50 years as referred to in the TRIPS Agreement. - The term of protection of the rights of the joint authors is determined by their period of life and 50 years begin from the date of the death of the last surviving author. - The term of protection of the authors of collective works except the authors of applied arts is 50 years begin from the date of the first publication. - The term of protection of the rights of the authors of the applied artwork is 25 years from the date of their publication. - The term of protection of the rights of the performers is 50 years from the date of the Accomplishment of the work performed. If the performance was fixed in a phonogram the period would be calculated from the end of the year in which the fixation was made. - The term of protection of the rights of the producers of phonograms is 50 years from the date of publication or fixation if it was not published. - The term of protection of the rights of the broadcasting organisations is 20 years from the next year to the year in which the first transmission of the program was made.

The 1992 Copyrights Law Articles 38-44 provides for preventive measures and penalty including confiscation, the closing of the institution violating copyright and prison measures and compensation. The draft amendment will provide more detailed measures to enforce copyrights as referred to in the TRIPS Agreement. The obligations arising from Article 9 of the TRIPS Agreement (Berne Convention Articles 1-21 except Article 6bis) will be met through the extension of the scope in terms of the various categories and subjects of copyright as well as the nature of the protection. Furthermore, the amendment envisages to state that in case of conflict of laws the provisions of the law shall apply on the works, performances, phonograms, broadcasting programs related to foreigners on conditions of reciprocity, and without prejudice to the provisions of the international agreements to which the UAE is party.

The 1992 Trademarks Law No. 37 defines in its Article 1 a sign as a drawing which can be seen and which constitutes one element. Article 2 of the same law considers as trademark, among others, signs, which take a particular form if they are used to distinguish goods, products or services, or to indicate that the products, goods or services are the properties of the owner of the mark.