In the United Arab Emirates (UAE), there are specific federal laws that govern Intellectual Property (IP) protection regime such as copyright, patents, trademarks, industrial property, and trade secrets – which are effectively protected under various laws and more commonly through contractual means to limit the recipient from use or disclosure of information (such as a non-disclosure agreement) or stricter employment clauses to ensure confidentiality. These laws are supported by international treaties such as the Berne Convention for copyrights and Madrid Protocol and Paris Convention for trademarks and Patent Cooperation Treaty for patents reflecting the nation’s commitment to global IP standards. However, significant transformation is occurring in the field of Artificial Intelligence (AI) which is fueled by continuous innovation and its increasing role in creative processes. With the rapid advancement and proliferation of AI, it presents unique legal challenges for IP frameworks not only for UAE but around the world as gaps remain, especially with respect to works generated autonomously by machines using algorithms. Few of the relevant IP laws in UAE and their relevance in the realms of AI are discussed below.
- Copyright Protection
UAE’s Federal Decree-Law No. 38 of 2021 on Copyright and Neighbouring Rights protects original works including literary, artistic, and software creations. Computer programs and databases generally qualify for copyright if they meet originality and human-creativity requirements. In other words, it is important to mention or qualify as being an “author” of the creative works to be covered under the copyright protection laws. This creates legal uncertainty about those works which are created by AI as the law does not explicitly address AI-generated content created without meaningful human intervention. In practice, rights usually attach to the human creator or commissioning party not the AI system itself. This position mirrors international practice as most jurisdictions require human authorship for copyright protection and do not recognize AI per se as an “author”. Hence, with not much clarity on AI’s role in creative processes, legally enforceable rights for AI outputs depend heavily on documented human contributions, contracts, and internal policies. This does create uncertainty for companies seeking to commercialize AI-generated works. For instance, if a generative AI creates unique visual content with minimal human input, seeking legal protection of such works claiming copyright can create an issue if the author is not classified as being a natural person.
- Patent Law
Patent regime in UAE is governed by Federal Decree-Law No. 11 of 2021 on the Regulation and Protection of Industrial Property Rights. It grants patents for inventions that are novel, inventive, and industrially applicable. However, the law excludes “software” per se from patentable subject matter, and there are no specific provisions for granting of protection to AI inventions as autonomous inventors. Many AI platforms and applications, which are purely being software-based, thus face exclusion from patent protection under current law. However, computer-implemented inventions that solve a technical problem and have a technical effect, especially when linked to hardware, can be patented. Thus, pure algorithms or business methods aren’t patentable but software creating a tangible, technical improvement is often protectable. This narration is again in line with the well-developed international patent regimes such as those followed in US and Europe which essentially require inventions to have a natural human inventor.
- Trademarks and Trade Secrets
Trademarks being the source origin/s are protected as brand identifiers for certain sets of goods or services and thus can be registered for AI-related goods and services as well. While trade secrets safeguard proprietary algorithms, datasets, and system methodologies these cannot be explicitly registered but may be legally protected with confidentiality measures. In today’s world AI models, platforms, chatbots, and tools are offered as commercial services (e.g., AI analytics, generative AI tools, autonomous systems). Thus, trademarks can be registered for such AI software (downloadable or SaaS), AI powered services (data analysis, automation, healthcare diagnostics, etc.), along with model names, platform names, logos, and even distinctive interface elements. Such registrations do tend to prevent competitors
