Q: I have a Freezone company in the UAE and I will operate a brand via online sales and e-commerce (the name is different from the LLC). I haven't registered a trademark yet due to costs. Am I legally allowed to invoice my customers with my brand name as letterhead and sign with my LLC? Or do I have to change my company name to my brand name?

Q: Is it possible for a Freezone Company to sell goods directly on an online marketplace in Dubai Mainland even though the Freezone company has a mainland registered authorized distributor?

Q: Hello, We are a team of entrepreneurs living outside the UAE right now. We want to register an e-commerce store in the UAE. Our suppliers and buyers are not from the UAE nor we need any physical shop or warehouse. We also want to affiliate our registered business with local banks in Dubai. Can you please advise us about all the legal requirements needed for such a business? Regards, Mazen Shams

Over the years the UAE has become a centre of trade and commerce for the Middle East, thanks to its strategic location, excellent connectivity and extensive services to assist with all aspects of business. According to the World Bank's 2016 report, the UAE has ranked 31st in the global index of ease of doing business. This encourages more entrepreneurs to set up different kinds of business entities in the country.

Intellectual Property! The concept seems to some individuals to represent an ambiguous abstraction. To others it represents incongruity. But for many, without a doubt, Intellectual Property (IP) is a potent tool. IP is an intangible asset and is a legal concept for which rights are recognised for the human mind’s creativity. Under this specialised law, owners are granted rights to diverse intangible assets such as inventions, words, phrases, symbols, designs, artistic works and such.

As the need arose to create laws for the protection of personal properties like movable and immovable assets and regulation of transferring their rights of ownership, it had also become crucial to regulate the intellectual property rights as in artistic and literary works, inventions, companies' logos and products/services...etc. Seeking to protect such rights requires a basic knowledge about their origin and significance.

Trademark is a type of intellectual property that is used as a means of identification of the business. It can be any word, figure, signature... etc. that can be used to either distinguish the goods and services or to indicate its origin. In this article, we introduce the requirements, procedures and timeline for trademark registration.

The UAE has had tremendous economic development over the last two decades, which can be attributed to the country’s expanding market and large inflow of investments. The demonstrated level of preparedness and equanimity is evident in the legislative framework, characterized by the ongoing and systematic updates of laws. This proactive approach aims to align the legal landscape with the dynamic trajectory of economic advancement, ensuring continual synchronization with the prevailing progress.

Cabinet Resolution No. (28) of 2023 on the Executive Regulations of Federal Decree-Law No. (46) of 2021 on Electronic Transactions and Trust Services

The provisions of this Decree-Law, known as the "New E-commerce Law", govern E-commerce regulations in the United Arab Emirates. The New E-commerce Law repeals the previous UAE E-commerce Law (Federal Law No. (1) of 2006 Concerning Electronic Transactions & Commerce).

This Ministerial Decision regulates the implementation of the provisions of the UAE Trademark Law. It determines classes of goods and services and sets up the procedures for registration, renewal, modification, cancellation, licensing, transfer of ownership and mortgage of trademarks.