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Register your
brand, not just the name

Your licence protects your company name. It does not protect your brand. A UAE trademark through the Ministry of Economy and Tourism does, for ten years from the filing date.

AED 6,500Government fees, one class

10 yearsProtection from filing date

4-6 monthsFiling to certificate

AED 350Official clearance search

Ask a consultant Read the detail

The gap most owners miss

A trade name is not a trademark

A trade name is the company name on your licence, issued by DET, DED or a free zone. A trademark is a legal monopoly on a brand for goods and services, registered at MOET. Reserving the trade name gives no brand protection.

✓ Two different registers — The licensing authority records your company name. MOET records your brand. Only the MOET register stops someone else using it.

✓ Years of trading is not a registration — If you have traded under a mark without registering it, the register is still open. Whoever files first is in the stronger position.

✓ Clearance search comes first — Never file without a search. A rejection forfeits the AED 750 filing fee. The official search or investigation costs AED 350.

✓ Search the Arabic too — Check identical marks, phonetic equivalents and Arabic transliterations of the Latin mark, and the reverse. A Latin-script filing does not protect the Arabic rendering.

✓ Fees are per class, per mark — There is no single figure for a multi-class brand. We ask what you sell now and what you plausibly will sell in three years, then set the classes.

✓ Absolute grounds still apply — Marks contrary to public order or morals, national flags and emblems, religious symbols, purely descriptive or generic terms and marks misleading as to origin are refused.

How it runs

Filing to certificate, step by step

Three payments, two of them on a 30-day clock. We diarise both windows at filing, because missing them is where the money goes.

Step	What happens	Government fee
1. Clearance search	Search the register for conflicts before anything is filed	AED 350
2. Classes	Choose the Nice classes; fees are charged per class	-
3. File	Application lodged and the examination fee paid	AED 750
4. Examination	MOET accepts, refuses, or accepts conditionally	-
5. Publication	Publication fee due within 30 days of acceptance	AED 750
6. Opposition window	30 days from publication in the bulletin	-
7. Registration fee	Due within 30 days of the objection period closing	AED 5,000
8. Certificate	Issues within 30 days of the end of the objection period	-
9. Protection	Ten years from the filing date	-

Official schedule

MOET trademark fees per class

These are the statutory fees under Cabinet Decision 20 of 2020, as amended by 107/2021, 114/2022 and 112/2023. Each figure is per class, per mark.

Service	Government fee (AED)
Search or investigation of a trademark	350
Filing a trademark application, one class	750
Publication in the trademark bulletin	750
Registering the trademark, one class	5,000
Total to registration, one class	approx. 6,500
Renewal of registration, one class	5,000
Renewal filed in the final year, per mark after the first	750
Renewal filed within 3 months after expiry, per mark after the first	1,500
Amendment or addition to a registered mark by the owner	350
Recordal of a pledge, licence or transfer of ownership	1,250
Certified copy of a register entry or document	150
Replacement for a lost trademark certificate	150
Filing an opposition to a trademark registration	7,500
Grievance against the decision on an opposition	7,500
Grievance against refusal of an amendment	1,850
Registration of a trademark agent for a foreign company	7,500
Control or inspection mark: registration, one class	7,500
Control or inspection mark: renewal, one class	7,500

The ten-year cycle

Renewal, grace period and delay fines

Protection runs ten years from the filing date. The renewal request is filed in the final year. The delay fines after that are automatic, and part of a month counts as a full month.

✓ Renew in the final year — Typical renewal total is AED 5,750 to 6,500 per class, every ten years. There is no re-examination and no fresh opposition against a renewal.

✓ Grace period of six months — Six months after expiry, extendable by a further three months where you give a justification MOET accepts. A renewal filed within three months after expiry carries AED 1,500 per mark after the first.

✓ Late registration fee: AED 1,000 per month — Capped at AED 10,000 per year. An owner who goes quiet after the acceptance decision accrues AED 10,000 a year on a mark that costs AED 6,500 to register.

✓ Late publication fee: AED 100 per month — Charged when the publication fee is paid more than 30 days after the acceptance decision, capped at AED 1,000 per year.

✓ Unlawful re-registration: AED 10,000 — A flat fine for registering a trademark that was de-registered under Article 20 bis.

✓ Fines can be challenged — Write to MOET within 10 days of notification with reasons and documents. MOET decides within 20 days.

Beyond the mark

Copyright, patents, designs, agencies

A trademark covers the brand. Other rights cover the product, the drawing, the code and the distribution deal. All of these sit with MOET.

Right	What it covers	Government fee (AED)
Copyright registration	Software, designs, written content and creative output; copyright arises on creation, registration is the evidence in an infringement claim	50 natural person / 200 juristic person
Copyright infringement complaint	Complaint filed with MOET against infringement	100 natural person / 350 juristic person
Licence to translate or copy a work	Each licence separately, or both together	750 each / 1,500 both
Patent filing	A new invention; novelty is destroyed by any prior public disclosure, anywhere	1,000 natural person, SME or academic / 2,000 juristic person
Patent substantive examination	Priced by number of protection claims: 1 to 10, 11 to 30, 31 to 50	7,000 / 8,000 / 9,000, halved for SMEs
Utility certificate filing	A lower tier of invention protection	500 natural person, SME or academic / 1,000 juristic person
Industrial design filing	The appearance of a product	1,000 natural person, SME or academic / 2,000 juristic person
Rapid examination	Faster handling of a patent or utility certificate	1,000 natural person or SME / 2,000 juristic person
Commercial agency registration	Registering a distribution or agency arrangement on the Commercial Agents Register	7,500
Commercial agency renewal	Renew within 30 days of expiry or a fine of AED 400 per month runs, capped at AED 4,000 per year	3,000

Fee guide

Our fee for this

Figures shown on this page are official MOET government fees under Cabinet Decision 20 of 2020 as amended. Our professional fee is quoted separately after the clearance search.

Government charges are separate and are paid to the authority, not to us.

FAQ

Common Questions.

No, but the register is still open to anyone else. A trademark is granted through the MOET register, and your licence and your trading history do not reserve it. Start with a clearance search for AED 350 to see what is already on the register, including phonetic and Arabic equivalents. If the path is clear, filing costs AED 750 for one class.

Approximately AED 6,500 from filing to certificate, in three payments: AED 750 on filing, AED 750 for publication, and AED 5,000 on registration. That is per class and per mark. A brand operating across three classes is charged three times.

Roughly four to six months in practice. Publication is followed by a 30-day opposition window, and the certificate issues within 30 days of the end of the objection period. Protection then runs for ten years from the filing date.

The fines are automatic. Late payment of the registration fee is AED 1,000 per month, capped at AED 10,000 per year. Late payment of the publication fee, more than 30 days after the acceptance decision, is AED 100 per month, capped at AED 1,000 per year. Part of a month counts as a full month, and any fine can be challenged in writing to MOET within 10 days of notification.

There is a grace period of six months after expiry, extendable by a further three months if you give a justification MOET accepts. A renewal request filed within three months after expiry carries AED 1,500 per mark after the first. Renewal involves no re-examination and no fresh opposition.

Often yes, because a trademark protects the brand and not the work. Registering a work costs AED 50 for a natural person and AED 200 for a juristic person, and it is the evidence you rely on in an infringement claim. An industrial design filing covers the appearance of a product at AED 1,000 for a natural person, SME or academic institution, or AED 2,000 for a juristic person.

Talk to a consultant

Is your brand on the register yet?

Tell us the mark, the goods or services, and how long you have been trading under it.

Tell us your situation and a consultant replies with what actually applies to you, what it costs and what we need from you to start.

Register your brand, not just the name