Student inventors and people of determination in the UAE no longer have to pay a range of industrial property service fees, including those for registering patents and industrial designs, under a new Cabinet resolution that took effect on September 14, 2026.
The Ministry of Economy and Tourism reviewed Cabinet Resolution No. 136 of 2026, waiving fees in full for 29 services, with each group of beneficiaries exempt from fees for 20 of them.
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The move is aimed at strengthening the country’s innovation and intellectual property (IP) ecosystem, make IP protection services easier to access and safeguard intellectual output.
Eleven of the services are exempt for both student inventors and people of determination. These include applications for patent registration, industrial design registration, integrated circuit layouts and utility certificates. They also cover the first substantive examination and substantive re-examination of a utility certificate, publication of registration, and the annual fees for the second, third, fourth and fifth years of protection. The original fees for these services range from Dh100 to Dh1,000.
The resolution also exempts people of determination from fees for nine additional services, which originally cost between Dh1,000 and Dh9,000. Student inventors are exempt from nine further services, with original fees of Dh500 to Dh4,500.
The ministry said the waivers would lower the cost of protecting innovations and encourage students and People of Determination to turn their research outputs into industrial property assets with potential for further development and investment.
Dr Abdulrahman Hassan Al Muaini, assistant undersecretary for the Intellectual Property Sector at MOET, said it would enhance their participation in the national IP ecosystem and help consolidate the UAE’s position as a global hub for creativity and the new economy.
He said the ministry was also continuing to develop the digital infrastructure for patent, industrial design and utility certificate services.
The ministry recorded a nine per cent rise in patent applications in the first half of 2026 compared with the same period in 2025. Patent applications totalled about 4,361 during 2025.
Utility certificate applications grew by 21.43 per cent over the same period. The total number of applications for patents, utility certificates and industrial designs registered in the country now stands at 22,184, according to the ministry.
Source: Khaleej Times