The UAE officially joins "Locarno" Concerning the international classification of industrial designs

GENEVA, 7 JULY / WAM / His Excellency Abdullah bin Touq Al Marri, Minister of Economy and Tourism, headed the United Arab Emirates delegation participating in the meetings of the 68th session of the Assemblies of Member States of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), held at the organization’s headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, from 7 to 15 July, in the presence of His Excellency Dr. Abdul Rahman Hassan Al Muaini, Assistant Undersecretary for the Intellectual Property Sector at the Ministry.

During its participation in this session, the UAE officially joined the “Locarno” Agreement regarding the International Classification of Industrial Designs, which is an international treaty concluded in the city of Locarno, Switzerland, on October 8, 1968, and is managed by “WIPO,” and aims to establish a unified international classification system for industrial designs.

In this context, His Excellency Abdullah bin Touq Al Marri said: “The UAE’s accession to the Locarno Convention represents an important step in strengthening the system for protecting industrial designs in the country, and supporting the development of the national intellectual property system in accordance with the best international standards. This step also reflects the UAE’s vision in strengthening international cooperation in the field of intellectual property, especially with regard to protecting industrial designs, facilitating the procedures for registering, searching and comparing them between member states, as well as unifying the procedures for their classification in intellectual property offices.”

In his speech during the organization’s meeting, His Excellency stressed that the UAE, thanks to the vision of its wise leadership, believes that the new economy constitutes a foundation for achieving sustainable economic development. He said: Based on this, the country has paid great attention to creating a pioneering institutional environment that supports creators and inventors by protecting intellectual property rights and enabling individual and institutional innovation, in line with the objectives of the “We Are the Emirates 2031” vision and contributing to consolidating the country’s position as a global center for an economy based on knowledge and innovation.

His Excellency added: “The UAE has developed advanced and proactive intellectual property laws, including the law regulating and protecting industrial property rights, the trademark law, and the copyright and related rights law, which contributed to providing an integrated legislative framework to protect intellectual property rights and support emerging pioneering projects and cultural and creative industries, in a way that contributes to diversifying the national economy, enhancing its competitiveness, and sustaining its growth.”

His Excellency continued: “The Ministry of Economy and Tourism launched more than 60 qualitative initiatives to enhance the environment of intellectual property, innovation and creativity during the past three years, at a rate of more than 20 initiatives annually. Among these initiatives is the launch of the Trademark Market, as the first innovative digital platform of its kind in the UAE and the region, dedicated to the sale and trading of trademarks.”

He pointed out that these exceptional efforts contributed to strengthening the UAE’s position as a regional and global center for innovation and competitiveness, especially as it maintained first place in the Arab world for the sixth year in a row in the Global Innovation Index, and advanced to 30th place globally.

His Excellency stressed the importance of keeping pace with the rapid developments in the fields of artificial intelligence and emerging technologies within balanced frameworks that stimulate innovation and protect rights, especially since the UAE topped the world in rates of adoption and adoption of artificial intelligence technologies during the first quarter of 2026.

The intellectual property sector in the UAE continues its increasing growth, recording a set of positive results that reflect the success of economic legislation, initiatives and projects that were launched over the past years to develop and grow this vital sector, as the Ministry of Economy and Tourism registered 17,217 national and international trademarks during the first half of 2026, while their total in 2025 reached about 39,113 trademarks.

Intellectual works registered in the country also recorded a growth of 35.4% during the first half of 2026 compared to the same period in 2025, and the total number of intellectual works registered during 2025 reached about 2,082 works.

With regard to patents, the Ministry achieved an increase of approximately 12% in the number of applications submitted during the first half of 2026 compared to the same period in 2025, while the total number of patent applications during the past year reached 4,353 applications, and applications for utility certificates recorded a growth of 7.14% during the first half of this year compared to the same period in 2025.

The UAE continued its efforts to protect intellectual works, especially those related to broadcasting rights and combating digital piracy, as the total number of violating sites blocked by the Ministry’s “InstaBlock” center reached 31,852 sites during the year 2026, with a 26% growth in the number of blocked sites during the first half of the current year compared to the same period in 2025.

On the other hand, the Ministry of Economy and Tourism organized a pavilion in the exhibition accompanying the meetings of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), where a number of national parties concerned with intellectual property participated in the pavilion, namely the Emirates Intellectual Property Association, the Emirates Copyright Management Association, the Emirates Publishers Association, the Emirates Scientific Club, the Trademark Owners Council, and the Sharjah Heritage Institute.

The Ministry reviewed the most prominent services and initiatives related to intellectual property activities in the country, as well as the collection of Emirati handicrafts and heritage displays, in addition to highlighting a group of Emirati innovations and inventions.

The pavilion formed a platform to enhance cultural exchange with member states of the organization, support the UAE’s cultural diplomacy, and highlight it as a pioneering country in the fields of creativity and protection of cultural heritage. It also contributed to strengthening the country’s cultural identity at the international level, and consolidating its leadership in building an integrated intellectual property system.

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