United Arab Emirates and South Korea sign MoU

Managing IP is part of Legal Benchmarking Limited, 1-2 Paris Gardens, London, SE1 8ND

Copyright © Legal Benchmarking Limited and its affiliated companies 2026

Accessibility | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Modern Slavery Statement

United Arab Emirates and South Korea sign MoU

The memorandum of understanding sets the stage for the UAE to set up a patent unit within the Ministry of Economy by the end of the year

Under the memorandum, examiners from the Korean IP Office (KIPO) will visit the UAE and help with the examination of its patents. KIPO’s examiners are expected to examine over 2,000 applications by the end of the year.

UAE patent applications undergo substantive examination, but they are not handled in-house. Rather, they are examined by the Austrian patent office.

In addition, KIPO will help the UAE establish the patent unit in the Ministry of Economy. The patent unit is expected to provide training for patent professionals in the UAE, as well as engage in information exchange programmes with international counterparts.

The memorandum was signed by UAE undersecretary of the Ministry of Economy Mohammad Ahmad Bin Abdul Aziz Al Shehi and Kim Young-min, KIPO’s commissioner.

Last year, Kim spoke with Managing IP about his plans for making intellectual property an integral part of Korea’s economic growth. Click here for the interview.

more from across site and SHARED ros bottom lb

More from across our site

Implementers can use the UK courts to seek FRAND terms for patent pool licences
The first credible UPC spinouts are growing, and they are coming from elite patent litigation teams, suggesting specialist litigators may no longer need large platforms to compete
Voyage IP has hired a veteran IP leader from Spruson & Ferguson as its head of trademarks, as well as another consultant who will boost the firm’s commercial offering
Lawyers say unwritten appearance expectations can disproportionately affect women and junior talent, making proactive guidance a growing responsibility for law firm leaders
Apple’s lawsuit against OpenAI, which features Tier 1-ranked disputes firms on both sides, reflects how trade secrets litigation is becoming a prominent competition feature
Drew & Napier’s leadership appointments show one way full-service firms can back up claims about the strategic importance of IP
Strike-out application will hear claims that the copyright aspect of an IP infringement claim brought by a gambling and sports betting group should be dropped
Amongst a sea of mergers, Lathrop GPM and HG Law have set out plans to combine, positioning themselves to compete with both IP boutiques and full-service firms
Patrícia Paias explains why she loves the science and business behind an idea and why potential rights owners must avoid the ‘file and forget’ philosophy
Lawyers eagerly await news of what IP specialist Sir Colin Birss will bring to one of the England and Wales judiciary’s most important roles
Gift this article