United Arab Emirates and South Korea sign MoU

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.