Intellectual Property

Practice area

We protect and enforce intellectual property across India and the UAE — trademarks, patents, copyright, designs and trade secrets, with the Madrid and PCT systems where they reach further. When a portfolio spans both jurisdictions, a single team runs it end to end.

Where we file & protect

UAE Ministry of Economy

UAE: Trademarks, patents and copyright

India's IP Office (CGPDTM)

India: Marks, patents, designs and copyright filings

Madrid, PCT & Paris

India & UAE: One portfolio, filed outward from either side

Kuwait, Saudi & the GCC

GCC: Non-Madrid filings via a trusted associate network

01 — IP services, India & the UAE

India
The CGPDTM, the Indian courts & the Madrid and PCT routes

UAE
The Ministry of Economy, the GCC, the Madrid system & transactional IP

Beyond registration, our Commercial IP — UAE and Commercial IP — India sub-practices handle the transactional side: franchising, IP licensing, technology transfer, confidentiality agreements, IP assignment, and IP holding structures.

02 — One relationship

A portfolio across both sides, run by one team.

Brands and inventions rarely stop at one border, yet IP work often fractures across two sets of agents — one in India, one in the UAE — with duplicated records and the risk of a right lapsing in one country while it is maintained in the other. Our presence in both jurisdictions means a single team manages the whole portfolio: aligned filing strategy, coordinated renewals and watch, and enforcement pursued on both sides at once.

One team, both jurisdictions

India-enrolled advocates and UAE practitioners under a single advisory relationship.

Coordinated filing & enforcement

Filing, renewals, watch and enforcement pursued across India and the UAE in parallel, reducing cost, duplication and the risk of inconsistent rights.

Filing-route strategy

Advice at the outset on where to file first and which routes to use — Paris Convention priority, the PCT and the Madrid Protocol — the choices that fix the priority date and the cost of protection.

03 — Our approach

How we run a cross-border IP portfolio.

Dual-jurisdiction bench

Experienced teams in both India and the UAE, advising across multiple IP frameworks, registries and treaty systems.

Procedural precision

Meticulous adherence to filing requirements, examination procedure and renewal deadlines, minimising the risk of a right being lost.

Commercial alignment

Every IP strategy measured against the client’s wider objectives — protection is valuable only when it is practically enforceable.

Enforcement-led

Strategy shaped from the outset around where a mark, patent or work will ultimately need to be defended and enforced.

Global network

The Madrid and PCT systems for international reach, with trusted associate firms for non-Madrid GCC and other jurisdictions.

Strict confidentiality

Close control of disclosure, where premature publication can compromise novelty, registrability or competitive advantage.

IP mandates are handled by ATB Legal’s dedicated trademark and patent team, working alongside ATB Global Patent and Trademarks Agents.

04 — Representative experience

Selected cross-border matters.

Trademark portfolioSecured and managed multi-class trademark portfolios for technology and consumer-goods businesses across India, the GCC and Madrid member countries, including filings, oppositions, watch services and renewals, with associate firms engaged for non-Madrid jurisdictions.
Patents · technology transferSupported technology and industrial clients on patent filings before the Indian Patent Office and through the PCT, alongside technology-transfer and licensing arrangements spanning India, the GCC and other jurisdictions.
Copyright · software & mediaAdvised software and media businesses on copyright registration and protection for source code, app interfaces, website content and media portfolios, and on confidentiality protocols addressing employee-level IP breaches.
Brand enforcementActed on multi-class trademark protection and urgent enforcement against counterfeit goods in physical and online marketplaces, coordinating cease-and-desist notices, platform takedowns and opposition proceedings before the relevant IP authorities.

05 — Cross-border questions

IP across the corridor, answered.

How do we protect a single brand across both India and the UAE?

A brand used in both markets is usually protected through coordinated national filings supported, where available, by the Madrid Protocol, which both India and the UAE have joined. A single international application can designate both alongside other member states, while we file directly — or through associate firms for non-Madrid GCC jurisdictions — where that route is unavailable. One team manages the strategy so the same mark is protected consistently across the corridor.

Can one team manage an IP portfolio spanning India and the UAE?

Yes — our dual India–UAE presence means a single team manages filing, renewals, watch and assignment across both jurisdictions under one relationship, rather than separate agents in each. Deadlines, classes and ownership records are kept aligned across the portfolio, which reduces duplication and the risk of a right lapsing in one country while it is maintained in the other.

How is IP enforced when infringement crosses India and the UAE?

We coordinate enforcement on both sides at once — cease-and-desist notices, opposition and cancellation proceedings, marketplace and platform takedowns, and civil action before the relevant authorities and courts in each jurisdiction. Running both tracks together keeps the position consistent and avoids one forum being undermined by a step taken in the other.

Where should we file first when protecting IP across the corridor?

It depends on where the rights are first used or disclosed, where the commercial priority lies and which treaty routes apply. We advise on sequence at the outset — including Paris Convention priority and the PCT for patents, and the Madrid Protocol for trademarks — because the first filing fixes the priority date and shapes the cost and timing of protection in every other jurisdiction.

Insights on intellectual property →

06 — By jurisdiction

Prefer to start by jurisdiction?

The full India or UAE intellectual-property practice. A portfolio that spans both is run as a single relationship across the corridor.

India

Intellectual Property — India

Trademarks, patents, copyrights, industrial designs and trade secrets before the CGPDTM and the Indian courts, and internationally via the Madrid Protocol and the PCT.

View the India practice

UAE

Intellectual Property — UAE

Trademark, patent and copyright registration with the Ministry of Economy, designs and trade secrets, across the UAE and the GCC and internationally via the Madrid Protocol.

View the UAE practice

Not listed, or more complex?

Contact us

We act for clients in both jurisdictions through offices in the UAE and India.