Know Your Rights

The UAE is currently a country where technology and various forms of know-how are merely applied rather than produced. Many of the internationally operating companies that use the UAE as their hub for Middle Eastern and Indian markets export their technology and know-how to the UAE from abroad.

The current legal situation in the UAE requires any entity that intends to operate “onshore” (meaning outside of the free zones) to conduct business through joint venture companies that are formed with UAE nationals or entities fully owned by UAE nationals. Any technology, know-how or other forms of intellectual property that the local joint venture requires in order to be fully operational, will then usually be licensed and, in rarer instances, be fully assigned to the local entity from the foreign principal.

Lawyers Dr Michael Krämer

This article was written by Michael Krämer and appeared in the November 2009 edition of The Brief.