Dubai Turns IP Clinic Pilot Into Ongoing Service for Emirati Founders

Dubai's Department of Economy and Tourism and the Dubai Future Foundation have turned the Intellectual Property Clinic into an ongoing service, after a pilot programme came through successfully. The clinics give Emirati founders one-to-one guidance before they apply to register intellectual property.

Dubai Future Foundation leads each session. Founders work through their business, their brand and what sets them apart, looking for the assets that may warrant protection. The sessions also cover how trademark classes are organised, who should hold ownership, and which steps to take first.

The paperwork is not the starting point. Each review maps the business first, then asks which parts of it a competitor could copy, and only then turns to filing. Founders come away with a shortlist of assets, a sense of which trademark classes cover them, and a view on who inside the company should hold the rights.

Ahmad Al Room Almheiri, chief executive of the Mohammed Bin Rashid Establishment for Small and Medium Enterprises Development, or Dubai SME, which is part of DET, said the assets many entrepreneurs value most are intangible: brand, identity, differentiating ideas. Protecting them early can become an important foundation for growth. The clinic, he said, helps Emirati founders move from awareness to action, and stronger ownership can support investment, franchising and expansion.

The clinic sits inside the Dubai IP Hub, launched in 2024 by DFF and the UAE Ministry of Economy and Tourism. The hub serves innovators, entrepreneurs, startups, scientists, artists and researchers, and is built around protecting ideas and unlocking their value. Its guidance and resources run from planning and registration through to management and commercialisation.

The initiative is counted as part of the Dubai Economic Agenda, D33, which targets doubling the size of Dubai's economy by 2033 and strengthening the city's position as an international hub for small and midsize businesses.

Advice ahead of the application is the part that carries weight. A trademark filed in the wrong class, or a brand registered to the wrong entity, is awkward and costly to untangle once a filing has gone through. Registration is also the point where an intangible asset becomes legible to an investor or a franchise partner.

Entrepreneurs, startups, scientists, artists and researchers all fall inside the hub's remit, but the clinic narrows that to Emirati founders and to the moment before a filing. Advice at that stage is cheaper than correction afterwards, and it is the stage where most of the choices, from the class to the owner to the order of steps, are still open.

Eligible Emirati founders can register their interest on the Dubai Future Foundation's website.