ABOU NAJA Intellectual Property

Protecting a trademark in one Gulf state is a different task from protecting it across a region, and Abou Naja Intellectual Property positions itself for the second. It describes itself as a leading intellectual property law firm in the Middle East, active since 1971, with more than 14 offices and coverage that reaches over 125 countries through a network of partners.

Services across the GCC and North Africa

The firm lists trademark registration, patent filing, copyright protection and the management of whole IP portfolios. It also handles utility models, industrial designs and plant variety protection. Its work centres on the UAE and the wider Gulf Cooperation Council, and it says it is extending these services across North Africa. It states that it is a member of the International Trademark Association and that clients range from large multinational companies to small businesses and start-ups.

A regional record

According to its own account, the firm helped shape the region's IP landscape from the 1970s, contributing to foundational legislation and building one of the first cross-border IP networks in the area. It describes its approach as client-centred, with strategies drawn up around the long-term value of what a client owns.

Guidance on NFTs and copyright

The firm has published a long explainer on non-fungible tokens that gives some sense of its interest in new asset types. It explains that an NFT is a digital asset created on a blockchain such as Ethereum, and that it is unique and not interchangeable in the way money is. It also covers how minting works and why fees rise when a network is congested, and the difference between hot wallets, which are online, and cold wallets, which are offline.

The guide then turns to rights. Under the Paris Convention, copyright belongs to the creator at the moment of creation, but enforcing it against an NFT is hard because a blockchain is decentralised and wallet holders are often anonymous, so proving ownership can require owners to disclose wallets and transaction records.

ABOU NAJA Intellectual Property is an intellectual property law firm working across the Middle East, with a base of clients in the Gulf states. It has been active since 1971 and says it helped shape early IP legislation in the region.

What ABOU NAJA Intellectual Property does

• Trademark registration: filing and protecting brand names and marks.
• Patent filing: applications for inventions in the UAE and wider GCC.
• Copyright protection: support for creative and digital works.
• Industrial design and utility model services: registration of product designs and utility models.
• IP portfolio management: ongoing oversight of a client's registered rights, plus cross-border enforcement.

Customers and markets

The firm acts for large corporations, small and medium-sized businesses and startups. It covers the GCC, the wider Middle East and North Africa, and arranges protection in more than 125 countries through partners.

Key facts

• Founded: 1971
• Offices: more than fourteen
• Membership: International Trademark Association (INTA)
• Coverage: GCC, Middle East and North Africa