Unfair competition and the legal protection of the unregistered scent marks in UAE: a comparative study

This article presents a new systematic analysis of the effectiveness of an unfair competition claim in the UAE for protecting the unregistered scent mark. The main aim of this article is to discuss the specificity of an unfair competition claim for civil protection of unregistered scent marks. This objective will be achieved by: 1) an analysis of the requirements for filing an unfair competition lawsuit; 2) discussing the difficulties in the registration of scent mark; 3) presenting the provisions of the UAE jurisdictions concerning the unfair competition lawsuit; 4) concluding the most important acts of unfair competition related to the scent mark. In this context, it is particularly important to analyse the specific aspects that should be taken into consideration when applying an unfair competition lawsuit to protect the legitimate interest of the owner of the unregistered scent mark. The article concludes that the judiciary in UAE should play a prominent role in protecting the unregistered scent mark used by national and foreign investors until the intellectual property laws settle on the mechanism for registering this type of unconventional mark.