On 15 January 2024, some new official fees will come into force in the UAE. Inter alia, the official fees for patent annuities (which were abolished some time ago) will be reinstated, and various new fees for the examination of patent applications will be introduced.

The UAE Ministry of Economy has recently issued a circular email announcing that Powers of Attorney and other required documents no longer need to be legalised by the Consulate of the UAE for use in patent and design applications and that notarisation of these documents will suffice. This development will greatly ease the formalities burden on applicants.