United Arab Emirates

Firm overview

From our offices in strategic hubs of commerce, law, and government across North America, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East, we work with clients ranging from established, global Fortune 100 companies to enterprising startups.

Our team of more than 2,200 lawyers and legal professionals provides comprehensive corporate, transactional, litigation, and regulatory services in major industries, including energy, financial services, healthcare, life sciences, retail and ecommerce, sports, technology, and transportation. We focus on both immediate and long-term goals with our clients, helping them address and anticipate challenges across vast and rapidly changing landscapes.

We approach every representation with an equal commitment to first understanding, and then efficiently and effectively advancing, the interests of our clients and arriving at the best results. If a client has a question, we’ll immediately find the person in our global network with the answer. If there’s a shift in the legal landscape, we’re on top of it, and our clients will be too.

Founded in 1873, we stand on the shoulders of more than 150 years of achievement, but we never rest on our reputation.

Firm overview

For more than a 125 years, the world’s top companies have looked to Gowling WLG to maximise and protect their treasured intangible assets, both at home and abroad. As the global economy grows ever more knowledge-driven and evolutionary leaps in technology transform the competitive landscape, clients continue to rely on us to help them navigate a changing intellectual property marketplace.

Full lifecycle solutions

Every step on the path to success requires a unique approach to your IP assets. From initial drafting and registration to complex enforcement matters, through to the management and monetisation of large international portfolios, our team is equipped to assist you during the entire lifecycle of your IP assets.

We’re pleased to offer strategies and solutions across the full spectrum of IP rights – with core specialisms in trademarks, brands and designs, patents, enforcement and litigation, IP transactions, trade secrets and copyright, as well as advertising and product regulation.

Borderless support

Home to more than 200 IP practitioners around the world, Gowling WLG protects intangible assets across all industry sectors and in more than 100 countries. We offer prosecution services from our offices in Canada, China, the UAE and – via our exclusive association with JurisAsia – Singapore. We match these services with robust enforcement capabilities from these offices, as well from our offices throughout Europe. This platform is complemented by an expansive network of established relationships with some of the top IP practices worldwide – ensuring you receive the very best advice wherever business takes you.

Experience you can trust

From new applications for artificial intelligence to major breakthroughs in pharmacology, it’s vital that your IP adviser be able to recognize the full value of your IP. Harnessing advanced career and educational backgrounds in science, engineering and technology, we work closely with you to develop fulsome strategies for even the most intricate inventions. This is just one of the reasons why, year after year, our professionals are recognised by some of the world’s most respected legal publications.

End-to-end legal services for your business

Outside of our IP service offering, Gowling WLG is equipped to advise you in virtually every area of law relevant to business. For our clients, including other IP firms with whom we work around the world, this is a unique benefit. Beyond the convenience of working with a single service provider, our holistic approach ensures your IP strategy neatly aligns with other areas of your business – from privacy and employment to commercial transactions.

Discover how we can help protect what makes your business unique. Contact a member of our team today.

Firm overview

Abion: Your Global IP Guardian

Abion is a leading force in the intellectual property (IP) industry. We are an innovative, platform-based provider leveraging 25 years of experience in the digital landscape with a strong foundation as an ICANN-accredited registrar and ISO27001 certified supplier.

Abion's edge lies in combining top-ranked industry experts with advanced technology. This fusion delivers an unparalleled service across the entire intellectual property lifecycle, including:

• Trademark and design prosecution
• IP and legal consultancy
• Enforcement and litigation
• Online brand protection and enforcement
• Strategic domain name consulting
• Web security

Streamlined efficiency at your fingertips

Our cloud-based brand management platform, Abion Core, combines cutting-edge technology with intuitive user experience to streamline managing and protecting your brand all in the one place. It’s a centralised solution that puts you in control of your brand, no middlemen and no service interruptions.

Globally positioned and locally empowered

Our 17 offices covering, EU/non-EU European territories, UAE, Asia and Australasia, combined with a global network of partners, enable us to provide expert advice and comprehensive IP solutions to service virtually any jurisdiction.

Firm overview

IP practice in the Middle East

Clyde & Co is unique in the region as the only firm in the Middle East with the ability to provide support across the entire IP life cycle from the initial brand protection strategy through to filing applications and registrations and then licensing and commercialising IP rights, including trade marks, copyright, patents and design rights. We operate a dedicated IP practice which combines the values of a pure IP team with those of a full-service international law firm, helping our clients to capture, commercialise and protect their innovation and intellectual assets. Our leading IP practice has operated in the region for over 15 years and has developed a team of lawyers and specialists.

We operate a truly regional practice. As Clyde & Co, we can directly file and manage IP matters in the UAE, Qatar and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia where we have our own offices. The wider Middle East region, we work through our network of trusted corresponding agents.

We support the firm's main sector focusses and have also developed a strong client base in traditional brand heavy sectors such as food and beverage, hospitality, entertainment, retail, and luxury goods. We are proud to say that we act for some of the largest and most established local, regional, and global brand owners in these sectors, helping them to navigate a region which offers unique challenges from an IP and business perspective.

We pride ourselves on our ability to provide commercial advice on complex issues. We embrace the challenge of advising on new laws and untested areas of existing laws, as well as developing commercially innovative solutions in unique situations.

Our clients come to us with complex issues and appreciate our creative approach to problem solving, knowing that they can rely on us to help give them a competitive edge in the market. They know that we will work together to reach tailored solutions, drawing on the diverse skills we have across the team.

The reputation we have developed for such expertise also means that we are regularly asked to advise on the development of new regulatory frameworks and the drafting of new local laws.

Wider Middle East practice

Our first office in the Middle East was established in 1989, following many years of regional client involvement. Today Clyde & Co has the largest presence and is one of most experienced international law firms in the Middle East with over 50 partners and 300 staff, based full time across six offices in Dubai and Abu Dhabi in the UAE, Doha in Qatar, Riyadh and Jeddah in Saudi Arabia and Cairo in Egypt. Our offices provide English and local law advice to corporate clients from all over the world, as well as to regional corporates and governments, on their operations.

Globally

With over 5000 people operating from over 60 offices and associated offices across six continents, Clyde & Co is committed to creating successful outcomes for our clients. Our globally integrated teams of disputes, regulatory and transactional lawyers provide a comprehensive range of legal services and advice to businesses operating at the heart of global trade and commerce.

Our success in the past 90 years has been built on our vision of a single global partnership, providing a platform that offers rapid access to expertise, wherever you operate in the world.

Aligned with these values is Clyde & Co's commitment to being a responsible business. We take responsibility for the impact we have on the environment, seeking to reduce it as much and as quickly as possible. We strive to be a positive contributor to the communities in which we operate across our entire global network. We take steps to foster a truly diverse and inclusive workplace, that allows all of our people to flourish, for the benefit of our colleagues, the firm and our clients.