Dubai's New Intellectual Property-Based Economy: Prospects for Development Without Dependency, 9 J. Marshall Rev. Intell. Prop. L. 84 (2009)

The Emirate of Dubai has, as a result of deliberate policy actions, been able to reinvigorate, indeed to reinvent, its Intellectual Property Potential. That is to say Dubai has boosted its ability to be the originator (and creator) of intellectual property subject-matter, rather than merely a consumer thereof. Dubai has achieved the two conditions through which an intellectual property régime becomes a valuable national asset for a country with an initially low Intellectual Property Potential; namely a structured regulatory framework coupled with effective infrastructure- related action. Dubai's undertakings in the intellectual property sphere go to show that even a country that has an initially low Intellectual Property Potential and a high reliance on raw materials, can chart its own distinct path towards an intellectual property rich economy.