Ahmad Saleh

A Year-End Insight into Energy & Climate Law

This special edition of Law Update, marking Al Tamimi & Company’s 35th anniversary, explores the evolving legal landscape of energy and climate law across the region.

As the Middle East prioritises sustainable growth, this edition examines key developments shaping the future of the sector. From the UAE’s Federal Law No. 11 of 2024 to advancements in green hydrogen, solar financing, and carbon capture technology, we spotlight the innovative strides and challenges defining this critical area.

We also go into Saudi Arabia’s initiatives to integrate carbon capture into its industrial expansion and Egypt’s AFRICARBONEX platform, which underscores the region’s commitment to a sustainable and inclusive future.

Join us as we celebrate 35 years of legal excellence and forward-thinking insights, paving the way for a more sustainable tomorrow.

Read Now

The leading law firm in the Middle East & North Africa region.

Biography

Ahmad is a Canadian attorney and engineer with over 12 years of higher education studies in law, engineering and management and over 15 years of international and regional experience in Intellectual Property, Patents, Innovation and commercial law. Prior to joining Al Tamimi in September 2013, he worked for reputable Canadian and International law firms.

Ahmad is the designer, founder and lead of the Innovation & Patents practice of Al Tamimi & Company, a cutting-edge practice designed based on a pioneering 3IP service model offering unique and innovative 3IP services combing legal, business and technical consultancy to our clients throughout the entire innovation life cycle. Our practice stems from our deep knowledge of the innovation ecosystem and addresses the most pressing challenges facing key stakeholders in the innovation ecosystem which the traditional system fails to achieve.

In addition to his Legal and engineering backgrounds, Ahmad has education in General Management, Innovation & Technology from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Sloan School of Management, which adds a substantial plus value to his already very heavy kit of qualifications and skills. Ahmad has also earned a certificate in Artificial Intelligence for Business Strategies from MIT. Ahmad brings to the benefit of clients a rich three- dimensional expertise combining legal, technical and business.

Ahmad’s experience and knowledge extend to a wide range of sectors, with a special focus on high technology industries including ICT, computer/software, electrical/electronics, telecommunications, healthcare, aerospace & defence, optics, biomedical, mechanical, transport, education, energy, financial, artificial intelligence, blockchain and oil & gas. He represents a wide range of clients in these sectors, ranging from individual inventors and entrepreneurs to multinational companies and Universities, in the protection, management and enforcement of their innovations locally and internationally.

Ahmad regularly advises governmental entities, research institutions and consultancy firms in a wide range of innovation related matters including, high level innovation strategies, legislative, regulatory, innovation policies, processes, innovation fostering, and setting legal frameworks for the implementation and deployment of innovation projects and organizations inside the country.

He also assists clients in the private sector in a wide range of IP and commercial-related matters, including advising on regional and international patent protection strategies, advising on the patentability, freedom-to-operate and the validity/infringement of inventions, conducting due diligences in the frame of technology transfer and rights acquisitions, negotiating and drafting technology transfer and other innovation related agreements, advising in dispute resolution matters involving IP conflicts including patent litigation, managing global patent portfolios, and drafting and prosecuting patent applications worldwide including, MENA, the US, Europe, Canada and the Far East.

Ahmad is one of the most experienced patent lawyers and innovation councils in the Middle East and is widely recognized for his strategic and visionary thinking and leadership. Ahmad sits on various committees and advisory panels including, the Global Advisory Panel of the UAEU Science & Innovation Park, the UAEU Pavilion Word Expo 2020 Advisory Board, the Global Entrepreneurship Monitoring (GEM) UAE Steering Committee, the Innovation Advisory Board of the Dubai Healthcare Authority, and Herriot Watt Advisory Board. Ahmad is the founder and chair of the Technology Transfer Business Group (TTBG) regrouping key members from Academia, Governments and Innovation Parks with the objective of strengthening R&D driven innovation and its monetization/commercialization inside the UAE. He regularly mentors start-ups throughout their business cycles, from the incubation stage to advanced maturity stages. Ahmad is regularly invited to speak at innovation events and has been interviewed on various television channels, newspapers and magazines in relation to innovations, entrepreneurship and intellectual property, including Dubai TV, Emarat TV, Fujairah TV, the National, International Bar Association, Thomson Reuters and has an extensive library of publications.

Thought Leadership

Speaking Engagements

Presenter, Webinar on Digital Innovation and Disruption at the wake of the COVID-19 Outbreak: have you prepared your patent weapons, April 2020;
Chairman, Technology Transfer Business Group, Dubai, 23/01/2020
Speaker, 2nd Edition of The IPR Gorilla, Dubai – 19/11/2019
Speaker, American University of Cairo, Innovation Conference – Cairo – 22/10/2019
Panelist, Higher Education Conference 2019- 10.10.2019
Board Meeting, the Advisory Board of UAEU Pavilion at World Expo 2020 Dubai,– 03/10/2019
Speaker, Global Legal IP ConfEx, Dubai- 25/09/2019
Speaker, Middle East Healthcare Revolution Summit – Abu Dhabi – 18/06/2019
Speaker, Additive Manufacturing Middle East Conference – Dubai – 10/06/2019
Speaker, Smart Health Conference – Dubai (Speaker) – 13/11/2018
Speaker, American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA) – 26/10/2018
Speaker, Global Legal & IP ConfEx Conference – 17/10/2018
Speaker, Global Innovation Summit – Dubai – 11/10/2018
Speaker, Mohamed Bin Zayed Majlis for Future Generations – 8/10/2018
Speaker, GCC Healthcare Innovation Congress – Dubai – 25/4/2018
Panellist, Judge, Harvard Arab World Conference – Beirut – Healthcare Innovation – 21/4/2018
Panellist, Innovation Management Forum: Innovation for GCC Social Economic Development – Bahrain – 10/4/2018
Speaker, Judge, Arab Innovation – Dubai – 28/02/2018
Speaker, UAEU: Protection of Innovations – Al Ain – 28/02/2018
Speaker, Economic Development Bank Event – Protecting IP Rights – Bahrain – 01/22/2018
Speaker, World IP Forum 2018 – Dubai – 01/16/2018
Judge, Seedstars MENA Summit – Bahrain – 12/13/2017
Panellist, GCC Blockchain Conference – Dubai – 11/22/2017
Panellist, Global Legal & IP Conference – Dubai – 11/15/2017
Panellist, Mena Private Equity & Venture Capital Summit – Dubai – 10/31/2017
Speaker, 4th GCC Healthcare Innovation Congress- Innovations in Healthcare – 04/26/2017
Speaker, GITEX – Science Fair – 04/20/2017
Speaker, Energy & Environment Breakfast Seminar – Dubai Science Park – 04/18/2017
Speaker, Technology Transfer Roundtable Event – Dubai – 03/22/2017
Speaker, IIPLA 3rd Dubai IP Congress 2017 – Patent Reforms and Future of Innovation – 01/17/2017
Organiser, Saudi Vision 2030 – ATCO – Healthcare Breakfast Briefing – 10/04/2016
Panellist, Dubai Science Park Life Science Discussion – E-Health and IP in Healthcare – 06/01/2016
Speaker, Global Legal & IP ConfEx 28th Sept 2016, Dubai, UAE – 09/28/2016
Speaker, Defence, Space & Security (DSS) Working Group, Innovation Commercialization, Legal Vehicles & Strategies for the Protection and Commercialization of Innovations in the Defense, Space & Security Sector – 09/28/2016
Speaker, IIPLA 2nd Dubai IP Congress 2016 – IP Methodologies in the Oil & Gas Sector – 19/10/2016

Recent Experience

Advising on and drafting IP laws associated to a UAE free zone authority;
Advising on the adoption of Blockchain regulations for a UAE free zone authority;
Advising a top tier University on the establishment of an Innovation Free Zone and an Innovation Fund for promoting R&D and Innovation in Academia;
Assisting a UAE investment company in negotiating and drafting a big number of R&D and innovation related agreements with commercial partners, and advising them on IP and particularly patent protection strategies for various types of technologies;
Assisting a major gaming company in a complex IP litigation case in the UAE involving disputed rights on a sophisticated gaming software;
Assisting an international pharmaceutical company in a patent litigation case in KSA against the importation of generic drugs, and on procedures with SFDA and MOH.
Assisting an international pharmaceutical company in a patent litigation case in Jordan against the importation of generic drugs, and on procedures with JFDA and MOH.
Assisting a number of local and regional innovators including universities in the protection of innovations leading to drafting, filing and managing the prosecution of hundreds of patent applications in different technological sectors across a wide number of countries worldwide.
Assisting foreign corporations in patent protection strategies of their innovations and in prosecuting of more than 1500 patent applications throughout the MENA region.
Assisted in fostering and protecting more than 150 inventions coming out from the United Arab Emirates.
Assisting local and regional clients including universities in the preparation and negotiation of IP agreements, including license agreements and R&D collaboration agreements.
Assisted the UAE Ministry of Interior with IP protection of their assets.
Mentoring and advising R&D and Innovation based start-up companies.
Assisting a multinational company in a sophisticated patent infringement case in the UAE.
Assisting a multinational company in an industrial design infringement case in the UAE.
Assisting a multinational company in a patent invalidation case in the UAE.
Assisting a multinational company in a patent invalidation case in KSA.
Assisting a regional company in defending against the opposition of the grant of a patent at the GCC Patent office.
Assisting a Saudi patent owner in a patent infringement case against a telecom operator in KSA.
Advising an employer company in patent ownership and in setting a recompense scheme with employee inventor.
Assisting a defence company with the technology transfer of know-how and other IP assets in the frame of a technology transfer transaction.
Assisting a US pharma company in a contentious matter against a generic pharma company related to the deployment of a generic drug in Jordan.
Advised a governmental entity about recommended revisits of labour law for encouraging and fostering innovations.
Advising a governmental innovation incubator about various legal aspects related to innovation projects.
Assisting a pharmaceutical company in the frame of patent clearance searches and Freedom- To-Operate opinions in a large number of countries across the MENA region.
Assisting a large local company in setting out internal IP policies and guidelines.