05/02/2021
During the Brexit period, we listened to our clients and below endeavoured, insofar as we had the information from the UK Government, to answer the questions we were being asked by clients around the world.
We’ve grouped the questions into various topics – please follow the links below.
(Please note, these documents were prepared before Brexit took place on 31 December 2020.)
I – Introduction – rights affected.
III – Maintaining registrations.
IV – Enforcement and agreements.
(If this is all much more than you wanted, please click here for the snapshot or here for the abridged version.)
The UK stopped being a member of the European Union at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020. The EU and UK entered a transition period, as per the terms of the Withdrawal Agreement (sometimes called the implementation period). The transition period ended, and therefore, the UK’s final exit from the EU was 23:00 GMT on 31 December 2020.
Until the end of the transition period on 31 December 2020, the following applied:
- Pan-EU IP rights continued to be treated as covering the UK until the end of the transition period.
- EUTMs could be used to oppose UK TM applications and vice versa.
- EUTMs could be cancelled on the basis of earlier UK TMs and vice versa.
- EUTMs and EU Registered Designs were enforceable in the UK until the end of the transition period.
This article is for general information only. Its content is not a statement of the law on any subject and does not constitute advice. Please contact Reddie & Grose LLP for advice before taking any action in reliance on it.
