Posted Monday 2nd March 2020
On 31 January 2020, the UK left the EU and entered into a transition period which comes to an end on 31 December 2020. Until the end of the transition period, EU law will continue to apply.
Part 3, Article 54 of the Withdrawal Agreement provides for the automatic transfer of an EU intellectual property right into an equivalent UK right, without any re-examination and at no extra cost, where the right was granted or registered before the end of the transition period. This provides legal certainty and protects the interests of IP rights holders.
By 1 January 2021, the Intellectual Property Office will need to have converted the circa. 1.4 million EU trademarks and circa. 700,000 EU design rights to comparable UK rights.
Additionally, if you have a trademark application or registered community design pending in the EU at the end of the transition period, and where that application was accorded a date of filing, you will have nine months to file an application for the same trademark or apply for the same registered community design in the UK. This application shall be deemed to have the same filing date and priority date as the corresponding EU application.
As the UK Courts will no longer be constrained by EU case law and court decisions, it is uncertain how the UK Courts will decide IP cases after the transition period has ended. Watch this space.
This article is for reference purposes only. It does not constitute legal advice and should not be relied upon as such. Specific legal advice about your specific circumstances should always be sought separately before taking or deciding not to take any action.
