Following the December General Election the "Brexit
Bill" legislation (based on the withdrawal agreement reached
between the UK and the EU) has finally passed and the EU Parliament
gave its approval yesterday. The UK will therefore be leaving the
EU this Friday 31 January.
This has no immediate impact on our clients or their rights.
Patent rights, in any event, are covered by an entirely separate
treaty that is not part of the EU.
There will be a transition period until (at least) 31 December
2020. During that time the UK will continue to be treated like an
EU member state, at least in relation to EU trade marks and
designs, and such rights, (both existing and new filings post 31
January) will continue to cover the UK. The so-called comparable
rights – new UK "clones" of existing EUTM
registrations and registered designs – will come into effect
automatically, and without cost, at the end of the
transition period.
