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ARTICLE · 07 JULY 2016

Brexit: Potential Consequences For European Patents

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On June 23, 2016, the citizens of the United Kingdom voted in favor of leaving the European Union.

European UnionIntellectual Property
Foley Hoag LLP
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On June 23, 2016, the citizens of the United Kingdom voted in favor of leaving the European Union. This is a monumental step which historians will analyze in order to understand why and how it became possible. In the meantime, lawyers will have to figure out the consequences, including how to untangle this 60 year-old relationship.

European patents should not be affected by Brexit because the European Patent Convention is not a European Union instrument. It currently has 38 Contracting States and some of them (for example Switzerland, Norway and Turkey) are not members of the European Union. There is little doubt that the UK will remain a Party to the European Patent Convention.

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