Brexit: 6 Points To Address Your Ip Rights

Trade mark attorney Helena Peat from Murgitroyd - one of the world's leading intellectual property attorney firms - provides guidance on why businesses should act now to protect their trade marks in light of Brexit negotiations.

I’m sure you need no education on what Brexit is. However, with under a year to go until the agreement is due to be signed it’s astonishing how little is known on the exact relationship the UK will have with the EU after Brexit or during the transition.

One business area that could benefit from more clarity is that of protecting your IP. The good news is that there will be little change to patent protection. Now for the bad news – The current system for EU trade mark (EUTM) registrations and applications will no longer apply to the UK.

The EU Commission’s Draft Brexit Withdrawal Agreement proposed that any EUTMs registered or granted before the end of the UK’s transition period would automatically convert to a UK registration or application, with no fee or formalities. This would be an ideal scenario for both the UK and the remaining 27 EU member states. The Draft Withdrawal Agreement will potentially extend the cover of EUTMs in the UK until December 2020.

Just because a final decision hasn’t been made doesn’t mean you can just sit and wait.

Working as part of a global firm of European patent and trade mark attorneys means we can provide detailed insight and thoughts on the exit from the EU and some practical advice on what you should consider.

If you’re at the start of your trade mark journey for your brand it makes sense to use the tried and tested process of a UK national application alongside an EU application to protect new brands, rather than relying on a, as yet, untested conversion procedure.

However, many of you will be asking what should I do to maintain protection?

To help answer this we’ve created a short checklist of six points you should review now. If you’re in any doubt on any of the points, consider speaking to a trade mark attorney.

1. For existing registrations, consider filing UK national trade mark applications to protect any important brands that are protected solely at an EU level. The benefit here is that those brands will then be protected in the UK regardless of the action taken by the UK Government. UK trade mark registrations are quick and generally cost-effective, and filing now will give you certainty and peace of mind.

2. If you file applications for International registration under the Madrid Protocol, consider designating the UK and the EU. Also, think about basing the International registration on a UK application or registration.

3. If you have UK registrations and EUTMs, do not let the UK registrations lapse in favour of the EUTM. This is because renewal costs in the UK are low.

4. Review all existing agreements and licences to ensure that they will remain in force, regardless of Brexit.

5. Look at how your trade marks are used in the EU now and gather evidence of use that would be sufficient if they came under attack on the basis of non-use.

6. If you have .eu domain names, consider registering in other top-level domains (TLDs), such as .co.uk. Murgitroyd, one of the very few IP attorney firms with well-established offices throughout Europe, including Newcastle, is closely monitoring all developments.