The Impact Of Brexit On Your Intellectual Property Rights

• Published date: 10 March 2021
• Subject Matter: Intellectual Property, Copyright, Patent, Trademark
• Law Firm: Blake Morgan LLP
• Author: Mr Ben Evans

Now that the transition period has ended and we have officially exited the European Union, we revisit the subject of intellectual property and the impact Brexit has had on your intellectual property rights.

COPYRIGHT

The UK is a member of a number of international treaties, and agreements, protecting copyright. These have largely been unaffected by the UK's exit from the EU with the majority of UK copyright works still being protected around the world, including in the EU, and works originating in the EU (but not from the UK) are still protected in the UK.

Where we have seen changes is in respect of certain cross-border copyright mechanisms which no longer apply in the same way as they were originally intended. For example the EU Portability Regulation which allowed consumers to access online content services (for example Netflix) when they were travelling have ceased to apply and thus UK consumers travelling to the EU may find they can no longer access such services whilst abroad.

DESIGNS

Whilst UK registered and unregistered designs remain unchanged the same cannot be said for Registered Community Designs ("RCD") and Unregistered Community Designs ("UCD").

The owners of RCD's have automatically been granted a new equivalent UK right at no cost. The RCD itself continues to protect the owner in the remaining 27 Member States of the EU. The RCD, and resulting equivalent UK right, will now be treated entirely separately for the purposes of renewal, validity etc.

Businesses that had pending RCD applications at the end of the Transition Period have nine months from the end of the Transition Period to file an equivalent UK application based on the RCD and in accordance with the UK's standard fee structure.

UCD's provide businesses with automatic protection for certain designs (including the likes of clothing designs and patterns). Following Britain's exit from the EU businesses are no longer afforded UCD's for new designs and, instead, need to fall back on UK unregistered designs. However, UK unregistered designs are not the same as UCD's. Accordingly the UK Government have confirmed that, where certain types of rights are not permitted to be protected as UK unregistered designs under existing legislation, then new schemes will be established to ensure that UCD's are protected in the UK.

Review where you use your trade marks, if you only use your European Union trade mark (EUTM) in the UK then consider extending use into the other 27 Member States or...