Whatever the fate of the draft agreement will be: In the event of an unregulated withdrawal, the British government promised the following regulations for Union trademarks and Community designs (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/trade-marks-and-designs-if-theres-no-brexit-deal):
– Union trademarks and registered Community designs will continue to apply unchanged in all other EU states after Great Britain’s withdrawal from the EU.
– For registered Union trademarks and EU designs, an opt-out solution will be created in Great Britain: Right holders will be notified that a national trade mark/design has been registered in the UK with the same priority as the previous Union trade mark/EU design. If the right holder has no interest in maintaining the trademark/design in the UK, he can have this national right cancelled.
– Holders of Union trade mark applications or design applications pending at the time the United Kingdom leaves the EU may file a national application with the same priority as the Union trade mark application or the EU design application during a 9-month transitional period. The cost of this new application (currently £170-200 for the first class, £50 for each additional class) will be borne by the applicant.
– Existing unregistered Community designs will continue to be valid in all Member States except the United Kingdom. In Great Britain, these Community designs will also be protected without the right holder having to take any additional measures.
– The placing of goods on the market in the European Economic Area by the trademark owner or with his consent also causes exhaustion in Great Britain. Conversely, this does not apply: the placing of goods on the market in Great Britain does not result in Union-wide exhaustion after Brexit (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/exhaustion-of-intellectual-property-rights-if-theres-no-brexit-deal/exhaustion-of-intellectual-property-rights-if-theres-no-brexit-deal).
This article is part of the news ticker “Brexit” on our website, on which we provide up-to-date information on the effects of Brexit on industrial property rights.
