The IPO has issued an overview of Registered community designs (RCDs), unregistered community designs (UCDs) and, and protected international trade mark and design registrations designating the EU will no longer be valid in the UK which is helpful. On exit days, these rights will be immediately and automatically replaced by UK rights. If you own an existing right, you do not need to do anything at the is stage.
Dids Macdonald, OBE CEO of ACID commenting on the latest guidance says, “Whilst we welcome these guidelines, despite consistent representation to Government, what the IPO have failed to address and failed to clarify is that the majority of UK designers will be left vulnerable with no unregistered design rights protection in the EU27 in the event of a deal or no deal. While we are grateful that the IPO considered ACID evidence and will introduce a new UK supplementary unregistered right, similar to the EU unregistered Design right, there has still been no guidance or clarity on simultaneous publication parameters to ensure that UK designers will not lose the scope of unregistered Community protection in the EU27. We urgently ask Government to clarify this point.”
The IPO overview and current advice is as follows:
Designs are a form of intellectual property. They protect the appearance of the whole or part of a product resulting from the features of, in particular, its lines, contours, colour, shape, texture, materials and ornamentation.
A design can be protected if it is new and has individual character compared to designs that are already in the public domain.
Design protection can be obtained via a registered right or an unregistered right. In the UK, registered protection can currently be obtained in the following ways:
Unregistered protection can be obtained in the UK through the UK design right and the EU unregistered community design (UCD).
Trade marks enable consumers and businesses to differentiate the goods and services of one trader from those of another. They commonly take the form of words, logos, or a combination of both.
Trade marks are registered rights, with protection in the UK granted by the Intellectual Property Office (IPO), the EUIPO, or via an international registration filed under the Madrid Protocol at WIPO.
When the UK leaves the EU, any existing RCDs, UCDs, European Union Trade Marks (EUTM), and International (EU) Designs and Trade Marks will only cover the remaining EU Member States.
They will no longer provide protection in the UK.
The government has previously published guidance explaining how existing EUTM’s will be preserved in the UK in the form of comparable UK trade marks.
We will also provide holders of RCDs, UCDs, and protected international design and trade mark registrations designating the EU with equivalent rights on exit day.
This guidance explains the changes to UK law that need to be made in order to preserve existing design and international rights. It covers the impact of those changes on UK right holders.
It complements the technical notice on trade marks and designs, and the notice on Numbering for Designs and International (EU) Trade Marks, both of which have been published on GOV.UK.
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