Search
Close this search box.

Your Cart

No products in the basket.

From the Newsdesk

IP, BREXIT and the facts – IPO update!

General

IPO has published latest facts on the future of intellectual property laws following the decision that the UK will leave the EU.

This guide offers information on the future of intellectual property (IP) laws following the decision that the UK will leave the European Union (EU). The Intellectual Property Office (IPO) continues to contribute fully to the government’s work towards exiting the EU. It has a clear goal of ensuring an effective IP regime that supports UK innovation and creativity. The UK will remain one of the best places in the world to obtain and protect your IP.

In March 2017 the Prime Minister formally started the process of the UK’s withdrawal from the EU.

The government has been negotiating with the EU on our withdrawal terms. The latest joint UK and EU statement, published on 19 June 2018, outlines the progress made by UK and EU negotiators on the draft legal text of the Withdrawal Agreement. The Government’s objective is to provide maximum clarity and legal certainty for right holders and third parties on our terms of withdrawal, ensuring a smooth transition. As part of our Withdrawal Agreement negotiations, we are seeking to agree arrangements which meet our objectives. Subject to agreement of the Withdrawal Agreement, we will continue to protect all existing registered European Union Trade Marks, Registered Community Designs, and Unregistered Community Designs as we leave the EU. We will do so by creating over 1.7 million comparable UK rights, which will be granted automatically and free-of-charge.

The European Union (Withdrawal) Act received Royal assent on 26 June 2018 and is now law. The Withdrawal Act will ensure that the UK exits the EU with certainty, continuity, and control. It is in no one’s interests for there to be a cliff edge, and so the laws and rules that we have now will, so far as possible, continue to apply. The government has been clear that the Withdrawal Act and any further secondary legislation made under the Act will not aim to make major changes to policy or legislation beyond those which are necessary to ensure the law continues to work properly on day one.

Furthermore, the UK looks forward to exploring other arrangements on IP cooperation that will provide mutual benefits to UK and EU rights holders. This will all require negotiation with the EU and we look forward to discussing the possibilities with our European partners.

Designs

  • The UK system for protecting registered and unregistered designs is not affected by the decision to leave the EU. Registered Community Designs (RCD)
  • While the UK remains a full member of the EU, Registered Community Designs (RCD) continue to be valid in the UK. When the UK leaves the EU, an RCD will cover the remaining EU Member States.
  • We recognise that owners of existing RCDs want clarity over the coverage of those rights when the UK leaves the EU. In any scenario, including one which does not involve a deal between the UK and the EU, the government will seek to minimise disruption for business and to provide for a smooth transition. For existing RCDs this means that in all scenarios, the government will aim to ensure continuity of protection and avoid the loss of those rights. In doing so, our overall objective is to provide maximum clarity and legal certainty for right holders and third parties. The government is looking at various options and is discussing the best way forward with users of the system.
  • Once the UK leaves the EU, UK businesses will still be able to register a Community Design, which will cover all remaining EU Member States.
  • The government has ratified the Hague Agreement and has joined this international system in a national capacity. The Hague System for the International Registration of Industrial Designs allows for registration of up to 100 designs in over 68 territories through filing one single international application.
  • UK businesses will continue to have access to the Hague System when looking to protect their designs.

Unregistered designs

  • While the UK remains a member of the EU, designs, two- and three-dimensional designs (including, for example, clothing designs and patterns) can be automatically protected in the EU as ‘unregistered Community designs’. This gives a design 3 years protection from copying.
  • Once the UK leaves the EU, unregistered protection for designs will continue to exist through the UK unregistered design right which provides a longer term of protection for a different scope of design features. In addition to this, where the UK does not have existing domestic legislation to protect certain types of rights, it will establish new schemes, which will preserve the full scope of the unregistered Community design right in the UK.
  • The UK looks forward to exploring arrangements on IP cooperation that will provide mutual benefits to UK and EU rights holders and we are ready to discuss issues the EU wishes to raise in the negotiations on our future relationship, including exhaustion of IP rights.

Dids Macdonald, OBE., ACID’s CEO said, “I welcome this IPO update, however, there is still uncertainty regarding what the “new schemes” will be which provide all the benefits of the much stronger EU unregistered design. There is still the important issue of protection via reciprocity offering cover in 27-member states. Equally, protection for EU designers in the UK is another consideration. So, an important consideration is where a design is first published.”

Spread the Word

Latest News

Newsletter Sign-Up

Name(Required)
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

IP - Protect it or forget it!
Become “IP savvy” and part of a growing community who are anti copying in design