Businesses exporting intellectual property (IP) protected goods from the UK to the European Economic Area (EEA) need to check the new rules for parallel exporting to avoid infringing on others’ rights, it has been warned.
The new guidance, found on the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) Brexit help page, comes after the end of the Brexit transition period, which may have changed how IP rights behave across multiple jurisdictions.
According to the regulator, IP rights in goods placed on the UK market by – or with the consent of the right holder – after 31 December 2020 may no longer be considered “exhausted” in the EEA. The “exhaustion” of IP rights is defined as rights that cannot be used to stop the further distribution or resale of those goods.
In practice, this means that businesses parallel exporting these IP-protected goods from the UK to the EEA “might need the rights holder’s consent”.
Exporters affected by these changes should “check whether they currently export legitimate, IP-protected goods to the EEA” and contact the rights holder to “get permission to continue exporting these goods after 01 January 2021”.
It has been confirmed, however, that goods placed on the EEA market after the transition period will “continue to be considered exhausted in the UK” – meaning parallel imports into the UK from the EEA will be unaffected.
For more information on parallel trade between the UK and the EEA, please click here.
For help and advice on related matters, please get in touch with our expert intellectual property team today.