The UK Government has published a raft of new guidance and information on the status of trade marks, designs, patents, copyright and enforcement rights during the Brexit transitional period.
Despite leaving the European Union on 31 January, the UK will continue to comply with EU laws until the end of the transitional period on 31 December 2020.
According to the Intellectual Property Office (IPO), EU law, and specifically the IP system, will “continue to operate as it does now” and there will be no disruption to IPO services.
During the transitional period, the IPO says it will begin to convert almost 1.4 million EU trade marks and 700,000 EU designs to “comparable UK rights”, which will come into effect on 01 January 2021.
“The arrangements in the IP section of the Withdrawal Agreement take effect at the end of the transition period. These arrangements provide legal certainty and protect the interests of rightsholders and users of the IP framework,” says the report.
“The Withdrawal Agreement ensures continued protection of existing EU-level IP rights in the UK after the end of the transition period.”
It adds: “This will ensure existing UK IP rights can be managed appropriately in line with existing domestic arrangements.”
IP rights holders can use the below links to find out how UK IP law compares to EU law:
EU trademark protection and comparable UK trademarks
Changes to EU and international designs and trade mark protection from 1 January 2021
Changes to unregistered designs from 1 January 2021
Changes to international trade mark registration from 1 January 2021
Changes to European representatives from 1 January 2021
Changes to SPC and patent law from 1 January 2021
Exhaustion of IP rights and parallel trade from 1 January 2021
Changes to copyright law from 1 January 2021
For expert IP advice during and after the transitional period, get in touch with our experienced team today.