Britain’s eventual exit from the European Union (EU) is sure to hit the country’s Intellectual Property (IP) community hard in coming years – but how?
It is worth noting that Thursday’s Referendum result is, as it stands, a decision to leave the EU in the near future – and that many predict it will take at least two years before this takes effect.
Until then, our IP laws are to remain relatively unchanged and, any changes which do arise will come only through the terms of the UK’s exit plan negotiated between Britain and the EU in coming years.
The likelihood is that Brexit is unlikely to give way to any significant changes to the UK’s current patent system – which is overseen by a separate and independent agreement, named the European Patent Convention.
Furthermore, it is predicted that UK copyrights are also unlikely to be affected – as current copyright law in Britain derives predominantly from UK directives and treaties enacted outside of the EU.
However, holders of European Union trademarks (EUTMs) are likely to be directly affected by the change. Many predict that for EUTM holders, trademark protection in the UK will have to be acquired through separate application following Brexit’s implementation.
Furthermore, Britain’s departure from the EU will more than likely impact the adoption of the so-called European unitary patent – and Brexit is also expected to delay implementation of the Unified Patent Court.
However, until the Government’s exit plan negotiations are under way, Brexit’s impact on IP will remain pure speculation.