Brexit: What Happens With Your IP Assets In 2021?

Inventa is a leading Intellectual Property Law Firm, specialized in the protection and internationalization of trademarks, patents, industrial designs, copyright and domain names. With over 50 years of experience in Portugal, the European Union and all the African jurisdictions, Inventa has served thousands of clients holding large trademark and patent portfolios, and other entities dealing with R&D daily. Furthermore, our experience allows us to understand the caveats of the different industries since we maintain relationships with clients from different sectors, including food and beverages companies, communications, IT, pharmaceuticals, manufacturers, oil & gas companies, financial institutions, business services companies and more. Our headquarters are based in Lisbon, Portugal, and we also have offices in Angola, Mozambique, Nigeria, Cape Verde, Sao Tome, East Timor and Macao.

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As the end of the transition period approaches, on December 31, 2020, it is important to review the actual changes concerning Industrial Property assets filed in the European Union.

UK Intellectual Property

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As the end of the transition period approaches, on December 31, 2020, it is important to review the actual changes concerning Industrial Property assets filed in the European Union. We have elaborated briefly some relevant points:

Registrations granted until 31.12.2020

With the creation of a transition mechanism, the UK Institute of Intellectual Property (UKIPO) will create comparable trademarks and community designs for all EU registered assets. The patent system will not be affected by Brexit, given that the European Patent Office (EPO) is an institution that is not related to the European Union, which means that everything will remain unchanged after Brexit.

Records granted after 31.12.2020

If EU trademarks and community designs are granted after 31 December 2020, there will be a period of nine (9) months to obtain comparable protection in the United Kingdom. The application submitted by the applicant should have the same rights, in the case of an application identical to that of the EU. After requesting the corresponding right at UKIPO, it will be examined in accordance with the law of the country. As such, the applicant entity will become owner of two separate IP rights, in the European Union and the United Kingdom.

Renewals

Any EUTM or community design that expires after 1 January 2021 must be renewed directly with the UKIPO, otherwise, it will cease to have effect in the British territory.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.

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