101 UK Brexit Notes

Connemara Programme October 16 2018 pg. 67 Implications EU trade mark and registered Community design rights holders (businesses, organisations or individuals) may want to be aware of the following implications which will apply in a ‘no deal’ scenario:  existing registered EU trademarks or registered Community designs held will continue to be valid in the remaining EU member states  protection of existing registered EU trademarks or registered Community designs in the UK will be through a new, equivalent UK right which will be granted with minimal administrative burden  right holders will be notified that a new UK right has been granted. Any business, organisation or individual that may not want to receive a new comparable UK registered trade mark or design will be able to opt out  provision will be made regarding the status of legal disputes involving EU trademarks or registered Community designs which are ongoing before the UK courts and more information will be provided on this before the point at which the UK exits the EU  applicants with a pending application for an EU trade mark or a registered Community design at the point of exit will be able to refile, within nine months from the date of exit, under the same terms for a UK equivalent right, retaining the EU application date for priority purposes  applicants with pending applications for an EU trade mark or a registered Community design will not be notified and after exit will need to consider whether they refile with the Intellectual Property Office to obtain protection in the UK  new applications will be eligible to be filed in the UK for UK trademarks and registered designs as they are now, and a t the cost specified in the UK fee structure  UK applicants, like EU and third country applicants, will continue to be able to apply for protection in the EU through an EU trade mark or registered Community design as they do currently The government is working, including with the World Intellectual Property Organisation, to provide for continued protection in the UK from exit day onwards of registered trademarks and registered designs filed through the Madrid and Hague systems which designate the EU. Continued protection of unregistered Community designs Before 29 March 2019 Unregistered Community Designs are intellectual property rights governed by an EU Regulation . A business, organisation or individual that owns an unregistered Community design (the right holder) currently has that right protected across all EU member states including the UK. Unregistered Community designs protect a range of design features including two- and three-dimensional aspects such as surface decoration and product shape. The unregistered Community design provides three years of protection from the date that the design is first made available to the public (‘disclosed’) within the EU. The unregistered Community design is entirely separate from the UK’s own design right, which protects product shape and configuration for a maximum period of fifteen years. After March 2019 if there’s no deal The government will ensure that all unregistered Community designs which exist at the point that the UK leaves the EU will continue to be protected and enforceable in the UK for the remaining period of protection of the right. In addition to this, the UK will create a new unregistered design right in UK law which mirrors the characteristics of the unregistered Community design. This means that designs which are disclosed after the UK exits the EU will also be protected in the UK under the current terms of the unregistered Community design. This new right will be known as the supplementary unregistered design right. Those UK unregistered design rights which exist at the point of exit will continue to be protected and the UK unregistered right will continue to exist for designs first disclosed in the UK. The UK will amend legislation to ensure that it functions effectively once the UK is no longer part of the EU system for designs. Implications UK, EU and third country designers will be provided with continued protection for those designs first disclosed in EU27 member states and already protected by an unregistered Community design right at the point that the UK exits the EU. Through the new supplementary unregistered design right, designs which are disclosed in the UK after the UK exits the EU will be protected in the UK under the current terms of the unregistered Community design. From that point:  existing unregistered Community designs will continue to be valid in the remaining EU member states