101 UK Brexit Notes

Connemara Programme October 16 2018 pg. 71 Actions for businesses and other stakeholders Any existing rights and licences in force in the UK will remain in force automatically after March 2019 and no action is required from the right or licence holder. For UK, EU and third country businesses there will be no significant change to the legal requirements or the application processes. Pending applications will continue to be assessed on the same basis, and new applications can continue to be filed. Supplementary protection certificate holders, applicants for supplementary protection certificates, and third parties may wish to familiarise themselves with any changes to the related regulatory processes (human and veterinary medicines and chemicals). All technical notices can be found here . Unitary patent and Unified Patent Court Before 29 March 2019 The Unified Patent Court will hear cases relating to European patents and the new unitary patent – both administered by the non-EU European Patent Office. The unitary patent is a new type of patent and will be a single patent covering a number of European states. The Unified Patent Court will be an international patent court established through an international agreement (the Unified Patent Court Agreement) between 25 EU countries. The Unified Patent Court is intended to provide businesses with a streamlined process for enforcing patents through a single court, rather than through multiple courts in multiple countries. The Unified Patent Court (UPC) is not yet in force, with the start date being dependent on ratification of the Unified Patent Court Agreement by Germany. It is unclear whether the Unified Patent Court and unitary patent will start before 29 March 2019. After March 2019 if there’s no deal There are two different scenarios for the Unified Patent Court:  The Unified Patent Court does not come into force. The UK has ratified the Unified Patent Court Agreement but ratification by Germany is still outstanding. If the Unified Patent Court is never fully ratified, the domestic legislation to bring it into force will never take effect in the UK. In this scenario, there will be no changes for UK and EU businesses at the point that the UK exits the EU.  Unified Patent Court comes into force. If the Unified Patent Court is ratified and comes into force, there will be actions that UK and EU businesses, organisations and individuals may need to consider. The UK will explore whether it would be possible to remain within the Unified Patent Court and unitary patent systems in a ‘no deal’ scenario. In the event that the Unified Patent Court and unitary patent come into force and the UK needs to withdraw from one or both systems, please see the implications below. Implications If the Unified Patent Court comes into force and the UK needs to withdraw from both the Unified Patent Court and unitary patent, businesses will no longer be able to use the Unified Patent Court and unitary patent to protect their inventions within the UK. Existing unitary patents will give rise to equivalent UK patent protection to ensure continued protection in the UK. UK business will still be able to use the Unified Patent Court and unitary patent to protect their inventions within the contracting EU countries. However, in the UK, businesses will only have the option of protecting their inventions using national patents (including patents available from the non-EU European Patent Office) and UK courts. UK business will still be open to litigation within the Unified Patent Court based on actions they undertake within the contracting EU countries if they infringe existing rights. EU business will no longer be able to use the Unified Patent Court and unitary patent to protect their inventions within the UK but will be able to apply for domestic UK rights as they can now, via the UK Intellectual Property Office and the non-EU European Patent Office. Actions for businesses and other stakeholders If the Unified Patent Court comes into force before March 2019 and the UK needs to withdraw from the Unified Patent Court and unitary patent:  UK, EU and third country businesses will still be able to use the Unified Patent Court and unitary patent to protect their inventions within the EU  any existing unitary patents (UPs) will give rise to patent protection within the UK with no action required by the right holder. The UP system will only come into force when the Unified Patent Court is operational. UPs will not be available to businesses until this point  provision will be made regarding the status of any pending cases before the Unified Patent Court at exit  UK, EU and third country businesses seeking protection in the UK for their inventions will need to use national patents (including patents available from the non-EU European Patent Office) and the UK court system Businesses may wish to seek legal advice on how these arrangements could affect their business model or intellectual property rights