On March 29, 2017, the United Kingdom submitted a notification of its intention to withdraw from the European Union per Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union. After Brexit, set for March 29, 2019, 23h00 CET, the UK becomes a "third country". All European trademarks registered as of the withdrawal date will not be protected in the UK regardless of whether they were filed before or after that date.
Union trademarks are currently effective in all 28 member states of the European Union. As part of the planned withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the EU, Union trademarks (and also Community designs) will no longer have any effect in UK after Brexit. In contrast, nothing will change for European patents.
The problem of the fate of Union trademarks for the United Kingdom has been recognized by the British Patent Office. It planned to install a mechanism to convert EU trademarks into British trademarks preserving the original priority date.
However, at the moment, such regulations have not yet been adopted and it is not foreseeable whether the House of Commons will find the time until March 29 to pass the necessary legal provisions. In any case, the "deal" with the EU does not contain any such provisions.
To ensure full coverage of the rights, owners should protect their trademarks by filing an independent national UK trademark before the Brexit.
The official costs of a trademark application in the UK would be as follows:
On March 29, 2017, the United Kingdom submitted a notification of its intention to withdraw from the European Union per Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union. After Brexit, set for March 29, 2019, 23h00 CET, the UK becomes a "third country". All European trademarks registered as of the withdrawal date will not be protected in the UK regardless of whether they were filed before or after that date.
Union trademarks are currently effective in all 28 member states of the European Union. As part of the planned withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the EU, Union trademarks (and also Community designs) will no longer have any effect in UK after Brexit. In contrast, nothing will change for European patents.
The problem of the fate of Union trademarks for the United Kingdom has been recognized by the British Patent Office. It planned to install a mechanism to convert EU trademarks into British trademarks preserving the original priority date.
However, at the moment, such regulations have not yet been adopted and it is not foreseeable whether the House of Commons will find the time until March 29 to pass the necessary legal provisions. In any case, the "deal" with the EU does not contain any such provisions.
To ensure full coverage of the rights, owners should protect their trademarks by filing an independent national UK trademark before the Brexit.
The official costs of a trademark application in the UK would be as follows:
|
Classes |
Official fees |
|
One class |
£200 |
|
Second class |
£50 |
|
Third class |
£50 |
|
Each additional class |
£50 |
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.