In view of the UK's exit (Brexit) from the European Union (EU), the transition period will finally end on December 31^st,2020 and the UK becomes an independent territory of the EU since January 1^st, 2021. The EU Trade Marks and Registered Community Designs have direct impacts due to the end of the transition period. However, the EU patents/patent applications do not have any immediate impact by ending the transition period.

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Precautions or Actions in Relation to EU Trademark and Design Rights

1. For EU registrations of trademarks and designs, the UK IPO will be generating cloned comparable UK registrations automatically and for free on January 01^st, 2021. Accordingly, it is very important to monitor the possible expiration dates and all renewal deadlines for clone trademarks produced in the UK.

2. A cloned UK application will not be created automatically for EU applications of trademarks and designs. However, the cloned application can be filed with the UK IPO within 9 months deadline from the expiry of the transition period. The applicant should aware of the 9-month deadline to file trademarks in the UK IPO based on previous European Union applications.

3. It is highly pertinent to monitor the possible expiration dates and all renewal deadlines for clone trademarks produced in the UK.

4. The applicant should evaluate and monitor oppositions that are filed in the EU applications and its relationship with the UK to adopt better protection strategies.

Conclusion

In view of the above reasons and others, it is essential to have an IP attorney to ensure the better protection of EU and UK trademarks and designs.

About the author: Mr. Dhakshina Moorthy, a legal practitioner at Global Patent Filing. In case of any queries please contact/write back to us at support@globalpatentfiling.com.