HARD BREXIT AND EU TRADEMARKS

The UK Patent and Trademark Office has published clarifications on the potential impact on registered Community trademarks in the event of a hard Brexit (exiting the EU without an agreement).

The Office has clarified that the UK will recognise all registered Community trademarks and automatically convert them into national trademarks, subject to the indication of the symbol UK009 in front of the EU registration number.

While there will be no cost to interested owners, the Patent Office will not issue further certificates of validity. Any information on trademarks of Community origin will be available in the UK trademark database.

For pending Community trademark applications, applicants will have up to nine months to file identical applications for the United Kingdom. In this case, the applicant will enjoy the priority granted by the Community trademark application.