16 January 2019 – the deadline for the UK to leave the EU on 29 March 2019 is fast approaching and there continues to be political uncertainty over the terms of any Brexit.<\/p>\n
The current political position regarding Brexit is frustrating and unfortunate. In our view, political developments could lead to any one of four potential scenarios and for each scenario, the impact on UK trade mark protection is understood and established:<\/p>\n
Scenario 1: A political deal is reached between the UK and the EU on how to exit the EU before 29 March 2019<\/strong>.\u00a0In which case, a transitional period begins on 29 March 2019 and lasts until at least 1 January 2021, during which time nothing changes at all. The UK continues to be part of the EU IPO.<\/p>\n On 1 January 2021, UK TM registrations will automatically be created which mirror their EU TM counterpart registrations.\u00a0For pending EU TM applications, owners would have 9 months to decide whether to create a pending UK TM application which mirrors their EU application.<\/p>\n Scenario 2: No political deal can be reached between the UK and the EU prior to 29 March 2019 and the UK leaves the EU<\/strong>\u00a0(a \u201cno deal\u201d Brexit). In which case, the UK Government has reassured brand owners that it will follow the same process as Scenario 1 above.<\/p>\n This would mean that on 29 March 2019, UK TM registrations will be created automatically which mirror their counterpart EU TM registrations. For pending EU TM applications, owners would have 9 months to decide whether to create a pending UK TM application which mirrors their EU application.<\/p>\n