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The Brexit Transition period ends December 31st, 2020 and on January 1st, 2021, the UK and related territories, such as Gibraltar, will no longer be considered as an EU member state. IP owners need to act on these checklist items to avoid additional fees or face improper documentation matters that could be problematic down the road. 

In the context of the withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the EU, the time has come to assess the consequences of Brexit for breeders regarding already granted CPVRs, and both pending and future applications. Indeed, after the end of the transition period i.e. 31 December 2020, the UK will be considered as a third country to the EU and the CPVR Regulation will no longer apply to the UK.  

SPCs are not granted as EU-wide rights, but rather as national rights. It was therefore not necessary for the UK and the EU to agree on the creation of a comparable right to ensure continued protection of existing SPCs in the UK post-Brexit.

Brexit has, however, been shown to be a big blow for the long-awaited Unitary Patent (UP), a European patent having unitary effect in all contracting states, and the associated Unified Patent Court (UPC). 

Copyrights and database rights existing on December 31st, 2020 in the EU will – rather evidently – continue to be protected in the UK after the Brexit for their remaining duration (and vice versa).

Until the end of December 2020, the UK courts will evidently remain bound by CJEU case law in force at that time. However, as of January 1st, 2021 decisions of the CJEU will not as such apply to the UK.

In this article of our Brexit specials, we will discuss the territorial implications of Brexit on trademark license agreements. Although this article focuses on trademark license agreements, some of the principles outlined in this article can also be applicable to other IP rights, such as designs, patents, …

As a consequence of the Brexit, EORI numbers issued in the UK will no longer be accepted by European customs authorities so that an additional EORI number has to be filed with the remaining EU member states.

As of January 1st, 2021 domain names are impacted by Brexit. We wish to highlight the following changes which may impact you, your company and/or your clients

Brexaustion: “a feeling of utter weariness with the Brexit process and a longing for it to be over”. Trademark owners may feel the same way about the exhaustion of their trademark rights in post-Brexit UK.