The United Kingdom (UK) European Union (EU) membership referendum, colloquially referred to as the Brexit referendum, took place on Thursday, June 23, 2016.  The UK (consisting of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland) voted in favour of leaving the EU.  In order to do so, however, the UK must trigger Article 50 of The Treaty on European Union., which has yet to happen.

The extent that Brexit will impact existing EU legislation, including intellectual property legislation, will largely depend on political decisions that will follow the referendum.  For the time being, EU legislation remains in force. 

Brexit will likely have a minimal impact on obtaining national patent protection in the UK through the European Patent Office (EPO).  The European Patent Convention, which introduced the Unitary Patent and the Unified Patent Court, is a separate international agreement from the international treaties that form the EU’s constitutional basis.  However, in the event the UK leaves the EU, the UK would be prevented from taking part in the Unitary Patent scheme.  A patentee seeking a Unitary Patent who also wishes to have patent protection in the UK will likely have to separately validate their EPO patent filing in the UK.

Brexit may cause more problematic issues for obtaining UK and EU trademark, design and copyright protection.  There will also likely be licensing and contractual issues caused by the UK’s exit from the EU, including issues relating to the applicable territorial scope in, e.g., existing distribution and co-existence agreements.

There has not yet been any official guidance on what the future may hold with respect to these issues.  We will continue to monitor the situation in Europe and provide updates as we become aware of them.

Summary By: Michael House

E-TIPS® ISSUE

16 07 13

Disclaimer: This Newsletter is intended to provide readers with general information on legal developments in the areas of e-commerce, information technology and intellectual property. It is not intended to be a complete statement of the law, nor is it intended to provide legal advice. No person should act or rely upon the information contained in this newsletter without seeking legal advice.

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