Existing EUTMs, and international registrations designating the EU, will no longer be valid in the UK. The UK will grant owners of rights registered before 31 December 2020 a new UK equivalent right. There will be no action necessary or cost incurred on the part of the holder and these rights will not be re-examined by the UK IPO.

Owners of pending EUTM applications and EU designations will have to actively apply in the UK for equivalent national UK trade mark protection under a new mechanism governed by UK law within 9 months after the end of the Transition Period.

From 1 January 2021, brand owners seeking protection in the UK will have to file a separate UK application.

The remainder of existing and pending EUTMs will still cover the EU-27 after the end of the transition period.

Brexit will have no impact on UK TMs.

For more information on EUTMs, International TMs and Brexit, click here

Existing Registered Community designs (RCDs) and unregistered Community designs (UCDs) will no longer be valid in the UK. These rights will be automatically replaced by comparable UK rights.

If you hold a pending RCD application, you will be able to apply to register a UK design within 9 months after the end of the Transition Period.

Any existing RCDs, UCDs and International (EU) designs will continue to cover the remaining EU member states.

For more information on Designs and Brexit, click here.

Authorisations from the European Medicines Agency will be converted into equivalent UK authorisations on 1 January 2021. 

Holders of existing UK SPCs which rely on an authorisation from the EMA may be asked to provide information on the converted UK authorisation after 1 January 2021. This will not affect the validity of the SPC.

Pending SPC applications will be examined under the current framework; there will be no need to refile a pending SPC application at the IPO.

Granted SPCs remain in force, and SPCs granted but not yet in force will come into force at the end of the associated patent term as normal.

The SPC manufacturing waiver is intended to be retained in the UK after Brexit.

Granted Community Plant Variety Rights (CPVRs) will be automatically brought over onto the UK Plant Breeders' Right (UK PBR) register without any fee. 

For CPVR applications which are still pending by the end of 2020, a UK application will be required for UK coverage.

Pending and granted CPVRs will continue to be recognized in the remaining 27 EU Member States

For more information on plant variety rights post Brexit, click here.

Sui generis database rights are an EU law creation. New UK originating sui generis database rights will no longer be enforceable in the EEA. Only UK citizens, residents, and businesses will be eligible for new database rights in the UK. 

English contract law, and its choice as the governing law of an agreement, will be unaffected by Brexit.

There may be an increase in time and cost from an enforcement perspective associated with a choice of English courts, but this is just part of the analysis when choosing a governing law and jurisdiction.

Goods placed on the market in the UK will not be considered exhausted in the EEA. Rightsholders will therefore be able to rely on their IP rights to prevent parallel import of goods from the UK to the EEA. 

Although the UK has taken steps to continue to recognise EEA exhaustion immediately after the end of the Transition Period, it's unclear what approach the UK will take in the longer term. It's therefore also possible that rightsholders will be able to rely on their IP rights to prevent parallel import of goods from the EEA to the UK.