Brexit Update
On 15 January 2019, the UK’s House of Commons voted to reject a provisional agreement between the UK and EU which was intended to govern the manner and timing of the UK’s departure from the EU (which is currently scheduled to take place on 29 March 2019).
As a result of this vote, the next steps as regards the Brexit process are unclear. The agreement may be put before Parliament again to be voted on, it could be renegotiated, or the UK could leave the EU without a deal. Further, the 29 March 2019 departure date could be extended or postponed to give both the UK and EU further time to decide how to proceed.
We will continue to keep you abreast of developments. In the meantime, until the departure date, IP rights will continue to be protected and enforced in the UK as normal. What happens after the departure date will depend on whether or not an agreement is in place between the UK and EU beforehand. The position as regards European Patents, EU Trade Marks and Community Designs if the current agreement is, in time, accepted are set out in our recently updated Brexit FAQs section which can be read here. The position the UK Government has announced it will adopt as regards these rights in the event of no deal being reached is summarised there also.
Do contact us if you have any questions.