1. ASEAN IPA Annual Conference 2018 6-7 April 2018
Richard Mair
CIPA Council Member
Chairman, International Liaison Committee

2. Patent & Trade Mark Attorneys
Update on Brexit
Richard Mair
Abel & Imray
Patent & Trade Mark Attorneys

3. Brexit in a historical context
Former Yugoslavia –
Slovenia
Croatia
Bosnia
– leaving Serbia & Montenegro
Montenegro
Kosovo

4. Update on Brexit – Patents unaffected!
The EPC is not an EU Convention – it is an International Convention, so the European patent system will continue post-Brexit as before.
European patent work unaffected by Brexit (

5. Update on Brexit – What rights are affected?
Unitary Rights (rights having unitary character within the Union) post-Brexit:
EU Trade Marks
Registered and Unregistered Community Designs
EU Plant Variety Rights
EU Protected Geographical Indications, Designations of Origin and Traditional Specialities Guaranteed
EU Database Rights

6. Update on Brexit – the Withdrawal Agreement
Formal title:
“Draft Agreement on the withdrawal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community”
chment_data/file/691366/ _DRAFT_WITHDRAWAL_AGREEMENT.pdf

7. Update on Brexit – the Withdrawal Agreement
“Transition Period” (or “Implementation Period”) - begins on entry into force of the Withdrawal Agreement and ends on 31 December 2020 (Article 121) - Brexit remains at 29 March 2019

8. Update on Brexit – the Withdrawal Agreement
Any EUTMs, RCDs or Community plant variety rights registered or granted before the end of the transition period shall automatically result in equivalent UK national rights
similarly unregistered Community Designs
For any EUTM and RCD Applications pending at the end of the transition period, there will be a right to file an equivalent UK national TM or Design Application within 9 months of the end of that period (6 months for Community plant variety rights)
(CIPA will be arguing strongly that this should be made automatic)

9. Update on Brexit – UPC – the Unified Patent Court UP – Unitary Patent
UK due to ratify the UPC mid-2018, but – German Constitutional Court case not due to be decided until late 2018 UPC Agreement is an International, not an EU Agreement, and is thus able to be renegotiated to include non-EU countries The EPO will grant Unitary Patents in the same way as it grants European Patents once the system is in operation. UK European Patent Attorneys will be able to obtain Unitary Patents for their clients, and represent clients in the UPC, irrespective of whether the UK is party to the UPCA Agreement.

10. Update on Brexit In conclusion –
Business as usual for UK Patent and Trade Mark attorneys and their clients until Brexit actually occurs – 29 March
Appropriate provisions are being put in place to provide for the continuation of Unitary Rights in the UK post-Brexit.
The UK will continue post-Brexit to be an excellent venue for business and for obtaining and enforcing IP rights in Europe.

11. Political unifications vs. Political break-ups
While Brexit and Yugoslavia are examples of break-ups, there have of course also been examples of IP unifications
In Europe –
The Benelux union of Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg for trade marks and designs (cf. Malaysia – Malaya, Sabah & Sarawak)
The combination of East and West German IP systems on re- unification of Germany

12. More IP unifications
For patents, the complexities of search and examination mean that advantages have been seen in creating unifying systems -
EPC - European patent system with unitary search, examination and grant; ceased to be purely European many years ago, extending into
Asia with Turkey and Cambodia, and
Africa with Morocco and Tunisia
as well as covering various European countries not in the EU (e.g. Norway, Serbia and Switzerland)
PCT – Patent Cooperation Treaty – unitary search and preliminary examination system

13. More IP unifications For trade marks –
Madrid – International Registrations
OAPI
ARIPO
EU TMs
For designs –
Hague – International Registrations

14. Unifications vs. break-ups – economic considerations
Unifications are generally for the cost benefit of the users of the systems – innovators, companies needing protection for their intellectual property - such developments I believe we should not resist BUT subject to maintaining quality (e.g. proposals to use machine translation in the Global Dossier and “Cross-filing” systems) Correspondingly, break-ups generally increase cost for the users – e.g. with Brexit, a UK national application required as well as an EU application The reverse is generally true for attorneys, unifications generally result in decrease of income, whereas break-ups tend to result in more work and therefore income

15. Unifications vs. break-ups – economic considerations
For unifications, incumbent on our profession to take appropriate steps to deal with the situation Brexit is a good example for the UK profession, which in the absence of appropriate action would be faced with losing its EU rights of representation for trade marks and designs – many attorneys obtaining the Irish qualification, and most major firms already have an office in Munich, so as to maintain qualification to act before the EUIPO – can turn the situation to their advantage through offering a package of EU and UK applications