Conversion of patent attorney qualifications

Starting from January 1, 2021, lawyers in the UK will no longer be able to directly submit new applications to the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) on behalf of clients. For example, a UK trademark owner will need to appoint a lawyer from the "European Economic Area (EEA)" to represent them in filing applications at the EUIPO. However, the Brexit Agreement clearly stipulates that if the relevant intellectual property application work has been initiated before the end of the Brexit transition period, UK legal representatives can still continue to conduct business on behalf of their clients in the EUIPO.

UK Service Addresses

UKIPO also publishes a business report following the UK Government’s response to the results of the Call for Service Addresses it launched in early 2020 guide. Relevant parties have provided valuable opinions on UKIPO’s proposal to remove the European Economic Area from the service address.

From January 1, 2021, in accordance with relevant legal regulations, UKIPO will only accept new applications and requests to initiate dispute procedures whose delivery addresses are in the United Kingdom, Gibraltar or the Channel Islands. The change also applies to all registered intellectual property rights, such as patents, trademarks and designs.

Trademarks

According to the provisions of the "Brexit Agreement", UKIPO will provide EU trademark owners with a "comparable" trademark after the end of the Brexit transition period. "UK Trademark Rights.

Specifically, starting from January 1, 2021, UKIPO can create a corresponding British trademark for each trademark that has completed registration. The UK trade mark can retain the original filing date and original priority date, have the same legal status as before (provided the applicant files an application or registers it under UK law), and can be used as a completely independent Previously EU trademarks were transferred, licensed and renewed as UK trademarks.

It should be pointed out here that the trademark owner does not need to pay any fees to obtain the above rights. At the same time, although UKIPO will not provide corresponding registration certificates to trademark owners, people can still go to the official website of this intellectual property agency to obtain more specific information and use screenshots to prove their rights.

For those companies, organizations or individuals that have not completed EU trademark registration at the end of the Brexit transition period, they will have 9 months to apply for the same protection in the UK. However, in this case, the above-mentioned enterprises, organizations or individuals need to pay a certain application fee, and the application must comply with the UK's review and disclosure regulations.

Design

According to the provisions of the Brexit Agreement, after the end of the Brexit transition period, registered identical designs (RCD) will no longer be able to be registered in the UK. Directly protected.

In other words, from January 1, 2021, if people want to provide protection for their designs in the UK and the remaining 27 member states of the EU, they will not be able to Do not submit two applications to UKIPO and EUIPO respectively.

However, for those RCDs that have completed registration before the end of the "Brexit" transition period, these RCDs will continue to be protected in the UK. Specifically, RCDs that have been registered before the transition period can retain the original application date and original priority date, and have the same legal status as before (provided that the applicant submitted an application or registered it in accordance with British law) , and can be transferred, licensed and renewed as a British design that is completely independent of the previous RCD.

If a company, organization or individual fails to submit its RCD application or make it public before the end of the Brexit transition period, it will have 9 months to make a request for the same protection in the UK .

However, in this case, the above-mentioned enterprises, organizations or individuals need to pay a certain application fee, and the application must comply with the UK's review and disclosure regulations.

Patents

Currently, people can choose to submit a European patent application directly to UKIPO, or to the European Patent Office (EPO) under the European Patent Convention (PCT) Submit your own invention application. It should be pointed out here that the PCT does not fall within the scope of EU law, so this will not affect people's application work.