Spanish Plan of contingency relating to Trademarks and Industrial Property in the context of the Brexil process

Possible foreseeable situations

The imminent exit of the United Kingdom from the European Union on March 29th, commonly known as Brexit (acronym from Britain and exit), has all the Member States on tenterhooks. The uncertainty of an unknown situation like this one is worsened by the inability of both parties to come to a retreat agreement in order to establish the terms for it. For this reason, the different situations foreseeable depending on the approval or not approval of an agreement have been analysed during past months. In the field of Trademarks, the Spanish Government Presidency has launched a Statement to explain the different potential panoramas.

One of the aspects that should be remarked is the lack of protection that a EU Trademark will have in the United Kingdom if the exit takes place without an agreement. In this case, it would be necessary to make a new Trademark application at the competent office of the United Kingdom (Intellectual Property Office) to keep the protection of a Trademark at British lands. Besides, in case of an exit without an agreement the seniority of the right recognized at European level would be missed.

Considering the current uncertainty, the statement recommends valuing the need of starting a registration process of Trademarks at the United Kingdom. We will keep you informed on the news that will be happening on this field.