Brexit and Pending Applications for Registered Community Designs

The Brexit transition period agreed between the UK and EU is due to end on 31 December 2020. With offices in both the UK and Germany, Venner Shipley LLP will continue to represent clients before the EUIPO following the end of the transition period.

For Community designs, and international (Hague) designs registered before the end of the transition period, UK legislation has been agreed which will ensure that owners will continue to have protection in the UK, even in the absence of an agreement on trade between the UK and the EU. For more information about the ‘cloning’ of registered Community designs and the creation of an equivalent UK registered design, please see our separate notification here.

Only registered and published Community designs, and granted international registrations designating the EU, will have an equivalent UK design registration created automatically and without cost. Therefore, we recommend that holders of pending Community design applications, or international design applications designating the EU, attempt to deal with any outstanding objections delaying registration so that the Community design application/designation can be fully published and progress to registration before the end of the transition period. An equivalent UK right will then be automatically generated at no cost.

1. For Community and international design applications that remain pending at the end of the transition period, applicants will need to consider whether protection in the UK is required and if so, file a separate UK design application. Where a new UK application is filed within nine months of the end of the transition period, mirroring the pending registered Community design application or international application, it can claim the filing and any priority date of that application.
2. We will be writing to clients with pending applications with a view to completing any outstanding matters preventing registration prior to the end of the transition period. If this is not possible, we will seek your instructions on the filing of corresponding UK applications in due course.

Please contact your usual attorney if you have any questions.