The United Kingdom (UK) voted to leave the European Union (EU).

The vote to leave the EU will not affect the UK’s relationship with the European Patent Office (EPO). The EPO is governed by the European Patent Convention (EPC) and is not an EU institution. The UK will remain a member state of the EPC and it will still be possible to file European patent applications designating the UK.

However, the vote to leave the EU will have an impact on European Union trademark registrations and Community designs.

The UK will now need to decide how to deal with European Union Trade Marks as there is no clarity as of yet.  

Please note that we are monitoring the situation closely and will advise when we have further information.

We will check our docket, and for all clients that have only EU trademark protection with no corresponding UK filing, we will advise.