The UK Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO) has confirmed continued protection of EU registered TMs and designs after Brexit. An equivalent UK registration system has been developed for all registered European Union Trade Marks (EUTMs), Registered Community Designs (RCDs), International Designs and International Trade Marks (EU). This protection has been confirmed regardless of the outcome of the Brexit negotiations and whether the UK leaves with or without a deal.

 

EU registrations

 

Comparable trade marks

As the UKIPO outlined in its technical notice on trade marks and EU exit, a comparable UK mark will be created for each registered EUTM. The UKIPO has confirmed that these comparable UK rights will:

• retain the filing dates recorded against the corresponding EUTM;
• inherit any priority and/or seniority dates; and
• be fully independent UK trade marks which can be challenged, assigned, licensed or renewed, separately from the original EUTM.

 

In order to identify these comparable trade marks and distinguish them from existing UK registered trade marks, the prefix of “UK009” will be added in front of the last eight digits of the original EUTM.

 

The UKIPO has provided the following examples to show how comparable UK trade marks will be numbered:

 

Existing EU Trade Mark	Comparable UK trade mark
000000977	UK00900000977
000025197	UK00900025197
000340513	UK00900340513
017867542	UK00917867542

 

Click here to see the notice from the UKIPO on trade mark numbering.

 

Re-registered designs

In order to identify these re-registered designs and distinguish them from existing UK registered designs, the prefix “9” will be added in front of the original 13-digit RCD number.

 

The following examples demonstrate how re-registered UK designs will be numbered:

Existing RCD number	Re-registered UK design number
004048098-0004	90040480980004
000000021-0001	90000000210001

 

 

International Registrations

 

International Designs

To identify the re-registered rights that will be created to retain coverage in the UK for protected International (EU) designs, the prefix of “8” will be added in front of the original IR (EU) number.

 

The following examples show how these re-registered UK designs will be numbered:

 

International (EU) no. (WIPO database)	International (EU) no. (DesignView)	Re-registered design no. (UKIPO)
DM/069 640	D069640-0001	806964000010000
DM/069 629	D069629-0001	806962900010000
DM/069 629	D069629-0002	806962900020000

 

In the examples shown above, the column headed “International (EU) no. (DesignView)” indicates how the international registration numbers listed in the first column would appear on the EUIPO’s DesignView database. So, in the first example, the suffix “-0001” is a single design. In the second example, the suffix “-0001” is a first design in a multiple application. In the third example, the suffix “-0002” is a second design in a multiple application.

 

International Trade Marks (EU)

To identify UK rights to be created in respect of International Registrations, the number allocated to the comparable trade mark will have the prefix “UK008” in front of the original 8 characters of the International Trade Mark (EU).

 

The UKIPO has provided the following examples to demonstrate how comparable UK trade marks will be numbered:

 

WIPO	EUIPO	Comparable UK trade mark
917273 (no sub designation, no partial assignment)	W00917273	UK00800917273
917273A (no sub designation, partial assignment)	W00917273A	UK0080917273A
1133775 (Sub designation, no partial assignment)	W11133775	UK00811133775
421058A (Sub Designation & partial assignment)	W10421058A	UK0080421058A

 

Click here to see the notice from the UKIPO on RCDs, International Designs and International Trade Marks (EU) numbering.

 

The UKIPO hopes that this numbering system will help keep the administrative burden of Brexit to a minimum.

 

Below are further Government resources on the impact of Brexit on IP rights:

 

Intellectual property and the transition period 

 

Changes to EU and international designs and trade mark protection from 1 January 2021 

 

For further information about intellectual property and Brexit, visit our Brexit Resources page or get in touch with a member of our team