Owners of EU trade mark and Community design applications that were pending on 31 December 2020 have until 30 September 2021 to file a UK trade mark or design application and claim the earlier filing and any priority date.

Following the end of the Brexit transition period on 1 January 2021, the UK Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO) automatically created comparable rights for all EU trade marks and Community designs which were registered on or before 1 January 2021.

Applications which had not proceeded to registration before 1 January 2021 no longer had effect in the UK, however, a corresponding new UK application filed within nine months of 1 January would retain the filing and any priority date of the original EU application.

The deadline for those corresponding applications is now fast approaching and the UKIPO is encouraging rights owners to file their UK applications as soon as possible. Otherwise (particularly for designs) valid protection may not be available in the UK.

At Wilson Gunn, we can help you to file new UK trade mark and design applications. Please get in touch with your usual Wilson Gunn contact or email info@wilsongunn.com for further assistance.