Deadline fast approaches for UK trade mark and design applications

It’s amazing how time flies when you are having fun.

When the UK left the EU trade mark and design systems on 31st December 2020, we thought the nine month window for filing UK applications and basing them on pending EU ones gave us all plenty of time to prepare.

Yet here we are, with less than a month left. Here’s a reminder of what you need to know:

On 1st January 2021, the UK IPO automatically created clones in the form of new national UK trade marks and designs for every EU registered trade mark and design in force at the time.

Clones were not created for applications that were pending on that date. Instead, EU applicants were allowed nine months from 1st January 2021 to file corresponding UK applications and claim a kind of special “priority” from their EU ones.
The deadline for doing this is 30th September 2021.

Of course, UK applications corresponding to EU ones can be filed after this, but they cannot then be backdated. This may result in UK trade marks that are anticipated by earlier conflicting ones, and loss of validity through lack of novelty in the case of designs.

So, if you haven’t already done so, it is important to act now to ensure UK protection.

Once 30th September has passed, Brexit really will be over as far as IP is concerned.