The recent poll (52% vs. 48%) on the famous “BREXIT” referendum has shook the world in relation to the exit of United Kingdom from the European Union. Whilst the will of the people of Britain is respected, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom has also announced his resignation following the unfortunate results of the referendum.

As at to date, The European Union consists of 28 member states (including UK and the recent accession of Croatia back in 2013) is governed by the Treaty of Lisbon which form the constitutional basis of the European Union. Whilst the legislation in the UK itself would face major modification resulted from its leave. There were less mention in terms of the country’s intellectual property laws which poses more concern towards global brand owners who own a European Union Trademark (formerly known as Community Trade Mark) which grants protection for trademark in all member states.

Obviously, once the leave of UK is official, it is only natural that all applications, post BREXIT, would not be enforceable in the UK itself, unless future statutes stated otherwise, since EU legislation would no longer be applicable in the UK. What about those applications which were previously registered and filed pre BREXIT then?  It is important to understand what impact does the Lisbon Treaty still has upon the UK whilst the country is still in its transitional period. Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty states that member states with intention to leave the Union must inform the European Council of its intention to withdraw from the EU, which will then begin a negotiation period lasting at least two years, during which period EU laws will continue to apply in the UK.

Article 50 basically provided each member states a transitional period upon expressing its withdrawal from the Union. During which period, said member states would have sufficient time to implements its own laws to remedy the aftermath resulted from its withdrawal. While there are still many uncertainties in terms of BREXIT upon the intellectual property rights of EU trademark owners, what we are sure of now is that such rights will not be affected until at least 2018 upon the conclusion of the negotiation. By then, the UK would have passed several bills to address most matters which were affected by EU laws.

However, to those who intends to protect its brand name in the UK itself, an independent national UK application should be filed on the safer side. The pre-existing European Patent System will not be affected by BREXIT as it is governed by the European Patent Convention which is independent on its own from the European Union.

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