{"id":6686,"date":"2017-04-01T09:14:58","date_gmt":"2017-04-01T07:14:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.boehmert.de\/update-brexit-exit-triggered-on-march-29-2017\/"},"modified":"2024-03-26T12:18:02","modified_gmt":"2024-03-26T11:18:02","slug":"update-brexit-exit-triggered-on-march-29-2017","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.boehmert.de\/en\/update-brexit-exit-triggered-on-march-29-2017\/","title":{"rendered":"Update Brexit \u2013 Exit trig­gered on March 29, 2017"},"content":{"rendered":"

The notification by the UK Government of March 29, 2017, delivered to the EU Council, is now setting the stage for the exit negotiations. These have to be concluded between the parties and ratified by the Member States and the British Parliament within a term of two years. The parties will have to consider multi-faceted issues, including IP, as we already reported in our Bulletin of July 1, 2016. Draft negotiating guidelines have been published by the Secretariat of the Council on March 31, 2017.<\/span><\/p>\n

No breaking news yet<\/h2>\n

Nothing substantial has changed yet for IP owners but it is worthwhile to note that we seem to be getting a \u201chard\u201d Brexit, meaning the UK will be withdrawing from the entire EU legal system and its freedoms in general, including the Single Market. We will provide regular updates and guidance from the perspective of a European firm serving many client interests in the UK. Brexit uncertainty is hitting business confidence, albeit not very hard so far: The number of UK trade mark applications increased by about 10 % compared to the years preceding Brexit, as recently reported by UK IPO. Numbers at EUIPO have also increased, however. Also, there has been a slowdown in business investment in the UK which fell by 1 % by the end of 2016 compared with the three months up to the end of September, according to the UK Office for National Statistics. Economy in general and IP owners more specifically apply a \u201cwait and see\u201d-approach which seems reasonable for the time being.<\/p>\n

No news is not good news<\/h2>\n

However, due to political dispute and measures taken by the parties, the starting point for exit negotiations is not promising. Even though all stakeholders seem to agree that IP rights are too important to lose sight of, we do not know how EU Trade Marks, Registered Community Designs and Plant Varieties will be addressed and \u201cconverted\u201d into the national UK legal system and what costs the right owners will have to incur. Different approaches are discussed by stakeholders, including<\/p>\n