19 August 2020
The Anti-Counterfeiting Group (ACG) has provided its members with a number of updates on the administration of trademarks and designs during and post BREXIT. It wanted to share some of this information more widely. Here are a few questions and answers rights holders will find useful:
1. Will rights owners get a list (before final Brexit), from the Intellectual Property Office (IPO), so they can check that all EU rights are correctly transferred?
The IPO will publish a general website notice at the end of the transition period, in all EU languages, informing rights holders that they now own a UK right trade mark. They do not plan to send rights holders individual lists. The IPO has been working to create IP rights with as little administration burden as possible, so that rights holders can easily identify their new rights. For example, the UK trade mark will take the number of the EU trade mark, but will be prefixed with “009”.
2. Will IP rights owners receive ‘hard copy’ certificates?
The IPO is not sending certificates to holders of new rights. However, rights holders can print out details of trade marks from the IPO searchable database if they need a physical record of their new rights.
3. Will hard copy or online certified copies be available to allow rights owners to use them in counterfeiting cases?
The IPO has previously encountered circumstances when someone loses their trade mark certificate. In this scenario, the IPO points rights holders to the printed physical copies mentioned above as proof of registration. The details will be printable when the rights are created, i.e. immediately once the transition period ends.
Contact ACG if you have any further questions.
ACG represents more than 3,000 brands affected by this influx of fakes into the UK and delivers an international network of information, advice and contacts on all aspects of IP protection. Working with Government and law enforcement agencies since 1980, ACG is focused on providing an effective and sustained response to counterfeiting.
Membership with the ACG is the best way to work with government and enforcement bodies to protect your brand. Our Roadshows and training days help you reach out to police, trading standards and border force officers and tell them about your genuine products.