Effect of brexit on ipr

1. CHENNAI
3rd Floor, ‘Creative Enclave’,
148-150, Luz Church Road,
Mylapore,
Chennai - 600 004.
Tel: +91 - 44 - 2498 4821
BANGALORE
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Raheja Towers,
26-27, M G Road,
Bangalore - 560 001.
Tel: +91 - 80 - 6546 2400
COIMBATORE
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# 48, Race Course Road,
Coimbatore - 641018.
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EMAIL
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EFFECT OF BREXIT ON IPR
FILMA VARGHESE
TRADE MARK DEPARTMENT
COPYRIGHT ISSUES IN DIGITAL MEDIACOPYRIGHT ISSUES IN DIGITAL MEDIACOPYRIGHT ISSUES IN DIGITAL MEDIA

2. CHENNAI
3rd Floor, ‘Creative Enclave’,
148-150, Luz Church Road,
Mylapore,
Chennai - 600 004.
Tel: +91 - 44 - 2498 4821
BANGALORE
Suite 920, Level 9,
Raheja Towers,
26-27, M G Road,
Bangalore - 560 001.
Tel: +91 - 80 - 6546 2400
COIMBATORE
BB1, Park Avenue,
# 48, Race Course Road,
Coimbatore - 641018.
Tel: +91 - 422 – 6552921
EMAIL
info@altacit.com
WEBSITE
www.altacit.com
INTRODUCTION
 The European Union is a unique economic and political union between 28 European
countries that together cover much of the continent.
 The EU was created in the aftermath of the Second World War. The first steps were
to foster economic cooperation: the idea being that countries that trade with one
another become economically interdependent and so more likely to avoid conflict.
 Brexit is an abbreviation for "British exit," which refers to the June 23, 2016,
referendum whereby British citizens voted to exit the European Union.
 The political divorce of Britain and Europe was difficult to swallow for many both in
Britain and elsewhere.
 The Leave Campaign argues that Britain is losing out a big deal by staying in the EU.
 Some Economists say Britain gains much more from the EU than it pays as
contributions
 The biggest drawback of the Leave Campaign is that they have not mapped out the
future course of action if Brexit indeed happens.
 The ending result caused a division within the U.K; many felt as though this was the
end while others picture it as a new beginning.
 The exact fate of the UK is also still up for debate

3. CHENNAI
3rd Floor, ‘Creative Enclave’,
148-150, Luz Church Road,
Mylapore,
Chennai - 600 004.
Tel: +91 - 44 - 2498 4821
BANGALORE
Suite 920, Level 9,
Raheja Towers,
26-27, M G Road,
Bangalore - 560 001.
Tel: +91 - 80 - 6546 2400
COIMBATORE
BB1, Park Avenue,
# 48, Race Course Road,
Coimbatore - 641018.
Tel: +91 - 422 – 6552921
EMAIL
info@altacit.com
WEBSITE
www.altacit.com
IMPACT OF BREXIST
 Brexit will have no immediate impact given the transitional period of two years
before Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty is invoked.
 Despite being a ludicrous proposition, countries across the world must address the
contingency of a Brexit. It will have wide-ranging repercussions on every country that
is remotely connected with the global financial market.
 This decision will continue to have a significant effect on the IP/IT market which has
been governed by so many EU Regulations and Directives in the past (albeit not
exclusively) that intricately bound the UK to the EU.
 The UK will in due course enter a negotiation period during which laws will be
amended and enacted and international agreements will be negotiated.
 There won’t be many short term repercussions of Brexit, but over the long run we
might see trends such as the diversion of E.U law from U.K. law.
 UK will have bigger ticket items on its negotiating list than IP to sort out initially.
 The implications of this Brexit are currently very uncertain and will, to a large extent,
be determined by the model that would be adopted and the terms of any
international agreements negotiated.

4. CHENNAI
3rd Floor, ‘Creative Enclave’,
148-150, Luz Church Road,
Mylapore,
Chennai - 600 004.
Tel: +91 - 44 - 2498 4821
BANGALORE
Suite 920, Level 9,
Raheja Towers,
26-27, M G Road,
Bangalore - 560 001.
Tel: +91 - 80 - 6546 2400
COIMBATORE
BB1, Park Avenue,
# 48, Race Course Road,
Coimbatore - 641018.
Tel: +91 - 422 – 6552921
EMAIL
info@altacit.com
WEBSITE
www.altacit.com
BREXIT AND INDIA
 The decision by the UK leaving the European Union has impact
on India on multiple layers.
 Economists and experts are of the opinions that, the country need
not be overly worried about the development as the transition is
going to be slow and also more details are to be expected.
 Early analysis by CUTS International indicates that, Brexit will
result in trade creation for India. No longer will India need to
bow down to the pressures of the EU. Britain and EU will both
compete for trading with India, which will give India an
advantage in negotiations.
 Some economists say India loses its gateway to Europe. A Brexit
could force India to build trading partnership with other EU
nations in order to access the large EU market.

5. CHENNAI
3rd Floor, ‘Creative Enclave’,
148-150, Luz Church Road,
Mylapore,
Chennai - 600 004.
Tel: +91 - 44 - 2498 4821
BANGALORE
Suite 920, Level 9,
Raheja Towers,
26-27, M G Road,
Bangalore - 560 001.
Tel: +91 - 80 - 6546 2400
COIMBATORE
BB1, Park Avenue,
# 48, Race Course Road,
Coimbatore - 641018.
Tel: +91 - 422 – 6552921
EMAIL
info@altacit.com
WEBSITE
www.altacit.com
EFFECT OF BREXIT ON IPR
Intellectual property system in UK
In principle, a Brexit would have no effect on national rights including UK trademarks and
designs, UK patents, the common law of passing off, and domestic copyright and design
right legislation. However at present, the UK intellectual property system is closely
integrated with the EU. Whilst the UK has a system of administering national intellectual
property rights through the UK Intellectual Property Office (covering patents, trademarks
and registered designs), EU-wide mechanisms such as Community Trade Marks and
Community Registered Designs are well established in the IP portfolios of UK businesses.
In addition, other rights (such as the sui generis database right) were introduced in the
UK by EU legislation. It is therefore important to be aware of what a Brexit may mean in
respect of your intellectual property portfolio.
Relationship with EU law
IP laws are harmonized to a large extent across Europe, and much of the UK legislative
framework in this field is currently composed of directly effective EU Regulations and
transposed EU Directives. In order to avoid a regulatory vacuum, many of those EU
Regulations relevant to IP and life sciences (especially pharmaceuticals) will have to be
transposed into English or Scottish law, and those national laws which are based on EU
Directives may also need to be reviewed to ensure they can still operate properly.

6. CHENNAI
3rd Floor, ‘Creative Enclave’,
148-150, Luz Church Road,
Mylapore,
Chennai - 600 004.
Tel: +91 - 44 - 2498 4821
BANGALORE
Suite 920, Level 9,
Raheja Towers,
26-27, M G Road,
Bangalore - 560 001.
Tel: +91 - 80 - 6546 2400
COIMBATORE
BB1, Park Avenue,
# 48, Race Course Road,
Coimbatore - 641018.
Tel: +91 - 422 – 6552921
EMAIL
info@altacit.com
WEBSITE
www.altacit.com
CONTINUED….
Trade Marks and Designs
Currently registration of a trademark with the EU IPO grants registration across
member states without having to apply separately. This will change separate
applications for registration will be required to be made to the EU and UK.
For existing EU trademarks (EUTM) and EU Designs (RCD) there are no immediate
loss of rights, since such rights will remain in force in the UK for the moment.
Existing EUTM registrations would cease to apply in the UK, although it is likely
that transitional provisions would be put in place to allow brand owners to convert
part of their EUTMs to national UK registrations (possibly retaining their original
priority dates). Brand owners may wish to consider supplementing their portfolios
now with UK national applications for their core brands in any event.
It is however important to remind that the use of a EUTM in some EU states is
sufficient to overcome the requirement of use of a EUTM. When UK will be no more
part of EU, use in UK will no more be taken into account for the EUTM. It will
therefore be necessary to sufficiently use the EUTM in the other EU states.

7. CHENNAI
3rd Floor, ‘Creative Enclave’,
148-150, Luz Church Road,
Mylapore,
Chennai - 600 004.
Tel: +91 - 44 - 2498 4821
BANGALORE
Suite 920, Level 9,
Raheja Towers,
26-27, M G Road,
Bangalore - 560 001.
Tel: +91 - 80 - 6546 2400
COIMBATORE
BB1, Park Avenue,
# 48, Race Course Road,
Coimbatore - 641018.
Tel: +91 - 422 – 6552921
EMAIL
info@altacit.com
WEBSITE
www.altacit.com
CONTINUED….
Trade Marks and Designs
 At present, UK entities have a choice when registering trademarks or registered
designs. They can obtain national rights through registering with the UK Intellectual
Property Office and they can separately obtain EU-wide rights through registering with
the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market for a Community Trade Mark or
Community Registered Design. (In the same way as Norway, Liechtenstein and
Switzerland are not covered by the EUTM or RCD regime).
 A key factor in the enforcement of IP rights in the EU is the effect on trade between
EU Member States, as one of the fundamental principles underpinning the EU single
market is the free movement of goods. If the UK leaves the EU, these considerations
preventing the partitioning of the internal market would no longer apply. Currently, a
trade mark owner cannot object to the further dealing of goods it has placed on the
market within the European Economic Area (EEA) (unless it has legitimate reasons to
do so), as the trade mark rights in those goods will have been "exhausted". If Britain
exited the EEA, Community-wide trade mark and design rights could be used to
prevent imports into the EU from the UK, as "exhaustion" rules would no longer apply
to goods placed on the market in the UK. Likewise, UK rights would not be exhausted
by sales elsewhere in Europe and could be used to prevent parallel imports into the UK
from the EU. Parallel trade into and out of the UK could decline as a result.

8. CHENNAI
3rd Floor, ‘Creative Enclave’,
148-150, Luz Church Road,
Mylapore,
Chennai - 600 004.
Tel: +91 - 44 - 2498 4821
BANGALORE
Suite 920, Level 9,
Raheja Towers,
26-27, M G Road,
Bangalore - 560 001.
Tel: +91 - 80 - 6546 2400
COIMBATORE
BB1, Park Avenue,
# 48, Race Course Road,
Coimbatore - 641018.
Tel: +91 - 422 – 6552921
EMAIL
info@altacit.com
WEBSITE
www.altacit.com
CONTINUED….
Copyright
 Copyrights are largely territorial in nature; the exit is not
expected to have impact since copyright law largely differs
across the EU countries. Unless UK radically transforms its
copyright law post exit, which is unlikely, this area is unlikely
to witness much impact.

9. CHENNAI
3rd Floor, ‘Creative Enclave’,
148-150, Luz Church Road,
Mylapore,
Chennai - 600 004.
Tel: +91 - 44 - 2498 4821
BANGALORE
Suite 920, Level 9,
Raheja Towers,
26-27, M G Road,
Bangalore - 560 001.
Tel: +91 - 80 - 6546 2400
COIMBATORE
BB1, Park Avenue,
# 48, Race Course Road,
Coimbatore - 641018.
Tel: +91 - 422 – 6552921
EMAIL
info@altacit.com
WEBSITE
www.altacit.com
CONTINUED….
Patent
 The unitary patent system
 One example of where the immediate impact of Brexit may be seen is that the
lengthy negotiations regarding the Unified Patent and the Unified Patent Court
(UPC), which have taken decades, may be undermined. An “in” vote would have
potentially meant that the system was implemented in early 2017, but in the light of
the Brexit vote, there is likely to be a delay in implementation. The new UPC system
applies only to participating EU member states. The UK may, therefore, be seen as
an irritant for companies which will need to go through another hoop to seek pan-
European patent protection.
 As a non-EU member state, the UK will not be able to take part in the regime. The
unitary patent will not cover the UK and UPC judgments will not extend to UK
patents.
 If the Unitary Patent were not ratified prior to an ‘out’ vote then it is possible that
a Brexit would cause further delay to the implementation of the Unitary Patent,
especially as ratification by the UK is a pre-condition of the current agreement in
place.
 A unitary patent with a scope of protection excluding the UK is far less attractive,
currently 50% of European patents designate only the UK, Germany and France, it
is therefore likely that we will see many delays before clarity.

10. CHENNAI
3rd Floor, ‘Creative Enclave’,
148-150, Luz Church Road,
Mylapore,
Chennai - 600 004.
Tel: +91 - 44 - 2498 4821
BANGALORE
Suite 920, Level 9,
Raheja Towers,
26-27, M G Road,
Bangalore - 560 001.
Tel: +91 - 80 - 6546 2400
COIMBATORE
BB1, Park Avenue,
# 48, Race Course Road,
Coimbatore - 641018.
Tel: +91 - 422 – 6552921
EMAIL
info@altacit.com
WEBSITE
www.altacit.com
CONTINUED….
 Without being part of the EU, the UK, whilst it will still be a
signatory to the European Patent Convention and a UK patent could
still be obtained via the EPC system.
 European Patent Office is not an EU body.
 The EPO creates a single patent grant procedure, not a single patent
from an enforcement perspective. Effectively, once a patent is
granted by the EPO it is converted into a bundle of national patents.
 A patent granted by the EPO that is effective in the UK is essentially
equivalent to a national UK patent. This would continue to be the
case following any Brexit.

11. CHENNAI
3rd Floor, ‘Creative Enclave’,
148-150, Luz Church Road,
Mylapore,
Chennai - 600 004.
Tel: +91 - 44 - 2498 4821
BANGALORE
Suite 920, Level 9,
Raheja Towers,
26-27, M G Road,
Bangalore - 560 001.
Tel: +91 - 80 - 6546 2400
COIMBATORE
BB1, Park Avenue,
# 48, Race Course Road,
Coimbatore - 641018.
Tel: +91 - 422 – 6552921
EMAIL
info@altacit.com
WEBSITE
www.altacit.com
CONTINUED….
IP contracts
 A number of IP contracts will have to be renegotiated to amend
their territorial application. Further, while UK will not be obliged to
implement any of the EU directives on IP related rights they will
have the freedom to adopt them into their own law.
 Rights holders would need to prepare for an impending Brexit by
reviewing any licensing arrangements, co-existence agreements,
franchise agreements or other IP contracts which cover the EU as a
defined territory, or which concern Community-wide IP rights, to
ascertain whether they apply in the UK post-Brexit.

12. CHENNAI
3rd Floor, ‘Creative Enclave’,
148-150, Luz Church Road,
Mylapore,
Chennai - 600 004.
Tel: +91 - 44 - 2498 4821
BANGALORE
Suite 920, Level 9,
Raheja Towers,
26-27, M G Road,
Bangalore - 560 001.
Tel: +91 - 80 - 6546 2400
COIMBATORE
BB1, Park Avenue,
# 48, Race Course Road,
Coimbatore - 641018.
Tel: +91 - 422 – 6552921
EMAIL
info@altacit.com
WEBSITE
www.altacit.com
CONTINUED….
Impact on litigation
 A significant downside of a Brexit would be the loss of the UK courts' ability
to grant pan-EU injunctive relief for infringement of Community rights,
which would no longer apply in the UK. Enforcement proceedings against
infringements in Europe would also need to be brought separately in the
European Union and the UK, increasing the cost of IP enforcement.
 The effect of Brexit on any pan-EU injunctions already granted is also
unknown. It is possible that such injunctions would cease to apply in the
UK unless they were supplemented by a UK-specific injunction granted by a
national court (which they may, or may not, be compelled to grant).
 Over a period of time divergence will emerge between UK IP law and the
rest of the EU since UK courts would no longer have to interpret UK law in
light of EU rules. They will have greater freedom in interpreting and
implementing IP law.
 Representation in the UK and EU

13. CHENNAI
3rd Floor, ‘Creative Enclave’,
148-150, Luz Church Road,
Mylapore,
Chennai - 600 004.
Tel: +91 - 44 - 2498 4821
BANGALORE
Suite 920, Level 9,
Raheja Towers,
26-27, M G Road,
Bangalore - 560 001.
Tel: +91 - 80 - 6546 2400
COIMBATORE
BB1, Park Avenue,
# 48, Race Course Road,
Coimbatore - 641018.
Tel: +91 - 422 – 6552921
EMAIL
info@altacit.com
WEBSITE
www.altacit.com
TRADE MARKING TRAGEDIES
The split between Britain and the rest of the EU is a tragedy. The ramifications
are several and felt by millions all over the world. Ironically, in this time of
political isolationism, Trademark registrars across the world are united by the
increased number of opportunistic trademark applications they receive.
An American Beer company has other ideas to keep people in high spirits, pun
intended. Boston Beer, the maker of Samuel Adams Boston Lager, is seeking to
trademark “Brexit”, a portmanteau for British exit/Britain exit, as a name of a
hard cider. Apart from the hard cider, applications to register BREXIT as a
trademark were also filed on June 24th by an individual in Chicago for clothing
and by a company in Colorado for dietary and nutritional supplements. As one
report notes, the applications were filed even as millions around the world were
waiting with bated breath for the results of the referendum. An inadvertent
ramification of Brexit, has also been the stimulation of secession movements in
America, such as Calexit (California exit) and Texit (Texas exit), and with it,
Secessional trademark applications! For example, the application made to the
USPTO (United States Patent and Trademark Office) for “Texit” apparently
covers hunting apparel, T-shirts and baseball caps.

14. CHENNAI
3rd Floor, ‘Creative Enclave’,
148-150, Luz Church Road,
Mylapore,
Chennai - 600 004.
Tel: +91 - 44 - 2498 4821
BANGALORE
Suite 920, Level 9,
Raheja Towers,
26-27, M G Road,
Bangalore - 560 001.
Tel: +91 - 80 - 6546 2400
COIMBATORE
BB1, Park Avenue,
# 48, Race Course Road,
Coimbatore - 641018.
Tel: +91 - 422 – 6552921
EMAIL
info@altacit.com
WEBSITE
www.altacit.com
Ultimately, the full impact of Brexit would not be known
until the terms of the UK's relationship with the EU had
been clarified. There are a number of potential options
in the event of a Brexit.
IP rights holders in the UK and EU do not have anything
to worry about immediately post-referendum. There is no
sudden change and no need for rapid reactions. No rights
have been lost today and there will be provisions for
continuity of protection. What form these mechanisms
will take is unknown.
CONCLUSION

15. CHENNAI
3rd Floor, ‘Creative Enclave’,
148-150, Luz Church Road,
Mylapore,
Chennai - 600 004.
Tel: +91 - 44 - 2498 4821
BANGALORE
Suite 920, Level 9,
Raheja Towers,
26-27, M G Road,
Bangalore - 560 001.
Tel: +91 - 80 - 6546 2400
COIMBATORE
BB1, Park Avenue,
# 48, Race Course Road,
Coimbatore - 641018.
Tel: +91 - 422 – 6552921
EMAIL
info@altacit.com
WEBSITE
www.altacit.com
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