WIPO Mitteilung; Genf; 30. Juli 2020

The transition period provided for under the Agreement on the Withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU) will end on December 31, 2020. The Government of the United Kingdom has informed

the International Bureau of WIPO of changes, effective as from January 1, 2021, (i) to deliver continued protection in the UK to industrial designs which are in international registrations that have been protected in the EU before the end of the transition period and, (ii) to preserve the rights of applicants and holders of pending international applications or international registrations, designating the EU, at the end of the transition period.

For further information on these changes, please refer to Information Notice No. 31/2020. A set of Questions and Answers concerning Brexit is available at https://www.wipo.int/hague/en/faqs.html.

Details concerning the steps put in place by the UK are set out under the “Guidance – International EU protected designs after [and as from] January 1, 2021” at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/international-eu-protected-designs-after-brexit.

For information concerning the preservation of your rights in the UK during the transition period, please refer to Information Notice No. 2/2020.