argomento: News del mese - Diritto Internazionale e Comunitario

Articoli Correlati: Brexit

The British government published a note concerning the economic consequences of a no-deal Brexit, if the United Kingdom were to leave the EU on March 29, 2019 without an agreement on exit conditions. The British government reiterated its intention to reach an agreement with a transition period that will last until December 31, 2020, during which there will be no significant change, including with regard to intellectual property rights. Regarding the patents, there will be no change as a result of Brexit. As for complementary protection certificates (SPC) for pharmaceuticals and agrochemicals, in the case of a “no-deal”, European legislation will be maintained in English law and any existing law and license currently in force in the United Kingdom will remain even after Brexit. There are no significant changes to the legal requirements and the application procedure for SPCs. As regards the European trademarks (EUTMs), the registered Community designs (RCDs), the Government will ensure that the rights on the European trademarks, on the existing Community designs and models continue to be protected and implemented. This can be achieved by providing the right to an equivalent trademark or design registered in the United Kingdom. Also with reference to unregistered Community designs and models (UCDs), the Government will ensure that all unregistered Community designs and models (UCDs) existing at the time of exit from the EU continue to enjoy protection and continue to be applicable. The United Kingdom intends to create a new “further right on unregistered designs” which will be the equivalent of the one on unregistered Community designs (UCDs) in the EU.
For copyright, much of the United Kingdom copyright law finds its origins in international treaties and does not depend on membership of the European Union. However, there are some aspects of the current UK copyright law that derive from EU directives. These will be incorporated into the UK legislation relating to Brexit, so they will not change, at least in the short term. An exception is represented by the sui generis rights of databases - following the “no-deal” Brexit, databases created in the United Kingdom are unlikely to benefit from the protection provided for databases in EU law. Some transmission rights will also be involved. Except for these aspects, the United Kingdom copyright law will remain largely unchanged following the Brexit no-deal.