The UK Government published a draft statutory instrument about the situation of trademarks protected within the scope of the EU through the Madrid Protocol. If this is approved by the UK Parliament, it will come into effect on the date of the “No-Deal” Brexit.
Accordingly, if the UK leaves the EU without an agreement, the Intellectual Property Office of the UK will transform all previous international trademark registrations, which were protected within the scope of the EU and were applied through the Madrid Protocol, into a UK trademark registration at no cost. The respective UK registration will be governed by UK law and independent from the previous international registration. However, the respective new UK registration may be replaced with the corresponding international registration provided that a new application is filed for the UK in the form of a “subsequent designation” under the Madrid Protocol.