Business as
usual for IP
in Europe
Brexit
On 23 June 2016, the British people voted in a
referendum on whether the UK should remain a member
of the European Union. Just under 52% of voters voted
to leave the EU, against just over 48% who voted that
the UK should remain part of the EU. As a result, the UK
will in due course begin the formal process of leaving
the EU, often referred to as “Brexit”. That process is likely
to take several years to complete. In the meantime the
UK will remain a part of the EU, with all of the rights and
obligations that entails including in the field of intellectual
property. The message for the time being is therefore
very much “business as usual”. Nothing will change in
the immediate future. We have summarised here the
likely impact of Brexit on the various different IP rights in
Europe.
4
IP review
autumn
2016
