Brexit: The view from Blake Morgan's chairman
Now that the dust is settling on the UK's decision to leave the EU, our clients are asking what this means for them. We are the first member state to ever leave the European Union and as such the result has ignited much uncertainty and debate about what lies ahead.
Change always brings opportunities, as well as challenges, and we are focused on helping our clients understand how these changes can benefit their business during the period of transition ahead.
A recent survey we commissioned suggests that only 20% of businesses had set in place a continuity plan for the leave vote. In the public sector, there is concern about what will happen to staffing arrangements as well as EU-funded collaboration projects. We understand that there is much uncertainty at present, but we will continue to support and provide innovative solutions to help our clients invest and grow.
Of course it's not only businesses that are affected. Exit from the EU will likely have a knock-on effect on a range of private and family law matters which are currently governed by a system which in many areas combines EU and domestic legislation into an integrated European framework.
Whilst it is not clear what the exit will look like or how we will take forward the laws that the UK has adopted over the last 40 years, we do know that there will be opportunities coming out of these changes and we will be supporting our clients in understanding how these can be used to their advantage.
Bruce Potter, Chairman
Overview
We do not know when the exit will actually happen but once the UK officially notifies the EU of its intention to leave, the negotiations need to be completed within two years. The two-year period can be extended but only if all the other 27 EU countries agree.
So, there will be no dramatic change overnight. The hard work begins now to assess the implications of the decision - and there are a lot of legalities to work through not least the election of a new leader of the Conservative Party to take over as Prime Minister from David Cameron. In the meantime, it is business as usual however we give our initial thoughts on some specific areas below.
If you or your clients would like more information on any of these areas do contact Jill Bainbridge or any of other contributors below.
Intellectual property and data privacy - Jill Bainbridge and Simon Stokes
The vote to leave the EU raises many questions about what happens with the UK and its future relationship with the EU patent trade mark and design system.
For the moment it is business as usual and trade mark and design owners should not panic – European Union Trade Marks and Registered Community Designs remain valid in the UK and there is no immediate loss of IP protection.
Once the UK formally gives notice to exit the EU, negotiations will begin on the status of EU marks in the UK and whether any transitional provisions will be required to grandfather across EU trade mark and registered design rights into the UK.
The European Patent is not derived from the EU regime and therefore will be unaffected. However, the position regarding the forthcoming European Unitary patent is less clear. The UK had intended to participate and host a court, however only member EU states can participate in this system.
Copyright and trade secret protection is based on domestic law but with elements of EU harmonisation. For example the recent Trade Secrets Directive will harmonise EU law in this area from 9 June 2018. It is as yet unclear to what extent EU harmonisation will continue to affect these unregistered UK IP rights.
So far as data protection is concerned there is a risk that the legal transfer of data to the UK under EU rules could no longer be valid once the exit is complete nor is it clear that the UK will be free to adopt a more business friendly data protection regime than exists within the EU as some hope – most likely the UK will follow the international trend set by the EU in having a high standard of data privacy similar to the new EU "GDPR" regime in order to be able to continue to trade with the EU..
