A recent position paper entitled ‘The impact of Brexit on intellectual property’ by The Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys (CIPA) reveals the institute has a strong preference for the UK to participate in the Unitary Patent (UP) and Unified Patent Court (UPC) system, if this can be legally agreed.
The UK government, assisted by CIPA and other stakeholders tried to create a system favourable to the UK (UP) to simplify the patent system for businesses and reduce costs. Plans were well advanced for part of the Unified Patent Court’s central division to open in London. CIPA is working with others to try to secure the UK’s UP and UPC participation.
Despite the Brexit vote CIPA states it is business as usual with existing UK national IP rights and European patents and applications unaffected. UK patent attorneys qualified as European Patent Attorneys are still able to represent clients in all work before the EPO.
The paper also mentions opportunities to strengthen UK IP rights due to Brexit.
Source: http://buff.ly/2bGGA1u
