By Donvay Wegierski, Director

The initial Brexit date of 29 March 2019 was re-scheduled to 31 October 2019 – deal or no deal.

The UK remains one of South Africa’s major trading partners with mutual trade between the countries in excess of one hundred and fourty billion ZAR in 2018. In September 2019, a trade agreement was concluded with the purpose of safeguarding South Africa’s arrangement with the UK should the UK exit the EU with no deal. This agreement includes Lesotho, Eswatini (previously Swaziland), Namibia, Botswana and Mozambique, and once ratified by cabinet will be referred to as SACUM-UK Economic Partnership Agreement. This Agreement replicates the terms of trade that currently govern the arrangement between South Africa and the European Union including health and safety regulations, quotas and tariffs.

Brexit has ramifications for every arrangement between the EU and the UK notwithstanding intellectual property, since a European Union registration (“EUTM”) currently covers all twenty seven member countries of the European Union^[1], including the UK.

Our advice to date concerning trade marks is that separate trade marks should be filed in the UK in addition to the EU to avoid the inevitable administrative delays at the UK Intellectual Property Office (“UKIPO”) in the event of a “no deal” Brexit. This is particularly so if the UK is a trading partner.

ADVICE TO BRAND OWNERS

• Review your current UK and EUTM trade mark portfolios and if there is no separate UK mark consider the following:

Should you require any clarity on the above or assistance with reviewing your current position in the EU please contact our Intellectual Property Team.

[1] A EUTM covers all 28 member countries of the EU, namely Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, The Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and the UK.