In our last post, we confirmed that for EU trademarks which are registered at the withdrawal date (either 29 March 2019 (no-deal scenario) or 31 December 2020 (deal scenario), new UK national rights will be cloned onto the UK register, automatically, without charge and retaining all relevant dates.
The UK IPO confirmed yesterday that each newly created cloned trademark (known as a “comparable mark”) will be distinguished from existing UK trademarks by the application of a prefix, UK009, to the last eight digits of the original EU trademark (EUTM). The UK IPO confirms that comparable marks “will be fully independent UK trademarks and can be challenged, assigned, licensed or renewed, separately from the original EUTM”.
The following examples show how comparable UK trademarks will be numbered:
Existing EU trademark Comparable UK trademark
000000977 UK00900000977
000025197 UK00900025197
000340513 UK00900340513
017867542 UK00917867542
This information will help businesses and record keepers in preparations to update their trademark databases accordingly.
Contact
If you would like further information, or have questions, please contact:
Clare Jackman
Of Counsel and Chartered Trademark Attorney
Tel +44 20 7444 2235
clare.jackman@nortonrosefulbright.com
