Brand protection beyond Brexit: are businesses prepared?

Late last year, European IP specialist law firm HGF commissioned a comprehensive survey of more than 120 leading businesses across the UK and Europe to better understand their concerns and gauge how prepared they are for life after the UK’s departure from the EU, in terms of protecting their trademark and design rights.

The research was divided into three sections: Brexit, brand protection and business growth, with companies invited to participate by completing an online survey. The results were published in January in a report “ Brand Protection Beyond Brexit”.

Almost half of the respondents said that they would need to change their brand protection strategy after the UK leaves the EU, but a third still did not know how they would do so.

There are a couple of possible reasons for businesses still to be unsure about how they will change their brand protection strategy in Europe after the UK exits the EU: businesses may be unaware of the changes to IP protection that Brexit presents, or they may believe the changes won’t be significant. Many will surely be confident that their trademark advisors have these technical issues in hand.

I believe a great deal is due to the uncertainty over when these changes will happen. This uncertainty has existed for some time—since the UK referendum in 2016—and continues today.