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Written by : Kerry Sarkodie |
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hi everybody I'm trademark attorney Josh urban and welcome to episode 4 of ask a trademark attorney this is the show where we talk about trademark questions that I actually get from clients and I want to answer them because they're things that we hear all the time today's question is is my u.s. trademark registration protected internationally the short answer is no a u.s. trademark registration only provides you rights in the United States and its territories if you would like trademark protection in other countries you have to go and file your trademark on a country-by-country basis around the world the one exception to this is a European Union where you can file an EU trademark to get coverage in all the European countries so to recap your u.s. registration is only valid and enforceable in the United States if you want trademark rights in any other country there's not just an international registration that you can get you have to go and register your trademark on a country-by-country basis I hope you found this helpful and I'll talk to you next time you
Thanks for your comment Bernie Serianni, have a nice day.
- Kerry Sarkodie, Staff Member
what will happen to the EU trade marks after brexit am andre Mincha fan if you're wondering how the United Kingdom will treat trademarks registered or applied for in the European Union and what you should do about it then you're watching the right video because you're about to find out just that whether you're happy that the UK has finally gained its freedom from the tyranny of the European Union yay or if you think it's the biggest mistake ever boom or you just don't care about European politics the fact remains the same the brexit just happened the United Kingdom left the European Union and 11:00 p.m. GMT on January 31st 2020 the UK Parliament and the European Parliament have finally ratified the withdrawal agreement between the UK and the EU which means that it's not a no deal brexit so the UK will now enter into a transition period until December 31st 2020 the UK government has declared that it will not agree to any extension of this transition period and during this transition period the UK will remain part of the EU single market and customs union also unless otherwise will be provided in the withdrawal agreement EU law will continue to apply to the UK and most references to EU member states in applicable EU legislation will apply to the UK however the UK will no longer be entitled to participate in the elections decision-making and governance of EU institutions bodies offices and agencies all right so what does this all mean for EU trademarks and Trademark applications first of all if you own a European Union trademark that gets registered by December 31st 2020 so and of this year December 31st 2020 you will automatically acquire a corresponding reg and fully enforceable UK trademark at no extra charge now here's what this means now I'm shooting this video in early February of 2020 European trademarks only take a few months to register without an office option now what this means is that if you want to register your trademark into you and get a free extension of your trademark registration to the UK now is the time to do it you can still make it before December 31st of 2020 now don't tell me I didn't warn you if you wait too long because I did I just did now if your au trademark application registers on or after January 1st of 2021 you're out of luck applications that are still pending after December 31st of 2020 will not be converted into corresponding UK applications automatically now the only thing you're gonna get is a grace period until the end of September of 2021 now if you file your UK trademark application during this grace period you can claim the filing priority date back to the filing date of your EU trademark applications for example you file your au trademark on the day that trademark factory will be celebrating its ninth birthday on August 31st of 2020 right so let's say you file your au trademark on August 31st 2020 and it doesn't register in the EU by December 31st 2020 it means you have no protection of your brand in the UK unless you file your trademark application in the UK directly so let's say sometime in April of 21 you realize that whoops your brand is not only not protected in the as your competitor has applied to register your brand is their trademark in February of 2021 okay and so what this grace period does it gives you the right to file your trademark application in the UK let's say April of 2021 and claim priority of your trademark application in the UK back to the date of your EU trademark application that means that for all intents and purposes your UK application will be deemed to have been filed on August 31st 2020 in other words your UK application will be deemed to have been filed before your competitor filed their trademark in February of 2021 but really once again it would be much easier and much cheaper for you to just father EU trademark application ASAP and get it registered before December 31st 2020 this way you will get your UK trade mark registration automatically at no extra charge now if you do get the UK trademark - right from your new trademark registered before December 31st 2020 then such corresponding UK trademark will have the same renewal dates and filing priority dates as the registered EU trademark from which it derives now from that point on you would need to renew the UK trademark according to UK rules separately from the EU trade law right so your corresponding UK trademark will not be at risk of cancellation before December 31st 2020 even if you don't have any genuine use of the brand in the UK however if you continue not to use the mark in the UK your new UK trademark can then be cancelled for non use as always just starting from 2021 now so here are the action steps for you if you're a business owner if your Branagh if you already have a registered trademark in the EU relax you will be getting your UK trademark automatically all you would need to do is make sure you renew your UK trade mark at the same time as your EU trademark simply renewing your EU trademark would not renew your corresponding UK trademark okay you have a pending trademark application indeed you know keep an eye on it to make sure it registers by December 31st 2020 if it does then once again relax this new trademark will also trigger a corresponding UK trade mark registration at no extra charge now if you have a pending trademark application in vu and it doesn't register by December 31st 2020 then in order to protect your brand in the UK you would need to file a separate trademark application in the UK directly you can claim priority of your UK trade mark application back to the filing date of your EU trademark application as long as you file your UK trade mark application before the end of September of 2021 so before September 30th 2021 now if you do not have a pending trademark application in the EU but would like to protect your brand in 27 European countries and in the United Kingdom then what are you waiting for now is the time in fact we are quickly approaching the time after which it will be too late for you to jump on the bandwagon so if Europe is potentially on your radar as one of your target markets make sure you file your you trademarks ASAP and yes trademark factory can help you with that we will offer you the same deal as for other countries that is a comprehensive trademark search to determine if your brand is trademark herbal a single flat fee that will take care of the entire process from start to finish and a one out of percent money-back guarantee in case your trademark application doesn't get registered don't wait book your free call with one of our strategy advisors right now just go to trade my factory comm and fill out the form to book your call right now until then I will see you in the next video
Thanks Benita your participation is very much appreciated
- Kerry Sarkodie
About the author
I've studied ecological anthropology at University of Hawaii at Manoa in Honolulu and I am an expert in agronomy. I usually feel bored. My previous job was environmental science professsor I held this position for 9 years, I love talking about dolls and learning. Huge fan of Dita Von Ceese I practice weightlifting and collect butterflies.
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