Legal
Understanding the legal implications of Brexit
What Brexit means for intellectual property, data handling and more
The Intellectual Property Office has produced guidance setting out arrangements from January 1, 2021. This covers EU trade marks, registered community designs, unregistered designs, international trade mark registrations, rights of representation, patents, supplementary protection certificates, exhaustion of rights and copyright. The rules governing address for service for intellectual property rights has changed.
There is specific guidance for food and drink producers with ‘geographical indication’ (GI) protection. and information on applications, changes and cancellations for consultation under the UK geographical indications (GI) schemes and how to appeal against decisions.
There is guidance on how to use the UKCA (UK Conformity Assessed) marking. The UKCA marking is a new UK product marking that will be used for goods being placed on the market in Great Britain. It covers most goods which previously required the CE marking. The UKCA marking can be used from 1 January 2021. However, businesses will still be able to use the CE marking until January 2022 in most cases.
This is the guidance to follow if your business receives personal data from partners or suppliers in EU or EEA countries. Personal data is any information that can be used to identify someone.
The Information Commissioner’s Office has issued guidance on data protection.
There is also guidance on sui generis database rights – changes to protection in the EU for databases produced in the UK.
Here’s a round-up of other legal and technical issues:
- Selling services to the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein and specific guidance on trading in services with Ireland
- What to do if your business holds a .eu domain name
- Getting EU funding after December 31, 2020
- Information on designated standards
- Changes for businesses and holders of international EU protected designs
- Changes to the way the Supplementary Protection Certificate system operates
- Changes to environmental standards, meeting climate change requirements and regulating persistent organic pollutants
- Participating in the UK Emissions Trading Scheme, which has replaced the EU Emissions Trading Scheme
- Applying for quota to import or produce ozone-depleting substances
- Complying with with the EU’s REACH chemical regulations when using, making, selling or importing chemicals into the EU
- Guidance for companies placing hazardous chemicals on the UK market
- How to comply with fluorinated gas and ozone-depleting substances regulations
- How to comply with pesticide regulations
- How standards for emissions from industry affected by the Best Available Technique regime will be affected
- What operators need to do in terms of submitting plans for radioactive waste disposal
- Guidance on public sector procurement
- Bidding for overseas government contracts
- Advice on changes to legal practice, advice for EU lawyers operating in the UK, for UK lawyers practising in the EU, guidance for the owners of legal services businesses
- Guidance for legal professionals on cross-border civil and commercial cases and cross-border family law disputes
- Guidance for those holding EU professional qualifications on getting them recognised in the UK
- Advice for UK auditors and audit firms operating in the EEA
- Guidance for insolvency officeholders regarding the applicable frameworks in different EU member states
- Changes to workplace rights and consumer rights
- Placing manufactured goods on the EU market, placing manufactured goods on the market in Great Britain and placing manufactured goods on the market in Northern Ireland
- Product safety and metrology regulations for businesses placing goods on the market in Great Britain
- Information on labelling for footwear manufacturers and retailers
- Information on labelling for textile manufacturers and retailers
- Changes to requirements for tobacco and related products and placing a tobacco or herbal smoking product on the UK market
- How to submit a cosmetic product notification to the Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS)
- Hallmarking requirements for jewellery importers and exporters
- How food and drink producers, manufacturers, retailers and suppliers must change labels
- Nutrition-related labelling, composition and standards, registering nutrition and health claims that may be made in commercial communications, guidance on nutrition and health claims on foods, and how to use ‘on hold’ health claims that are still under consideration in the EU in Great Britain
- Information about vitamins, minerals and certain other substances that may be added to foods
- Marketing standards for for veal and beef importers, exporters, producers, manufacturers, retailers
- Marketing standards for poultry meat producers, manufacturers, retailers and distributors
- Marketing standards for egg producers, manufacturers, retailers and distributors
- Marketing standards for hatching egg and chick producers, manufacturers, retailers and distributors
- Marketing standards for hops and hop products
- Trading and labelling organic food
- Advice for fruit and vegetable importers, packers, distributors and retailers on the changes to marketing standards
- Applying for plant variety rights and marketing plant reproductive material, seeds and other propagating material
- Trading and moving endangered species protected by CITES
- Manufacturing and marketing fertilisers
- Guidance on the UK Veterinary Medicines Regulations from January 1, 2021
- The e-commerce directive after the transition period
- Information on geo-blocking for e-commerce retailers
- Information for digital services providers operating in the EU
- Rules for broadcasters and video on-demand services
- How to claim VAT refunds from EU member states
- Advice on whether your business needs to change its company registration
- Guidance for vehicle and component manufacturers on meeting safety and environmental standards
- Changes to company accounting and reporting requirements and changes to Companies House forms
- Changes to deduction of tax from interest, royalties and dividends
- How protection of trading interests (also known as the retained blocking regulation) will work in the UK
- Working and operating in the European aviation sector
Cumbria Chamber of Commerce has recorded a podcast and webinar with Alex Craig, head of commercial at law firm Muckle, exploring the impacts of Brexit on data flow and intellectual property rights.