News & Events about IP just for you

What’s in a Name...?

No sooner has the EU Commission and the United Kingdom announced that they have agreed on a significant part of a draft Withdrawal Agreement, (which makes mention of intellectual property in Articles 50-57), than the Commission has issued a “Notice to Stakeholders” about .eu domain names.

In this, the Commission gives a stark warning to the owners of .eu domain names that they must have a registered office or principal place of business in the EU otherwise they cannot validly own their names, and that the EU Registry for .eu domains can revoke domain name registrations of its own volition. There are over 300,000 .eu domain names currently registered in the UK that might be affected by this.

However, the EU Registry seems not to have been forewarned by the European Commission that the Notice to Stakeholders was about to be published, and it has hastily published a notice on its website, stating that what the EU Commission says is subject to any transitional arrangement that may be agreed and included in the Withdrawal Agreement.

The cancellation of 300,000 domain names would be a significant burden for the Registry. On the other hand, the cancellation of a .eu domain name would be a significant problem for an unprepared business with its European headquarters in the UK.

Our advice is to get prepared by ensuring that alternative names (e.g. .com) are registered, and websites and email addresses are all switched over, or ready to be switched over, by 29 March 2019, the date the UK will leave the EU.

Now we know why the name of EU Registry for .eu domain names is called “EURid”...

Posted in Brexit

Featured

NFTs - the new way to exploit your IP

02/08/21

Non-fungible tokens are the latest fashion in the cyber world. Building on blockchain technology, NFTs may be a new way to exploit intellectual property rights.

Artificial Intelligence Patents at the EPO and UKIPO

14/06/21

The number of patent applications for inventions relating to Artificial Intelligence “AI” is growing fast! But, can artificial intelligence be patented at the European Patent Office? The answer is both yes... and no.

Related News

Brexit – The End of the Beginning or the Beginning of the End?

26/07/21

Brexit is all done and dusted (apart from the bits that aren’t), and the talk now is all about Frexit and Polexit……

Post-Brexit Trade Mark and Designs

08/12/20

On December 31^st 2020, the UK will leave the European Union trade mark and design systems. We have prepared the following brief – and hopefully helpful – resumé of what is going to happen with Brexit and the main things that need to be considered.

Before we begin, please let us clarify that Brexit does not affect patents. The European Patent Convention (“EPC”) is nothing to do with the EU and, although the UK is leaving the EU, it is remaining as a member of the EPC.

But, it is a different story for trade marks and designs...

Worried about how Brexit will affect your IP? Don’t be.

21/01/19

With Wynne-Jones IP and AIPEX BV, it’s business as usual and you’re in safe hands.

“…..Another fine mess………”

17/01/19

With an uncanny sense of comedic timing, the film “Stan & Ollie” is being released this month in the UK. The famous duo’s catchphrase seems apt to describe the current state of the UK’s Brexit process. We still do not know how or when, or even if, the UK will leave the EU. However, if nothing changes, the UK will leave the EU on 29^th March 2019.

A stitch in time saves “nein”

23/10/18

The UK will officially leave the EU on March 29^th 2019. There is provisionally a transitional period until December 31^st 2020, and we think the most likely outcome is that this will be extended, so that there is still plenty of time to sort out what to do about IP that is affected by Brexit. However, with everyone falling out, a “nein deal” is now a genuine possibility, and the UK has recently issued no deal guidelines for intellectual property.