The term ‘Brexit’ is shorthand for ‘Britain’ and ‘exit’ and refers to the UK leaving the European Union (EU). A referendum – a vote in which everyone (or nearly everyone) of voting age can take part – was held on 23 June 2016, to decide whether the UK should leave or remain in the EU. Leave won by 51.9% to 48.1%. Britain’s departure from the EU is scheduled to take place at 11pm UK time on 29 March 2019.
The Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Act 2023 (REULA) came into force on 1 January 2024 and has some significant implications for IP law. Much IP law in the UK is derived from EU law – both implemented EU law and case law decided in view of EU law. REULA could impact all…
THJ Systems Limited & Anor v Daniel Sheridan & Anor [2023] EWCA Civ 1354 concerned many issues but the one of most interest was the correct legal test to consider whether a copyright work is original. One would think this has been well rehearsed in numerous cases already, but the Court of Appeal decision…
The UK government has run a consultation on the future of the UK’s exhaustion of IP rights regime. This ran for 12 weeks, closing on 31 August 2021. The consultation was open to responses from businesses, representative organisations, civil society organisations, legal practitioners, creators and consumers. The government is now considering the responses to the…
Recently, the Court of Appeal in TuneIn v Warner Music UK Ltd & Anor confirmed the continued application of “retained EU law” in the UK on the thorny issue of communication to the public and clarified the assessment of the “new public” in TuneIn appeal. The UK approach for now remains in line with the…
Here we have it. The first instance of regulatory divergence. The UK is leaving the European Union, and already the rules of the single market are starting to break. In response to a parliamentary question by Labour MP Jo Stevens, Intellectual Property Minister Chris Skidmore said on 21 January that the UK Government had no…
In December, we set out our views on what would happen to copyright in the UK following Brexit – see here. This blog is intended to provide an update in light of more recent events. On 15 January 2019, the House of Commons voted to reject the draft Withdrawal Agreement. The Withdrawal Agreement had provided…
To ensure you don’t miss out on interesting IP law developments reported on our other IP blogs, we will, on a regular basis, provide you with an overview of the top 3 most-read posts from each of our IP law blogs. Here are the top posts from January, February and March. Top 3 Kluwer Copyright…
With the UK due to leave the EU in less than two months, we are still no closer to clarity on the basis on which this will take place. Earlier this month, Parliament voted against the deal proposed by the Prime Minister, with the deal only finding support from around 31% of members of parliament….
The terms of the UK’s future relationship with the EU have yet to be concluded and so there is inevitably a degree of uncertainty about what Brexit ultimately means for copyright in the UK. Recent developments in parliament mean the Brexit uncertainty is higher than ever. The future relationship will really only crystallise sometime after…
Whilst it is highly debatable whether the EU Withdrawal Agreement will get through the UK Parliament, the chances are that if any revised deal is struck later, the IP provisions will remain unchanged. (The Johnson brothers, and even Jacob Rees-Mogg are unlikely to be terribly exercised about matters such as the continued application post- 31…
