On 12 July, the UK government published its latest White Paper on Brexit , which among other issues touches upon GIs.
The document though leaves several questions unanswered. While the paragraphs on GIs (38 and 39) go in the right direction in terms of general principles, no details were given about certain crucial elements of the GIs system the UK will set-up, in particular there is still no commitment to the continuation of protection of existing GIs. A paper oriGIn published earlier this year and sent to both the EU and UK negotiators emphasizes the need to reduce the legal uncertainty for GI beneficiaries as well as consumers in the UK and the EU, and urges the UK to ensure the maximum retention of rights for GI beneficiaries, equal to the level of protection currently enjoyed, with minimal burden and costs. The paper also mentions the importance of reducing trade disruption.
oriGIn position on Brexit was mentioned, together with the comments of other international experts, in an interesting article published on 13 July by the World Intellectual Property Review (WIPR), available @ https://www.worldipreview.com/news/mixed-ip-reaction-to-brexit-white-paper-16323
This summary has been extracted from an “oriGIn Alert”, which is a service reserved exclusively to oriGIn members. Click here to join oriGIn
For more information about bilateral and plurilateral agreements covering GIs see the respective category in the section Policy and Advocacy
