Brexit update: trade marks and designs ** POSTPONEMENT **

THIS HAS NOW BEEN POSTPONED. We have been informed by the UKIPO that all online services for trade marks and designs will be unavailable immediately after Brexit (from 11pm on 31 October 2019 until 4 November 2019). This planned shutdown is to enable the UKIPO to create the UK comparable trade marks and re-registered designs following the UK's departure from the EU. ** LATEST UPDATE FROM THE UKIPO TODAY **

Please note that the planned system maintenance by the UKIPO referred to below will no longer take place. Service times and application processes will be available as normal.

We have been informed by the UKIPO that all online services for trade marks and designs will be unavailable immediately after Brexit (from 11pm on 31 October 2019 until 4 November 2019). This planned shutdown is to enable the UKIPO to create the UK comparable trade marks and re-registered designs following the UK's departure from the EU. 

Whilst it will still be possible to file applications for a trade mark or design during this period, the applications will need to be filed using the UKIPO's paper application channels rather than the online system. We expect that the online systems will be extremely busy in period immediately before the shutdown, and that the UKIPO's fax lines will be extremely busy during the disruption period.


We therefore recommend that clients review their trade mark portfolios and let us know as soon as possible if they have any priority filings for the UK with deadlines falling within this disruption period. If so, we recommend filing the applications in advance of the priority deadline and disruption period where possible, in order to guarantee a filing date and priority claim. Please get in touch with your usual Fieldfisher contact if you have any questions or concerns.

Please note that patents will not be affected by the planned disruption.