Australian firms seeking trade mark protection across Europe will inevitably face higher costs as a result of the Brexit but will the challenges end there?

In the final part of our video series, Corrs Partner Tim Allen takes a closer look at the implications of the UK's decision to withdraw from the EU.

  • What are the immediate challenges for the UK, EU and the wider world?
  • Could the UK even remain in the EU trade mark system despite Brexit?
  • How will greater uncertainty affect the way firms do business across Europe?

Corrs Partners have been examining areas ranging from global trade to international arbitration, privacy and anti-corruption.

We consider the key issues stemming from Brexit and how they will affect Australian firms and the way they do business.

TEXT VERSION

The UK exit from the European Union won't be a show stopper in terms of trade market issues, both in terms of the protection and the enforcement.

There will be the same capacity affectively to achieve what you can achieve now. But it will in some situations make it more expensive and it will add layers of complexity.

With any sort of substantive reform whether it's to the main body of the law or its processes and procedures comes a level of uncertainty as to how that will be applied.

An uncertainty comes at a cost to business necessarily. There has been a suggestion that the UK they might seek to remain within the EU trade mark system or be that it is out of the EU itself. That's more a political issue I suspect and I can imagine there will be considerable resistance to that.

The consensus seems to be that the UK exit from the EU will necessarily result in the UK exit from the EU trade mark system. I don't think it will compromise rights significantly.

I think that the choices that people will make in terms of brand protection in Europe whether it's Continental Europe or the UK will remain essentially driven by where the markets are that are significant, where you have potential risk and you need to manage that risk and where you need to be able to enforce and you will make choices around that.

You will have potentially an added layer of cost by having to deal with the UK separately. But I don't think for Australian businesses projecting into Europe I don't think it is going to be a make or break for decisions they make about where to put their goods or where to supply their services.

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