Brexit and IP – preparing your trademarks and designs for the end of the transition period

With the Brexit transition period to officially end on 31 December 2020, the timeframe is set for businesses to effectively prepare their IP portfolios. With the deadline fast approaching, what should IP professionals and brand owners be doing to minimise business risk and put themselves in the best position to manage their portfolios?

During this webinar, our experts will explain:

• the status of the negotiations on the future UK-EU relationship post-transition period;
• the plans that have been put in place for the cloning of IP rights after the transition period ends and their implications for rights holders;
• the proposals for the management of UK parallel imports/exports and exhaustion of IP rights after the transition period ends and their implications for rights holders; and
• both the UK and EU perspectives on how to prepare your IP portfolio for the end of the transition period and beyond.

Our speakers

• Phil Lewis, The Anti-Counterfeiting Group

Director General of the Anti-Counterfeiting Group, Phil Lewis has been engaged in IP enforcement since 2001 when he became the UK’s Senior Policy Advisor on Intellectual Property Crime. Based at the UK IPO, Phil was responsible for developing and leading on the UK’s first National IP Crime Strategy.

Phil was formerly Adviser to the Interpol Action Group where he led a number of European Commission IP Peer Review Teams, assessing IP infrastructures and enforcement capacities in China and a range of EU succession and candidate countries. His previous roles also include UK IP enforcement representative at G8 level, Senior National Expert at the European Commission and Policy and Strategy Adviser to the UK Anti-Counterfeiting Group.

• Katrina Burchell, Burchell Consulting

The founder of Burchell Consulting, Katrina Burchell works with a wide variety of clients in the fashion, luxury, beauty and lifestyle industries, providing strategic intellectual property management advice, counsel on IP issues, IP awareness training and mentoring and coaching services for lawyers, executives, board members and entrepreneurs. She also currently acts as the in-house IP counsel for three well known luxury brands.

Katrina was formerly Group IP Director at Kering, a luxury and lifestyle group with famous brands including Gucci, Saint Laurent, Christopher Kane and Puma. Prior to that, Katrina was Head of Trademarks at Unilever, where she managed the global trademark and domain name portfolio and provided counsel on advertising and marketing law.

• Vanessa Harrow, Novagraaf

Vanessa Harrow is Head of Trademarks at Novagraaf UK. She is a qualified UK Chartered Trademark Attorney, having completed her training in 2017 while at Novagraaf. Vanessa focuses on advising clients on their trademark and design portfolios, conducting pre-filing clearance searches, responding to UKIPO and EUIPO official actions, and handling offensive and defensive opposition, cancellation and litigation actions.

• Franc Enghardt, Novagraaf

A Benelux and European Trademark and Design Attorney, Franc Enghardt has extensive knowledge and experience in the field of intellectual property law. Franc specialises, in particular, in international registration procedures and European opposition proceedings and regularly acts as a speaker on these topics, at both national and international conferences.

Why sign up?

Our experts will offer guidance on preparing and planning for these changes, including approaches and strategies to protect and maximise your valuable trademark and design assets.

This webinar is ideal for anyone engaged in the oversight – both administrative and strategic – of IP portfolios.

Sign up for the webinar here.