No deal Brexit - what will happen to patents - particularly SPCs and the UPC?
The guidance note talks about patents. As readers will know, much of the substantive UK patent law comes from international conventions. Consequently, patents are largely outside the remit of the EU and there are less Brexit related issues to consider. However, with the unified patent court as the mystery wild card in the patent mix, arguably patents raise more complex Brexit questions. The full guidance note is available here . As for trade marks & designs and exhaustion of rights, the key bits are below together with a bit of commentary. SPCs, biotech, compulsory licences and clinical trials The plan is for the EU Withdrawal Act 2018 to save the day and ensure that relevant EU legislation is retained in UK law. Consequently, "the existing systems will... remain in place, operating independently from the EU regime, with all the current conditions and requirements." This means that EU law on SPCs will be kept in UK law and "this law, along with the existing supporti...