Brexit was arguably the biggest factor of change in respect of intellectual property in the UK and EU in recent times.
It therefore isn’t surprising that such a change would have an impact on trade mark data. However, it is a bit of a surprise that following Brexit the number of UK trade mark disputes have more than doubled.
The number of trade mark oppositions in 2020 was 3,584, whereas in 2021 this rose to 8,026.
Trade mark oppositions are filed against ongoing trade mark applications by third parties. These normally relate to earlier mark owners filing a claim that the ongoing application is too similar to their mark and therefore they want to block it.
Brexit sparked a surge in applications in the UK as the UK was no longer part of the EU trade mark and therefore new applications needed to be filed. This in turn has then led to more oppositions.
If you would like to discuss trade mark applications further, please get in touch with the team today.
