Exhaustion of IP rights regime: "UK+" is here to stay

In brief, it has been decided to maintain the current “UK+ regime”, which is described as "a bespoke regional exhaustion regime, which has been in place since January 2021. In general terms, this regime ensures that relevant IP rights in goods are exhausted in the UK when a good is placed on the market in either the UK or the European Economic Area."

This maintains the asymmetrical regime in place since Brexit:  in the UK, rights are exhausted in goods put on the market with consent in the UK or EEA (so they do not infringe in the UK - helpful for imports), but the reverse is not true, so rights in goods first put on the market with consent in the UK can be stopped from being parallel imported into the EEA.

The consultation was launched in June 2021 and received 150 responses (which may, of course, have been affected by the global disruption from the Covid-19 pandemic and its immediate aftermath).  Initially the government decided that there was not enough evidence to justify moving away from the UK+ regime adopted to provide some business continuity after Brexit.  The government has now reconsidered the issue and decided that "the UK+ regime was the option that could best provide an effective balance to the different interests of the marketplace". 

See our February 2022 blog for more detail on the initial response:  No change (for now!) to UK post-Brexit exhaustion regime | Fieldfisher

There is helpful government guidance, including a link to a YouTube video giving practical examples relating to importing and exporting goods, here:  Certainty for businesses and choice for consumers as UK maintains IP rights regime - GOV.UK.  The full consultation response can be found here:  Government response to the consultation on the UK’s future exhaustion of intellectual property rights regime - GOV.UK.

For help on how this may impact your business, please contact your usual Fieldfisher adviser or email us on IP@fieldfisher.com.