英国脱欧在即，商标该怎么办？官方解答新鲜出炉！
阅读: 次 更新时间:2019-04-26
英国于2017年3月29日提交了关于其脱欧的通知。在过渡性协议中就包含很重要的一条：欧盟在商标和外观设计领域的规定自2019年3月30日0时起不再适用于英国。那么，随着英国脱欧在即，我们的商标该如何处理？
英国脱欧
Preparing for the withdrawal is not just a matter for EU and national authorities but also for private parties.In view of the considerable uncertainties, in particular concerning the content of a possible withdrawal agreement, all stakeholders concerned are reminded of legal repercussions, which need to be considered when the United Kingdom becomes a third country.
脱欧不仅仅是欧盟和英国的事情，它还关系到第三方。关于脱欧的协议内容有许多不确定性，现在所有的利益攸关方都在关注着英国脱欧后相关法律的变化。
The questions and answers reflect the current understanding of the EU Intellectual Property Office of the law in the event of the UK’s withdrawal. The answers are therefore given without prejudice to interpretation of the law.
这篇问答反映了欧盟知识产权局对英国脱欧引起的法律问题的理解。因此，在不影响法律解释的情况下，欧盟知识产权局给出了以下答案。
官方问答
Q 1：Are EU trade marks protected in the UK?
欧盟商标在英国会受保护吗？
A 1：EU trade marks are protected in the EU and not in third countries.
As from the withdrawal date, EU trade marks registered prior to that date will cease to be protected in the UK. Likewise, EU trade marks registered as of the withdrawal date, are not protected in the UK, irrespective of whether they were filed before or after that date.
欧盟商标只能在欧盟受到保护，在非欧盟成员国（包括英国）则不受保护。
以英国正式脱欧日期为准，此前注册的欧盟商标在英国将不再受保护；此后注册的欧盟商标在英国同样不再受保护。因此，无论是脱欧前还是脱欧后注册的欧盟商标，都不再受英国的保护。
Q 2：Can the (former) ‘UK part’ of an EU trade mark be transformed into a UK trade mark (application)?
英国脱欧之前申请的欧盟商标能否部分转为英国商标？
A 2：EU law does not offer any legal basis which would allow for a prospective (that is before the withdrawal date) ‘partial transformation’of an EU trade mark into a UK trade mark (application). Nor does it allow for such transformation to be made retroactively (that is as of the withdrawal date).
目前没有任何法律依据，允许欧盟商标部分转为英国商标。英国脱欧后，也不允许这样的转换。
Q 3：Are UK courts competent in EU trade mark matters as of the withdrawal date?
英国脱欧后，英国法院是否可以处理欧盟商标案件？
A 3： As from the withdrawal date, UK courts are not any longer competent for taking measures with effect in the EU or as regards the validity of EU trade marks.
Disputes on the infringement and the validity of EU trade marks involving EU trade mark owners established in the UK have to be settled by EU trade mark courts.
自英国脱欧日起，英国法院将无权处理欧盟商标案件。
在英国提出的欧盟商标侵权及有效性的争议等必须由欧盟商标法院处理。
Q 4：Can an EU trade mark application be converted into a UK trade mark application?
欧盟商标申请可以转换成英国商标申请吗？
A 4： An EU trade mark application can only be converted into a trade mark (application) of an EU Member State. In consequence, EU trade marks registered, and EU trade mark applications filed, either before, on or after the withdrawal date cannot be converted into UK trade mark applications, if the conversion request was made after that date.
欧盟商标申请只能转换为欧盟成员国国家的商标。也就是说，若在脱欧日后提交转换国家申请，那么无论是已注册商标或是申请中的商标均不能转换为英国商标申请；若在英国脱欧前提交，则可以转换为英国商标。
Q 5：Can use of the EU trade mark in the UK as of the withdrawal date maintain the rights conferred by the mark?
英国正式脱欧后，在英国使用的欧盟商标可以保留商标权利吗？
A 5：Use of the EU trade mark in the UK does - as from the withdrawal date – not qualify any more as use ‘in the EU’.
Use of the EU trade mark in the UK as of the withdrawal date does not count for the purpose of maintaining the rights conferred by the EU trade mark.
从英国正式脱欧日起，在英国使用欧盟商标不等同于在欧盟使用；在英国使用的欧盟商标将不保留其在欧盟的权利。
Q 6：Can use of the EU trade mark in the UK before the withdrawal date maintain the rights conferred by the trade mark?
英国正式脱欧前，在英国使用的欧盟商标可以保留商标权利吗？
A 6 ： Use of the EU trade mark in the UK before the withdrawal date constitutes, in principle, use “in the EU”.
Use of the EU trade mark in the UK before the withdrawal date counts for the purpose of maintaining the rights conferred by the mark.
英国正式脱欧前，在英国使用欧盟商标原则上可被视为在“欧盟使用”。英国脱欧前，在英国使用的欧盟商标可以保留其在欧盟的权利。
Q 7：Can the priority of a UK mark be claimed for an EU trade mark as of the withdrawal date?
英国正式脱欧后，欧盟商标能否要求英国的优先权？
A 7： The priority (six months from the filing date) of a trade mark duly filed in any state of the Paris Convention and the WTO Agreement can be claimed for EU trade mark applications. The priority of a UK mark can thus be claimed for an EU trade mark as of the withdrawal date.
欧盟商标可以要求《巴黎公约》和《WTO协定》内任意一个国家的优先权（前提：自申请日起6个月内）。因此，英国脱欧后，欧盟商标仍然可以要求在英国的优先权。
Q 8：Can EU trade mark (applications) filed as of the withdrawal date be rejected or invalidated on absolute grounds applying on account of their possible meanings in English?
自欧盟正式脱欧后，欧盟商标是否会因为英文含义而被驳回或无效？
A 8： English is the (second) official language of two EU Member States (Ireland and Malta). In addition, English terms will often be familiar to a significant part of the relevant public in other EU Member States due to their widespread use in trade and advertising.
An EU trade mark (application) filed as of the withdrawal date can be rejected or invalidated on absolute grounds of refusal applying on account of its meaning in English.
英语是两个欧盟成员国（爱尔兰和马耳他）的（第二）官方语言。 此外，由于其在贸易和广告中的广泛使用，其他欧盟成员国中相关公众也更熟悉英语。因此，自英国脱欧日起提交的欧盟商标（申请）还是可能因为英语含义作为绝对理由而被驳回或无效。
Q 9：Is an EU trade mark filed as of the withdrawal date rejected or invalidated where an absolute ground of refusal or invalidity only exists in the UK?
当英国脱欧后，如果欧盟商标仅在该国因为绝对理由被驳回或无效，该欧盟商标会被驳回或无效吗？
A 9： Absolute grounds of refusal and invalidity of an EU trade mark need to exist with regard to (part of) the EU - not with respect to third countries such as the UK as of the withdrawal date.
An EU trade mark filed as of the withdrawal date is thus neither rejected nor invalidated where an absolute ground of refusal only exists in the UK.
就欧盟（或者欧盟部分成员国）而言，驳回和无效的绝对理由有必要存在，这与第三方国家（比如脱欧后的英国）无关。因此，如果仅在英国存在驳回或无效的绝对理由，英国脱欧后申请的欧盟商标将不会因绝对理由被驳回或宣告无效。
Q 10：Is distinctiveness acquired through use in the UK relevant for the registration of a EU trade mark application or the invalidation of a registered EU trade mark?
在英国通过使用获得显著性的商标是否与欧盟商标注册或已注册欧盟商标无效相关？
A 10： Distinctiveness acquired through use in the UK is not relevant for EU trade mark (applications) filed as of the withdrawal date. Acquired distinctiveness of a mark needs to be shown in the part of the EU affected by the EU trade mark application’s lack of inherent distinctiveness.
自英国脱欧起，在英国通过使用获得显著性的商标与欧盟商标（或申请）无关。在受欧盟商标申请固有显著性缺乏影响的欧盟成员国内，需展示该商标获得的显著性。
Q 11：Can earlier rights protected in the UK (registered UK trade marks or unregistered rights such as passing off) be invoked in proceedings before the EUIPO against an EU trade mark?
在欧盟商标的诉讼中，是否可以援引英国原先已注册或未注册的商标？
A 11： Earlier rights have to be protected in the EU, either by EU law or by the law of an EU Member State. As from the withdrawal date, earlier rights protected in the UK can thus not be invoked in proceedings before the EUIPO against EU trade marks or EU trade mark applications filed before, on or after the withdrawal date.
欧盟法律或欧盟成员国的法律规定必须保护欧盟商标在先权利。从英国脱欧起，原先在英国受保护的在先权利将不可援引到欧盟的商标诉讼中。
Q 12：Can an EU trade mark application be rejected, or a registered EU trade mark be invalidated, on the basis of an earlier EU trade mark where the relative ground of refusal or invalidity only exists in the UK?
欧盟商标是否会被引用欧盟在先商标，根据英国的相对理由，来驳回或无效？
A 12： Relative grounds of refusal need to exist in the EU Trade Mark Regulation by analogy) at the date on which the EU Intellectual Property Office takes a decision on an opposition or an invalidity request based on relative grounds.
As from the withdrawal date, relative grounds of refusal existing only in the UK do not lead to a rejection of a EU Trade Mark application or an invalidation of a registered EU Trade Mark.
欧盟知识产权局基于相对理由对异议或无效请求作出决定，因此欧盟商标法规中需要存在相对理由。
自英国脱欧起，仅在英国存在的相对理由不会导致欧盟商标申请被驳回，或欧盟已注册商标被无效。
Q 13：Is use of the EU trade mark in the UK sufficient for being genuine use in the EU?
在英国使用欧盟商标是否足以等同于在欧盟真正使用？
A 13：The general principles established by the case-law apply,subject to the fact that use of the EU trade mark in the UK qualifies as use ‘in the EU’ only as far as it relates to the (relevant) period before the withdrawal date .
The significance of the use of an EU trade mark in the UK for the overall assessment of genuine use in the EU will progressively decrease - from potentially sufficient14 to entirely irrelevant - along the five years period following the withdrawal date.
案例法确立的一般原则适用，在英国脱欧前，可以等同。
在脱欧后的五年内，在英国使用欧盟商标对欧盟真正使用整体评估的重要性将逐步降低，从使用可以等同到完全不相关。
Q 14：Can a design disclosed in the UK be protected as an unregistered Community design?
在英国已经公开的专利，在欧盟能否作为未注册的专利受保护？
A 14：Yes, provided that the disclosure of the design in the UK occurred before the date of withdrawal. However, its territorial scope of protection ceases to extend to the UK as from the withdrawal date. A design disclosed in the UK as of the withdrawal date cannot any longer be protected as an unregistered Community design.
可以。前提是：在英国脱欧之前。英国脱欧后，在英国公开的专利，在欧盟将不受保护。
百利来温馨提醒
It is now only one month left before the Brexit. However, EU sources reveals that Brexit could be delayed until 2021 because the UK needs more time to deal with the various problems about the Brexit.
现在距离英国正式脱欧仅剩1个月的时间。然而，又有消息称：英国很可能会延迟脱欧时间至2021年，因为英国需要更多的时间来处理脱欧的各种问题。
Supposed that the extension of time to Brexit has been raised by the UK, then the uncertainties in IP will surely increase. What the final decision will be and what the pending decision will bring to us？All is unknown.
如果英国提出了延长脱欧的时间，那么知识产权方面的不确定性必然增加。最后是一个怎样的决定，这个决定会带给我们怎样的影响，仍然是一个未知数。
百利来提醒：企业做好战略布局，才能更好的应对英国脱欧的各种问题，需要了解可随时联系百利来，专业人员全方位为您解答！
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来源：IPRINTL、中华商标协会
