UK gov: no plans to delay ‘disastrous’ EU law bill
Managing IP is part of the Delinian Group, Delinian Limited, 4 Bouverie Street, London, EC4Y 8AX, Registered in England & Wales, Company number 00954730
Copyright © Delinian Limited and its affiliated companies 2023

Accessibility | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Modern Slavery Statement

UK gov: no plans to delay ‘disastrous’ EU law bill

Westminster-comp.jpg

Government rejects speculation that the deadline for repealing EU law will be extended, but counsel say more time is crucial

The UK government said on Tuesday, January 3, that it is ploughing ahead with plans to repeal or reform any EU-era laws – including around sixty pieces of IP legislation – by the end of this year despite rumours of a deadline extension.

A spokesperson for the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, which is responsible for the bill, said: “The programme to review, revoke and reform retained EU law is underway and there are no plans to change the sunset deadline for any government departments.”

In the last week, reports in national newspapers suggested that some government ministers are sympathetic to a delay.

The bill is expected to reach the House of Lords, the upper chamber of the UK’s parliament, in February where it could face further opposition.

The draft Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill 2022 was published in September last year. It set out plans to repeal all retained EU law by December 31, 2023, unless directly converted into national law or tweaked.

According to the reports this week, some departments are keen for the deadline to be extended until 2026. There is already a provision in the bill allowing for an extended deadline of 2026, but the intention was for this to only apply to the most complex laws.

At the time that the bill was first published, practitioners said it could spell a recipe for disaster.

Of the thousands of laws implemented during the UK’s membership of the EU, at least sixty were related to IP. Vast swathes of the UK’s trademark, designs, and trade secrets regime originate from EU statutes.

Despite the government’s insistence that it will stick to this year’s deadline, IP practitioners believe more time is crucial.

Joel Smith, partner at Hogan Lovells in London, said the government will find it extremely challenging to make sound decisions about which laws should be removed without proper consultation of stakeholders.

Annsley Merelle Ward, partner at WilmerHale in London, said an extension seems inevitable.

She added that it is still not clear what is and is not caught by the bill, particularly in relation to the treatment of case law.

“Doing that in the original time frame does not seem practical or wise given the immediate impact on business. Similarly, whether there are opportunities to improve areas of IP protection, for example in respect of SPC protection, is something that also warrants review.”

But a rushed job is only a gift to litigators, not business, she added.

Ward said the tight deadline in the bill is politically motivated.

“Delivering a ‘we got Brexit done’ message to an increasingly agitated and economically pressured electorate and a revolving door of prime ministers may have informed the arbitrarily short deadline.”

She added that the deadline was never realistic given the amount of work and hours required to analyse whether legislation is EU-derived and caught by the bill.

Smith noted that there are some areas of IP where the government has previously indicated that it may want to diverge from the EU, such as the interplay between copyright and designs and liability of hosting providers.

“All of these areas would require careful scrutiny and engagement with IP professionals, business and others,” he added.

The bill is currently in the report stage and there will then be a third reading in the House of Commons.

more from across site and ros bottom lb

More from across our site

The Delhi High Court has expressed its willingness to set global licensing terms in the Nokia-Oppo dispute, but it must deal with longstanding problems first
Some patent counsel are still encountering errors even though the USPTO has fully transitioned to the new system
A senior USPTO attorney spoke at a Nokia-sponsored event on the EU’s proposed SEP Regulation today, November 29
IP counsel are ‘flooded’ with queries from clients worried about deepfakes, but the law has so far come up short
Each week Managing IP speaks to a different IP practitioner about their life and career
Mathys & Squire has filed a test case that the firm hopes will make UPC pleadings available by default
Multiple representatives and their teams can now work on cases using the online CMS, but not everyone can submit documents
James Lawrence, partner at Addisons, explains how he convinced the full Federal Court of Australia to back his client in a patent dispute concerning mining safety equipment
The deal will allow the companies to use each other’s patents covering 4G and 5G technologies, and other cellular SEPs
We provide a rundown of Managing IP’s news and analysis coverage from the week, and review what’s been happening elsewhere in IP