The UK has voted to leave the European Union, but how does this affect patents? Patents can be obtained in the UK via two separate means, either directly from the UK intellectual Office (UKIPO) which is governed by the UK Patents Act, or from the European Patent Office. Both organisations are unaffected by the UK leaving the EU. The European Patent Office is not an EU organisation, and already has members who are not member states of the EU such as Turkey, Norway and Switzerland.