Brexit-cloned UK Trade Marks: Preparing for the 31 December Deadline

As we approach 31 December 2025 – five years since the UK formally exited the EU – a critical milestone for trade mark owners is fast approaching.

Background

Brand owners will recall that when the UK formally left the EU on 1 January 2021, all registered EUTMs were automatically “cloned” into equivalent UK registrations to preserve protection within the UK and support a smooth Brexit transition. These UK clones enjoy the same protection in the UK post-Brexit as their original EUTMs, including identical filing dates, priority claims and specifications.

This resulted in approximately 2 million EU trade marks being entered on to the UKIPO Register as comparable UK trade marks. These marks are easily identified as they begin with UK09 (for marks cloned from EUTMs) or UK08 (for marks cloned from EU designations of International Registrations).

A transitional period of 5 years was created, which allowed owners of cloned UK marks to rely upon use in the European Union to demonstrate genuine use of their cloned UK mark - for example, when responding to proof of use requests in oppositions or defending non-use cancellation actions.

The turn of the year marks the end of that transition period, and from 1 January 2026 only genuine use in the UK will be sufficient as use evidence to support UK cloned registrations.

Key Dates For Brand Owners

•  1 January 2021: UK clone registrations created
•  31 December 2025: End of transition period
•  1 January 2026: UK-only use required to support UK registrations

Why This Matters

Pre-Brexit, brand owners could secure protection across all 28 EU Member States, including the UK, through a single EU trade mark registration. As a result, many businesses have continued to rely on those EU filings - and their cloned UK equivalents - as the cornerstone of their trade mark protection in both regions.

The upcoming deadline is significant because it alters how “genuine use” is assessed in the UK. From 1 January 2026, only use within the UK will count towards maintaining the validity of cloned registrations. Marks that have been used solely within the EU (outside the UK) will therefore become open to non-use cancellation.

What Steps You Should Take

We strongly recommend taking proactive steps to ensure your rights are not vulnerable come the new year. We anticipate an increase in non-use cancellation filings, particularly from opportunistic parties seeking to exploit potentially vulnerable marks and extract compensation in exchange for withdrawing their actions.

In regard to what proactive steps you can take, we suggest considering the following:

•  Review your portfolio of UK cloned registrations to determine whether genuine use in the UK can be evidenced in respect of the goods/services covered by each registration;
•  Collate and preserve documentation evidencing use in the UK, for example, invoices and sales data, advertising and marketing materials, references to .co.uk websites or prices shown in GBP (£), UK-specific product packaging, website traffic data and social media campaigns targeting UK consumers; and/or
•  In instances where marks have not yet been used but remain commercially important, consider commencing genuine use in the UK or filing new UK applications to preserve protection (whilst bearing in mind rules on ‘evergreening’).

How We Can Help

We are on hand to provide advice and further clarification on how this will affect you and your portfolio of marks.

Our team is already working with clients to conduct portfolio audits, review use evidence, devise strategies to preserve protection and ensure portfolios are future-proofed. If you’d like us to carry out an audit or provide advice, please get in touch.

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