UK Registrants Must Have Updated Registration Data By 30 June

As businesses continue to digest the Brexit Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA), lawyers at Irwin Mitchell are reminding those in the UK with suspended .eu domain names that they can be re-instated, if the eligibility criteria can be met by the extended 30 June 2021 deadline.

Despite EURid notifying all the estimated 340,000 UK registrants of the requirements by email prior to the Brexit deal being struck last year, some have still fallen foul of the new arrangements.

This included leave.eu, who have re-registered the domain in Northern Ireland, as .eu domain names can now only be held by businesses or individuals in the EU or wider EEA.

On 1 January 2021, EURid notified a further 81,000 domain name holders that their domain name is no longer compliant with the .eu eligibility criteria. Registrars will be able to update registration data, transfer, or delete the domain name.

Lawyers at Irwin Mitchell have hosted dedicated webinars this year to cover this and other IP related concerns, as businesses continue to get to grips with both trade mark and domain name issues, despite the contents of the TAC with the EU.

To continue with the .eu domain name, registrants will need to either:

• Show a legally established entity in an eligible Union Member State
• Update their residence to a Union Member State
• Or prove citizenship of a Member State, (irrespective of their residence)

Registration data will need to be updated accordingly before 30 June 2021 or UK organisations or residents will no longer be able to hold a .eu domain.

From this time, any domain names not reinstated will be withdrawn from 1 July 2021 and on 1 January 2022, all withdrawn domain names will be revoked – and available for registration by others.

The advice follows reports of some UK organisations who export to the EU being advised to set up subsidiaries in Europe to avoid some of the current trade disruption.

The advice is not government policy and while affecting UK businesses at the moment, some of the same issues are likely to be encountered by EU exporters in the months ahead. The disruption is already having an impact on websites used to buy and sell across borders.

Expert Opinion

“It’s important UK organisations who have their domain names managed for them are aware of the situation.

“With time running out, every UK registrant who wishes to retain their .eu domain must be on top of this process. The case of leave.eu shows that updating domain name registration is a step that can easily be missed by anyone, so it is well worth checking this is all in hand.”

“Most businesses who rely on their .eu sites will be fully aware of this and other compliance issues, but the clock is ticking. While some other IP related issues have a nine month window to resolve, our advice would be to tackle the key issues today.” Georgie Collins - Partner

For further information and a clear guide on the areas that you should be focussing on in relation to Brexit, visit our hub here. https://www.irwinmitchell.com/news-and-insights/in-focus/brexit