The UK government has decided to maintain its current intellectual property rights exhaustion regime, known as ‘UK+’, which governs the extent to which brand owners can control the distribution of products.

The decision, which follows extensive consultation, means that the UK can can keep buying genuine goods from across the European Economic Area (EEA) and resell them in the UK without any extra permissions.

Dan Guthrie, director general of the Alliance for Intellectual Property, said the move would be “welcomed by creators, designers and businesses in every region of the UK”.

“The decision provides the stability needed to ensure IP-rich businesses can continue to invest, grow their exports, provide the public with the products and content they love and contribute to UK economic growth,” he added.

The UK+ regime came into force in January 2021 after the UK’s exit from the EU meant it no longer had to follow the bloc’s exhaustion laws. IP rights cannot continue to control the distribution of a good after it has been lawfully placed on the market – the UK+ regime ensures that relevant IP rights in goods are exhausted in the UK when a good is placed on the market in either the UK or the EEA.

The government highlighted that the regime governs the UK’s laws for parallel importation, which occurs across vital areas of growth for the UK economy such as medicines, automotive parts and fast-moving consumer goods. Parallel importation laws regulate the importing of genuine goods that are lawfully sold in other countries before coming into the UK for resale.

Minister for AI and digital government, Feryal Clark, said: “Many businesses have been watching this matter closely, and the government understood the need for a decision on the UK’s future parallel importation laws. But we have acted with the care required for such an important, long-term decision on this complex issue. And we have now reached a decision to provide clarity on this matter.”

The government’s response to the consultation details different options that were considered, including a move to a national exhaustion regime. Such a regime would have ensured that relevant IP rights in goods were exhausted in the UK only when they are put on the domestic market, though it was found that in practice this would have prevented the parallel importation of many goods into the UK.

A move to an international exhaustion regime was also considered. In general terms, this regime would have ensured that relevant IP rights in goods were exhausted in the UK when a good was placed on the market in any country, though it was found this would have allowed parallel importation of goods from anywhere in the world without permission from the IP rightsholder.

The response noted that a majority of consultation respondents reported the regime was working well. It added that the consultation did not “elicit robust quantitative evidence” to support a change to any of the alternative options.

The decision to maintain the current UK+ regime is effective immediately. It confirms the current law, and no further legislation is needed for it to come into force.