CMS has moved its London-based EU trademarks and design practice to Warsaw, Poland in anticipation of Brexit, the firm has announced.

According to the firm, the move will ensure it can continue to represent its clients before the European Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) following Brexit.

As part of the move, a number of the firm's London partners are now registered as Polish lawyers and split their time between London and Warsaw. They will join the existing Polish IP practice led by partner Tomasz Koryzma.

The team is based permanently in Warsaw and manages the EU trademarks and design practice, which has been operating since March 2019.

In addition, CMS has recruited a specialist team of four, led by senior associate Alicja Zalewska who joins from Baker McKenzie, with the others joining from local Polish firms FKA Furtek Komosa Aleksandrowicz and JWP.

In a statement, Sarah Wright, CMS's IP head in the U.K., commented: "CMS is one of the largest users of the EU trademark system, and European trademark work is at the heart of our IP practice.

"We decided to use Brexit to seize the opportunity to set up a specialist team in Warsaw who can help us continue to represent our clients before the EUIPO, following the U.K.'s departure from the EU."

CMS is not the first firm to have set up a European IP base in preparation for Brexit. Earlier this month, Legal Week revealed that Mishcon De Reya had established a Dutch office to allow the firm to continue applying for trademarks and designs within the EU in the event of a no-deal.

In a similar move, earlier this year partners in Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan's Brussels office said they were in the process of taking up Belgian citizenship, again to safeguard against possible Brexit fallout.