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At-a-glance: IPONZ 205 Victoria Street, PO Box 9241, Marion Square, Wellington 6141, New Zealand Tel: +64 3 962 2607 Email: info@iponz.govt.nz Website: www.iponz.govt.nz New Zealand is set to amend the Patents Act 1953 with the new Patent Bill... [more]

New Zealand is set to amend the Patents Act 1953 with the new Patent Bill following increased frustration from the country's IP practitioners, who say the current act lags behind many trading partners. One lawyer says "we have been waiting several years for changes to the Patent Act".

The new Patent Bill is a hybrid of the Australian and UK patent acts and is designed to bring New Zealand more in line with the laws of other jurisdictions. One of the most significant changes is the exclusion of the patentability of software where allowing a patent would be detrimental to open source software development. The Bill is due to be addressed in Parliament following a short recess.

On December 10 2012, New Zealand implemented the long-awaited Madrid Protocol, heralding the most significant development in trade marks for some time. New Zealand now joins 86 other member countries in the Madrid Protocol making foreign filings easier and cost efficient. The only drawback is less filings done by domestic firms, which will undoubtedly affect those that mostly rely on filing. One lawyer says "foreigners can now file overseas which will mean less domestic filings here, but we will continue with other aspects like objections, so maybe we will not be affected that much". Another lawyer says: "This is good for export businesses, but at the same time New Zealand will need to be vigilant about foreign brands here."

Practitioners have reported an increase in litigation cases. Besides filing and registration, there has also been an increase in IP advisory work. One practitioner explains: "Companies are continuing to focus on their IP assets and we expect more work in this area."

Although the majority of IP work in New Zealand is from domestic companies, practitioners expect a lot of referral work from the northern hemisphere in the coming year. This is particularly welcome since the New Zealand economy is not booming and remains relatively isolated from the rest of the developed nations.