Newsletter - December 2020

 

 

Zone’s Christmas Party

Zone enjoyed hosting its Wellington based clients to celebrate the festive season with wine and canapes at the Wellington Club. We thank you for coming along and hope you enjoyed the evening with us.

 

 

NZ Law Awards

 

Zone were proud to be one of the finalists once again for NZ IP Specialist Firm of the Year at the 2020 NZ Law Awards. 

We would like to take this opportunity to thank our clients for all your support over the year, and we look forward to continuing to work with you and your growing businesses in the new year. 

 

 

IP Amendments

In June, Cabinet agreed to various proposed amendments to New Zealand intellectual property legislation. The proposed Intellectual Property Laws Amendment Bill will amend the Trade Marks Act 2002, the Designs Act 1953 and the Patents Act 2013.

The amendments to the Trade Marks Act will:

·  Limit the number of marks allowed in a series application

·  Tighten the criteria for series applications by removing the reference to “other matters of a non-distinctive character that do not substantially affect the identity of the trade marks”

·  Allow applicants to file evidence demonstrating prior continuous use of a trade mark as a means of overcoming a citation, as is already the case in Australia

·  Require Search and Preliminary Advice applicants to use the New Zealand Intellectual Property Office’s pre-approved list of goods and services

·  Remove the requirement that only an aggrieved person can apply to revoke or invalidate a trade mark registration

·  Limit the subject matter of memorandums that may be entered on the Register of Trade Marks to only those that affect the nature and scope of the rights given by a trade mark        registration

·  Amend section 17 of the Trade Marks Act to clarify that the absolute ground for refusing to register a trade mark that use of the mark would be “contrary to New Zealand law”, does not include use that would be contrary to the Trade Marks Act itself

·  Provide for the partial refusal of national applications as well as international registrations designating New Zealand, where the applicant does not respond to a compliance report within the time specified by the Commissioner of Trade Marks.

 

The bill is in the process of being drafted and we expect an exposure draft to be available in the first quarter of 2021.

 

Holiday Closure

Our offices will close on Wednesday 23 December 2020 at 5pm and reopen on Monday 11 January 2021 8:30am.

We will have skeleton staff available during the closure period.

The Intellectual Property Office of New Zealand will close on Thursday 24 December 2020 and will reopen on Tuesday 5th January 2021. Please remember that if you submit an application during this time, the filing date will be Tuesday 5th January 2021.

IP Australia will also close on Thursday 24 December 2020 and will reopen on Monday 4 January 2021.