Further Progress Toward New Zealand's New Patent Act

This article reports continuing progress toward New Zealand's new Patents Act.

Following its introduction before the House of Representatives on 9 July 2008, the Patents Bill 2008 then survived a general election in November 2008, before having its first Parliamentary reading on 5 May 2009. The Bill was approved by a clear majority of the House – and then in line with New Zealand's legislative process, opened to public submissions before being passed to a Parliamentary Select Committee for further consideration.

The Select Committee has now reported back to Parliament – and has provided two "curveballs" with respect to the expected course of the new legislation. Firstly, in terms of excluded subject matter, the proposal to allow patents to computer software (subject to a "technical effect" criterion) has been reversed. It would appear as if public submissions on issues pertaining to open source and embedded software, in particular, have swayed the Select Committee