New Zealand Updates Draft Patent Legislation to Exclude Software "as such"

Following several years of uncertainty over the form and function of New Zealand patent law's "software exclusion", the Government has now adopted the "as such" wording of EPC Article 52(3). Although the legislation is still "fluid" insofar as it has yet to be passed by Parliament, recent events lead us to believe that "as such" will indeed become the final form of the exclusion.

New Zealand patent law is in the throes of reform. In our previous article ( http://www.shelstonip.com/news_story.asp?m=8&y=2012&nsid=236), we mentioned that the Patents Bill 2008 was now being prioritised by the Government, seemingly as the result of an "innovation drive". We noted that in the past week, it had advanced from #50 to #7 on the Parliamentary Agenda – and that it was expected to be passed before the year's end.