If you plan to expand your business overseas, you need to search and register your trade marks in each potential market.

This article discusses domain names: what they are, why they are important, and how rights in them are obtained.

IP protects the competitive advantage of the company and managing it appropriately ensures long term sustainability.

Updated guidelines on how software patent applications will be examined have been published.

Top level domain names and the cost vs benefit to your business.

Regardless of the method of contracting, the same legal requirements for forming a binding contract apply.

Some NZ domain name complaints were dismissed because of the failure to prove rights in an identical or similar name.

Hyperlinking to a website containing copyrighted material is not an infringement of copyright, according to an ECJ case.

This article is aimed at online news aggregators, but is likely to have a much wider reach.

What is crowd funding and peer-to-peer lending?

Late last year, the Privacy Commissioner, clipped Google for breaching the Privacy Act 1993 (the Act) through its "Street View" filming in New Zealand. Google acknowledged early on that it had made mistakes and has given a number of undertakings to improve its Privacy Act compliance processes.

Or, more accurately, if you build part of it they will come to Oamaru. That is how the government hopes the private sector and local authorities will respond to its draft broadband investment initiative released last week for comment.

NZ's DRSP is a very effective dispute resolution mechanism for complaints in respect of .nz domain name registrations.

Have you ever applied for credit, whether that credit is in the form of a loan, a credit card or even a hire purchase agreement? Or are you in the business of providing credit? If so, the new Credit Reporting Privacy Code will affect you.

The Government has tied itself in knots trying to ban computer programs from the patent regime. It has now sought help from the Intellectual Property Office – but they are struggling to untangle the mess. We think it is time to cut the line and start again. This Brief Counsel explains how the problem arose and reviews the remedial efforts to date. We propose our own solution.

Beyond source and object code, it will be difficult to rely on copyright law to prevent unlicensed copying of software.

The HCA ruled - Google is not liable for misleading advertisements or manipulated links; the originator of the link is.

Online transactions are booming in New Zealand. VISA recently reported earlier this year that New Zealanders spent NZ$56.51 million in ecommerce sales using Visa cards in March 2005, up from NZ$31.51 million in March 2004. Research also shows that there are more than 1.4 million New Zealanders registered to bank online (this represents 35% of New Zealand's total population). So, why do we have the confidence to send credit card and other personal information over an open network like the

This Bulletin details the coming into force of the provisions of the Copyright (New Technologies) Amendment Act 2008 and a new Bill to remove commissioning of copyright.

Trade mark owners and website operators should consider how the new TLDs may affect their businesses and their rights.