New Zealand acceded to the Budapest Treaty on the International Recognition of the Deposit of Microorganisms for the Purposes of Patent Procedure 1977 on 17 December 2018. Accession was a

Earlier this year, the Intellectual Property Office of New Zealand (IPONZ) carried out a review of its fees, with a view to providing consistency and transparency across the services it provides.

The America Invents Act (formerly The Patent Reform Bill) was passed by the United States Senate on 8 March 2011. Although similar patent reforms have previously failed to gain the full backing of Congress, many commentators are predicting that this incarnation will be passed into law in the near future.

Intellectual property (IP) can help support a competitive advantage in the market and provide a valuable asset that can help grow your business.

n November last year, the European Patent Office (EPO) released guidelines relating to the examination of patent applications for artificial intelligence (AI) ...

While neither decision is directly relevant, it will likely inform a developing jurisprudence in both NZ and Australia.

Crowdfunding is on the rise. But so are the failures by entrepreneurs to take the right steps to protect their valuable innovations.

The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) has now been ratified, and a number of intellectual property legislation changes will come into force in New Zealand

The New Zealand Copyright Act 1994 (the Act) is now under review. The review has got underway in earnest with the November release of a 126-page Issues Paper by the Ministry of Business, Innovation...

The Australian FCA recently heard two appeals on decisions not to grant patents for computer-implemented inventions.

You don't want others swiping your valuable ideas and running with them. But without the right confidentiality agreements in place, that's exactly what could happen.

The New Zealand Government is negotiating a free trade deal with the EU. As part of the agreement, New Zealand has been asked to recognise geographical indications protected in the EU.

Rokt appealed the decision, challenging the refusal of the application.

As Kermit said, it's not easy being green. But it easy to avoid 'green washing'.

What intellectual property (IP) related steps should a start-up take? Start-ups should take the same steps as a large multinational, but within their budget.

The Pfizer decision provides a strong reminder of the obligation to fully disclose an invention in the specification.

The current New Zealand PVR Act is over 30 years old, and is being reviewed with a view to bringing it more in line with the corresponding Acts of many of New Zealand's trading partners.

There are both legal and commercial justifications for including time limits in confidentiality agreements.

Creating a brand involves a lot of hard work - which pays off when you have people lining up to buy your business. Partner John Hackett explains how brand protection is vital when executing the perfect exit strategy.

The time taken to manage your trade mark portfolio is time well spent. This investment will ensure that your most valuable and strategically important brands are adequately protected. At the same time, it will highlight areas where ongoing trade mark spend is not justified.