Below is a list of archived practice guidelines published by IPONZ under the 1953 Patents Act. These guidelines provide detailed information for patent practices including filing requirements and our examination and processing activities.

The Patents Act 2013 commenced fully on 13 September 2014.

The Patents Act 2013 and the Patents Regulations 2014 apply to:

• all applications with a filing date later than 12 September 2014
• all patents in force after this date.

Read the Regulatory Impact Statement from the Cabinet Paper for the Patent Regulations 2014 [PDF, 239 KB].

The Patents Act 1953 and Patents Regulations 1954 continue to apply to applications with a filing date of before 13 September 2014.

If you filed your application after 12 September 2014 please refer to the Patent Examination Manual for current patents information.