Improvements to the IPONZ case management facility

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Intellectual Property Office of New Zealand

Improvements to the IPONZ case management facility

We’ve made a number of improvements to our case management facility as of 13 April 2023.

Plant Variety Rights (PVR) changes

We have implemented a number of new features for applications under the Plant Variety Rights Act 2022 (“the 2022 Act”). These include the following:

  • The 2022 Act renewal schedule and fees have been integrated into the IPONZ case management facility.
  • Case contacts for applications under the 2022 Act can now receive reminders to pay examination and trial fees.
  • Case contacts can now enter requests to restore any of the following:
    • A PVR application under the 2022 Act that has lapsed due to the lack of response to an examiner’s report or request, or the non-payment of an examination or trial fee.
    • A PVR granted under the 2022 Act that has been cancelled due to the non-payment of renewal fees.
  • Users can now request hearings in relation to PVR cases under the 2022 Act.

We expect to add further guidance and details on these to the IPONZ website as soon as possible.

Ability to upload representations in response to some Design objections

Case contacts can now upload new representations as part of a response to the following objections to a Design application:

  • The statement of novelty is not consistent with the representations (Regulation 23(2) of the Designs Regulations 1954);
  • The statement of novelty includes extraneous matter (Regulation 23(2) of the Designs Regulations 1954);
  • The application involves multiple articles (Regulation 22 of the Designs Regulations 1954);
  • The application involves multiple designs (Section 7 of the Designs Regulations 1954).

New Patent search options

Our Patent Case Search now allows you to search for patent cases that involve Māori traditional knowledge or New Zealand indigenous species, or which have been referred to the Māori Patents Advisory Committee. These options can be selected by ticking the corresponding box in your search filters.

Screen shot showing the new Status Search page

We have also clarified the description for Māori traditional knowledge or New Zealand indigenous species on our Patent application form.

Screen shot showing the new description for Māori traditional knowledge or New Zealand indigenous species

Formal notification for Trade Mark applications forwarded to the Māori Advisory Committee

Whenever a Trade Mark application is forwarded to the Māori Trade Marks Advisory Committee for their advice, we will now issue a formal letter to advise of this development. This letter can be accessed via the link in our email notification, and will provide details on the process and timeframes expected with this review.

Published on April 13, 2023
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