We’ve made a number of improvements to our website and online case management facility as of 10 October 2019.
Display of full chain of divisional applications
If an intellectual property case is part of a chain of divisional applications, the bibliographical data for that case will now contain a summary of those related applications.
Search of Patent Cases by Act
Following a review of user feedback and suggestions, the Search Patent Register screen now allows Patent cases to be searched by the Act (Patents Act 1953 or Patents Act 2013) under which they were examined.
Partial Renewal of Trade Marks
If you are the owner or agent of a registered trade mark, you now have the option to renew it for only some of its goods and services classes. This can be done by logging into the IPONZ website and ticking those classes in your renewal request.
For example, the trade mark below is currently in Classes 9, 42 and 45 – but is being renewed in Classes 9 and 42 only.
If a trade mark has been renewed for only some of its goods and services classes, it may be renewed for some or all of the other classes at a later date, as long as this is done within the one year before the renewal due date.
If the remaining classes are not renewed on or before the renewal due date, any classes that have not been renewed will be removed from the trade mark registration.
For more information on partial renewals, please visit our Renew a Trade Mark page.
Renewal fee reminders will now include the renewal due date
IPONZ email notifications that are reminders of upcoming renewals will now include the renewal due date in the subject line and body of the email.
Declaration for patent specification amendments after grant
Requests to amend a complete specification after the grant of a patent will now include a declaration as part of the request form. This declaration will indicate that there is no lawful ground of objection to the grant of a patent based on the updated specification.
This declaration replaces a previous requirement to submit a formal letter containing a similar declaration as part of the amendment request.