About IP
Trade marks
Practice guidelines
Absolute grounds - chemical names
Guidelines on section 21 of the Trade Marks Act 2002. These Guidelines do not constrain the judgement and discretion of the Commissioner of Trade Marks, and each application will be considered on its own merits.
About IP
Patents
Patents Act 1953
Withdrawing a patent application
Prior to grant an applicant may withdraw their application at any time using the online system. After grant a Patent must be surrendered – see Surrendering of Patents.
News and updates
ONECheck gets a makeover
Business.govt.nz has recently re-launched its ONECheck tool, which allows users to compare the availability of a business name among existing company names, domains and trade marks.
News and updates
Decisions of the Commissioner – December 2018
Decisions of the Commissioner issued in December are now available online.
News and updates
Decisions of the Commissioner – June 2020
Decisions of the Commissioner issued in June are now available online.
News and updates
The Plant Variety Rights Journal – April 2022
The latest quarterly edition of the Journal is now available. Choose from the links below to view the sections of the Journal: General information [PDF, 225 KB] Plant variety right applications and registrations
About IP
Designs
Practice guidelines
Our practices and procedures relating to aspects of the registration of designs, based on the 1953 Designs Act and 2010 Designs Amendment Act.
News and updates
Updates to hearings guidelines
IPONZ has recently updated a number of guidelines relating to trade mark and patent proceedings.
About IP
Patents
Patents Act 1953
Restoring a patent or patent application
Failure to pay a renewal fee within six months of the renewal date will cause a Patent to lapse. Failure to respond to an office deadline during the application process will result in the application going abandoned. Under certain conditions it is possible to restore…
News and updates
Update to Patent Attorney registration, renewal and examination processes
IPONZ’s guidelines and procedures for Patent Attorney registration are being updated in preparation for the Patents (Trans-Tasman Patent Attorneys and Other Matters) Amendment Bill.