We require that all intellectual property applications and responses to tasks are submitted using our online case management facility, unless otherwise advised by a service outage notification. We will release a service outage notification by either:

• Placing an alert banner on our website to advise visitors of the outage. This alert banner will be updated or removed as needed.
• Emailing our “Latest News” newsletter subscribers. For more information, please visit our Subscribe to Newsletter page.

Service outages and deadlines for existing applications

Note: These instructions only apply when we have an active service outage.

If a service outage is affecting your ability to meet a deadline for a task on an existing application, please contact us at mail@iponz.govt.nz within the same day with the following information:

• The application number of the patent, trade mark, design, plant variety right, or geographical indication concerned.
• Your response to the task.

We will assess each request on a case-by-case basis, and where appropriate, will provide a suitable extension of time.

Service outages and new applications

Note: These instructions only apply when we have an active service outage.

If a service outage is affecting your ability to file an application that must be filed on a certain date, please send the details of this application (and specification file, if applicable) to mail@iponz.govt.nz within the same day. This will indicate your intention to file and pay for the application.

Once the outage has been resolved you can submit the application via our online case management facility, then contact us to request for your filing date to be amended.

The details of your application must match those of your earlier email submission. If we have not received an advisory of intent to file and pay for an application, we may not have suitable justification to amend your application’s filing date.

Service outages and proceedings

Note: These instructions only apply when we have an active service outage.

If a service outage is affecting your ability to meet a deadline for an existing proceeding case, please contact us at mail@iponz.govt.nz  within the same day  with the following information:

• The case number of the proceeding.
• A summary of your response or submissions.

If a service outage is affecting your ability to request a proceeding that must be requested by a certain date, please send the details of this proceeding to mail@iponz.govt.nz within the same day. This will indicate your intention to request the proceeding and pay the corresponding fee.

Once the outage has been resolved, we will contact you regarding submitting your request via our online case management facility.

Service outages and refunds

In some cases, a service outage may result in duplicate payments being made in relation to an application. We monitor incidences of duplicate payments and will provide refunds as necessary. Refunds are expected to be processed within 5 to 10 working days from the original payment.

If a service outage has resulted in a duplicate payment for one of your transactions, and you have not received a refund, please contact us at mail@iponz.govt.nz with the following information:

• The relevant case number/s for your transaction.
• Evidence that clearly shows the duplicate payments, along with the dates of those payments. This may be in the form of an invoice, a bank statement, or a screenshot from an online banking account.

All other requests for refund will be considered in line with our Refund Policy.