IPONZ has announced some applicant friendly changes to its practice in respect of Global Patent Prosecution Highway (GPPH) program, which allows accelerated examination of qualifying applications that have already had at least one claim found to be allowable by an IPO of a GPPH member...
Shape Mark Held to Lack Distinctiveness Despite Long Use
In 2019 NZIPOTM 17 Kellogg Company v Société des Produits Nestlé SA the Assistant Commissioner held that Kellog’s application for the shape of a whole piece of its NUTRI-GRAIN cereal shown from various perspectives must not be registered as it lacks distinctiveness...
Options Paper Released for Plant Variety Rights Legislation
Following on from last year’s Plant Variety Rights Issues Paper the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) has now released an Options Paper, for which submissions will close on Monday, 9 September 2019...