What is the Deemed Date of Registration for International Registrations Designating New Zealand?
In this article I argue that priority is irrelevant to the deemed date of registration for international registrations under the Madrid Protocol that designate New Zealand. The Intellectual Property Office of New Zealand (IPONZ) disagrees, taking the view that international registrations that designate New Zealand and which have a right to a priority date will have that priority date as the deemed date of registration.
In Milk New Zealand Dairy Limited v The a2 Milk Company Limited 2023 NZIPOTM 27 the Assistant Commissioner rejected the opposition by the a2 Milk Company (a2MC) against an accepted application by Milk New Zealand Dairy Limited (Milk NZ) that contains ‘A2’ as part of a device mark in relation to various milk and related dairy products in classes 5 and 29.
Assistant Commissioner Allows Patent Applicant to Keep on Trucking
In Mechanical System Dynamics Pty Ltd 2023 NZIPOPAT 10 the Assistant Commissioner withdrew the examiner’s obviousness objections after finding that the alleged invention is not obvious in relation to the cited prior art and that the examiner had provided no basis for arriving at the invention by mosaicking the prior art.
EPC National Validation Translation Requirements and the London Agreement – Rewards and Risks
The London Agreement, which initially took effect in May 2008, has reduced some of the translation burden for patentees who use the EPC system, but in some instances it can also create an ‘out of sight out of mind’ risk.
(Ambiguous) Late Fee Change of Practice by IPONZ as PCT Receiving Office
On the 18th May 2023 IPONZ advised that with effect from 15th May 2023 it no longer charges a late fee when the required collective Transmittal, International Filing and International Search fees for PCT International applications have not been paid or have inadequately been paid.
