New Patent and Trade Mark Attorneys Code of Conduct Introduced

The Australian Professional Standards Board for Patent and Trade Marks Attorneys has now issued the Code of Conduct for Patent and Trade Marks Attorneys 2013. The Code replaced the previous code of conduct on the 23rd November 2013. Under the Trans-Tasman Patent Attorney Bilateral Arrangement the current code of conduct applies to New Zealand Patent Attorneys until the Trans-Tasman code of conduct is developed and approved. The newly issued Code does not refer to itself as a Trans-Tasman code, however it does recognize IPONZ as a regulatory authority that registered attorneys would deal with.
The Code of Conduct:

• explains to registered attorneys the standards of professional conduct that they are expected to meet in their practice as registered attorneys
• aligns those standards with the behaviours expected of other comparable professionals
• makes it clear to users of the services of registered attorneys what they should expect
• provides a framework for the Board to readily determine whether the conduct of an attorney should be the subject of disciplinary proceedings before the Patent and Trade Marks Attorneys Disciplinary Tribunal.