The Minister for Trade and Export Growth, David Parker, has announced that the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (CPTPP) will come into force on 30 December 2018.

This means that a number of amendments to the Copyright Act 1994, Patents Act 2013 and Trade Marks Act 2002 consistent with the Intellectual Property (IP) Chapters of the CPTPP will enter into force on the same day.

The amendments include:

• Updated guidelines on the ability of Customs New Zealand to detain suspected pirated copies or infringing goods that are being imported or exported.
• A detailed outline of performers’ moral rights, with some consideration to performances and sound recordings.
• The adoption of a 12-month grace period during which the disclosure of an invention can be disregarded from the meaning of prior art base.