New Zealand Law Society - IPONZ updates hearing and evidence guidelines for trade marks

IPONZ updates hearing and evidence guidelines for trade marks

This article is over 3 years old. More recent information on this subject may exist.

The Intellectual Property Office has updated guidelines on proceedings under the Trade Marks Act 2002.

This includes the “Pre-Hearing Directions” to provide clarity around the applicable deadlines and filing requirements that parties must adhere to when filing their written submissions, common bundle of documents, and bundle of authorities in advance of a hearing.

It says parties to proceedings will now be required to provide the Office with a hard copy of their hearing documents in advance of the hearing date. The updates also provide guidance on the maximum length of written submissions for hearings, and the general form that documents need to be in.

The updated 'Pre-Hearing Directions for Trade Marks' can be viewed here.

IPONZ has also updated it's 'Evidence Guidelines'.

It says some parties to proceedings file large volumes of irrelevant or unnecessary evidence. This adds unnecessary costs to proceedings for the parties, and takes up a disproportionate share of the Hearings Office’s resources.

The Hearings Office has therefore updated its Trade Marks “Evidence Guidelines” to include guidance on the maximum amount of evidence that should be filed by parties in Trade Marks proceedings.

The updated 'Evidence Guidelines for Trade Marks' can be viewed here.

Lawyer Listing for Bots