The Regulatory Systems (Economic Development) Amendment Act 2019 came into force on 13 January 2020.

The Act provides amendments to existing intellectual property legislation, including the Trade Marks Act 2002, the Plant Variety Rights Act 1987, and the Geographical Indications (Wine and Spirits) Registration Act 2006.

Following the amendments, changes have been made to the Intellectual Property Office New Zealand online case management facility.

Trade Marks

Trade mark registrations that are not renewed by their renewal due date will now have their status changed to ‘Registered - past expiry date’. This will replace the old ‘Expired but restorable’ status.

Trade mark registrations with a ‘Registered - past expiry date’ status may be restored by paying their renewal fee within 6 months of the original renewal due date. If the renewal fee is not paid for a ‘Registered - past expiry date’ trade mark case by the end of this 6-month period, that trade mark will become expired.

‘Registered – past expiry date’ trade marks will:

• Allow the trade mark owner to perform actions to maintain the trade mark (e.g. assignment or cancellation).
• Allow a third party to take action against the trade mark (e.g. revocation for non-use).

Any trade mark registrations that moved into ‘Expired but restorable’ status before 13 January 2020 will remain at this status, and the old 12-month “grace period” for restoration will still apply to these cases.

Plant Variety Rights

Applicants of Plant Variety Rights may now provide an address for service in either New Zealand or Australia.

Please note that if an address for service in Australia is used, a New Zealand-based contact may be requested for the organisation of growing trials and related variety testing matters. More information on this may be found on our Variety Testing in New Zealand page.