Pipers Bulletins

Pipers regularly issues bulletins providing a summary of recent developments in intellectual property law and practice in Australasia and other key countries and regions such as USA, UK, Europe and Asia.  Below are links to articles in the latest bulletin. Previous issues can be accessed via the left pane navigation.

Contents Summary of Latest Bulletin

Patent and Design Marking in New Zealand
Patent and design marking are practical tools used by rights holders to notify the public that a product is protected by patent or design rights and to signal legal protection against copying.

It’s just a jump to the left, and a step to the right – divisional time warp pending
As previously noted, in March 2025 the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) proposed to amend the transitional provisions of the Patents Act 2013 which concern currently pending divisional applications that qualify as being filed under the Patents Act 1953.

Betting on Allowability of Late Patent Claim Amendments Proves Too Risky
In Angel Playing Cards Co Ltd [2025] NZIPOPAT 6 the Assistant Commissioner (AC) refused claim amendments that were only made after the section 71 deadline had passed.

Supreme Court Upholds Copyright in Artworks Qualifying as Relationship Property
The Supreme Court has confirmed both that copyright in artworks fall within the Property (Relationships) Act 1976 (PRA) definition of ‘property’ and that those copyrights should be classified as relationship property if that property was ‘acquired’ during the relationship.