New Zealand: Revised IP fees and accession to TMView
Last year’s revision of the official patent, trademark and design fees in New Zealand resulted in several changes in the patent and trademark fee schedules, whilst design fees remain unaltered. The amendments entered into effect as of February 13, 2020, with the implementation of the Patents Amendment Regulations 2019 and Trade Marks Amendment Regulations 2019.
The fee adjustments have been implemented with the view of aligning IP fee revenue with the service costs for intellectual property protection in New Zealand. Consideration was taken to ensure a fit for purpose review of these fees, and it is hoped that the alignment of costs in the revised fee structure will contribute to a more effective and efficient service.
While patent fees have experienced a significant increase, amendments introduced to the trademark fee schedule have been made in the form of reductions.
New Zealand also joined TMView as of February 17, 2020. Containing data for over 70 participating IP offices, TMView allows users to access the information of over 57 million trademarks. The move has strengthened international cooperation between New Zealand and global IP offices.
The amendments are detailed in the table below:
|
Patents |
Previous Fee (NZD) |
Updated Fee (NZD) |
|
Examination fee |
500 |
750 |
|
Additional claims for examination if over 25 (in sets of 5) |
100 |
200 |
|
Application maintenance fee due on the 4th and each subsequent year from the filing date (if paid within 3 months prior to the anniversary) |
100 |
200 |
|
Late payment of the maintenance fee due on the 4th and each subsequent year from the filing date (if paid in the 6 months following the anniversary) |
150 |
300 |
|
Patent renewal fee for years 4-9 |
100 |
200 |
|
Patent renewal fee for year 10-14 |
200 |
450 |
|
Patent renewal fee for years 15-19 |
350 |
1000 |
|
Surcharge for the late payment of renewal fee (up to 6 months after due date) |
50 |
100 |
|
Restoration fee for an application or a patent |
100 |
600 |
|
Trademarks |
Previous Fee (NZD) |
Updated Fee (NZD) |
|
Filing fee (in one class) |
150 |
100 |
|
Additional class fee (per each class) |
150 |
100 |
|
Filing fee (if search and preliminary advice were obtained within 3 months prior to the application) |
N/A |
50 |
|
Filing fee (if the specification of goods or services exclusively consists of pre-approved descriptions) |
N/A |
70 |
|
Combined search and preliminary advice fee |
80 |
50 |
|
Trademark renewal fee |
350 |
200 |
|
Search fee |
40 |
50 |