Technical Cooperation Activities under TRIPS Art. 67. - View details of the document

New Zealand

1  Introduction

  1. The Intellectual Property Office of New Zealand (IPONZ) provides on-going technical assistance on request to developing and least developed countries. New Zealand will continue to support future work, on request, to improve the intellectual property systems of developing countries.
  2. IPONZ is recognised for its efficient and effective online services, high quality examination and registration processes. As a result, IPONZ hosts delegations and study visits from developing and least developed countries to provide practical training and knowledge sharing.
  3. Recently, IPONZ's ability to assist has been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and restrictions at the New Zealand border. With these restrictions easing IPONZ can offer its assistance more readily again.

2  The Plant Variety Rights Office (PVRO)

  1. New Zealand has been a member of the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV) since 1981. A key element of UPOV is cooperation between member States and the harmonisation of testing and examination activity. On an as requested basis, New Zealand supplies variety test reports to several members and utilises testing results from other States for the Rights decision here. Such activity encourages on going sharing and exchange of technical experience and expertise between UPOV member States.
  2. New Zealand continues to actively participate in the Council, Consultative Committee, Administrative and Legal Committee, Technical Committee and the Technical Working Parties for Agriculture, Ornamentals and for Fruit. New Zealand is currently the chair of the Technical Working Party for Fruit Crops through to 2023. The International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV) conducted all meetings in 2021 by virtual means.

3  AANZFTA Economic Cooperation Support Programme

  1. The ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Area (AANZFTA) mandates a programme of technical assistance activities to assist AANZFTA Parties to operationalise and implement the Agreement, particularly the "Economic Cooperation" chapter of AANZFTA. Until June 2022 this was known as the AANZFTA Economic Cooperation Support Programme (AECSP). New Zealand has committed to continue to fund the AECSP successor programme, the AANZFTA Implementation Support (AIS) Programme, which will continue to support AANZFTA Parties to operationalise and implement the Agreement. The successor programme will enter implementation by the end of 2022. The AECSP is jointly funded by Australia and New Zealand.
  2. Projects funded by the AECSP are available to all ten ASEAN member States. The aim of AANZFTA Economic Cooperation is to facilitate AANZFTA implementation; progress built-in agenda negotiations; achieve deeper economic integration among the parties; and increase business utilisation of AANZFTA. Numerous AECSP projects focus on intellectual property, including:
  • Assistance for ASEAN Member States to accede to the Madrid Protocol and implement it post accession, facilitating trademark registration regionally and globally.
  • Projects to strengthen ASEAN Member States' institutional capacity to design and adopt a high‑quality, consistent, and sustainable approach to patent examination and tailored training‑through three intertwined projects: Regional Patent Examination Training (RPET), Ideal Patent Examination Training (IPET) Model, and the RPET Mentoring Programme.
  • Development of a Regional Intellectual Property Public Education and Awareness Strategy and a pool of resources (e.g., IP for Business Portal, handbook, and guide) to raise awareness of AANZFTA business communities and IP creators about strategic IP management, helping them reap the benefits of AANZFTA through innovation and applying for and using their IP rights.
bernadine.eves@mfat.govt.nz

List of programmes/projects

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# Title of programme or activity Start date Beneficiary Members or observers  
1 Information sharing regarding New Zealand's accession to the Madrid Protocol and Paris Convention 11/08/2020 Fiji
2 Information sharing on geographical indication protection in New Zealand 24/11/2020
3 Technical guidance under the UPOV Technical Working Party for Fruit Crops 04/09/2020
4 Technical guidance under the UPOV Technical Working Party for Fruit Crops 17/09/2020
5 Technical guidance under the UPOV Technical Working Party for Fruit Crops 24/03/2021
6 Technical guidance under the UPOV Technical Working Party for Fruit Crops 12/04/2022
7 Information sharing on experience joining the Budapest Treaty 10/06/2021
8 Practical training on image analysis for DUS testing 02/12/2021