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Newsletter – June / July 2023

12 July 2023 By In Newsletters No Comments
  • INTA Singapore
  • New Zealand and United Kingdom Fair Trade Agreement
  • Law Fest Conference
  • South Mach Exhibition
  • New Zealand Law Awards 2023
  • New staff

INTA Singapore

Theodore, Karen and Chris headed to Singapore for the annual INTA Conference in May. Whilst there, they hosted a function for their wider colleagues and clients in the IP field. It was a delight to catch up with old friends and make new ones.

INTA Singapore  INTA Singapore
INTA Singapore  INTA Singapore

New Zealand and United Kingdom Fair Trade Agreement

The NZ-UK FTA agreement, which came into force on 31 May 2023, requires New Zealand to make some changes to its intellectual property laws. These will be implemented over the coming years.

  • New Zealand has agreed to extend copyright protection terms by a further 20 years for authors, performers, and producers.
  • NZ will introduce an artists’ resale right scheme which enables creators of visual rights to be recognised and rewarded when their work is resold on the secondary art market.
  • NZ will expand the scope of performers’ rights.
  • For NZ, the recognition of the Crown’s Te Tiriti o Waitangi obligations remains a central consideration. In particular, the UK has acknowledged the importance of the Haka “Ka Mate” to New Zealand.

There are no changes to patents and trademark law. The FTA does not provide any direct commitments in regard to geographical indications. However, New Zealand has agreed separately that it will not permit the sale of whisky labelled with Scottish localities unless they were legitimately manufactured in Scotland.

Law Fest Conference

Earlier this month Heather McCaughan, a Senior Lawyer, from our Wellington office attended Law Fest 2023 in Auckland. Law Fest is an annual exposition exploring how we as lawyers provide our services to our clients, and particularly how we can use innovation and technology to improve the delivery of our services as well as increasing our effectiveness as lawyers. There were a range of speakers and panels at this years’ Law Fest with topics ranging from a deep dive into client experience and the use of AI technology. Law Fest also hosts a range of exhibitors developing technology-based solutions (including some already used at Zone Law) assisting lawyers and law firms to use technology for the benefit of both their clients and in the practice of law generally. Overall, it was another fantastic event and Heather came away inspired by the possibilities for the use of tech moving forward with the practice of law.

South Mach Exhibition

Julie Balance, our Patent Special Counsel, attended the South Mach Exhibition at the Christchurch Arena in late May. South Mach is one of New Zealand’s largest engineering and manufacturing innovation trade shows, with close to 90 of New Zealand’s leading engineering, manufacturing and technology companies showcasing new products, solutions and technologies this year. The show included several seminars and workshops. Julie met with many of the companies exhibiting at the show.

New Zealand Law Awards

Nominations for the New Zealand Law Awards 2023 are open until Friday 7 July. If you would like to nominate our firm, please find the 2023 categories here and please use “Intellectual Property Specialist Law Firm of the year” category. For more information, please see the nomination process here. We would appreciate your vote.

New staff

Since our last newsletter we have had some new staff join our team. Shilpa Singh has joined our Auckland office as a Paralegal. Libby Forbes has joined our Wellington office as an Office Administrator.