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Newsletter - September 20

 

September 2020 Updates

- NZ Law Awards Finalist 

- The Sir Paul Callaghan Eureka Awards 

- COVID-19 Extension Updates

- Labour Weekend Closure 

 

NZ Law Awards Finalist 

 

Zone are proud to be finalists once again in the NZ Law Awards in the category of Intellectual Property Specialist Law Firm of the Year. This is the sixth year in a row where we have made the finals. The winners will be announced at the Black-Tie event held at the Cordis Hotel Auckland on 12 November 2020. We would like to take this opportunity to thank our clients and all those who nominated us for this award.

 

Sir Paul Callaghan Eureka Awards

Zone are proud sponsors of the Sir Paul Callaghan Eureka Awards this year. 

We are grateful to be involved in this year’s awards process, and although much of it has been online this year there are still a great number of high calibre nominees. 

To view this year’s nominee presentations, you can use the link below. 

https://www.eureka.org.nz/2020

 

COVID-19 Extension Updates 

Because many businesses have been affected by the pandemic, there may be circumstances where IP Australia and the New Zealand Intellectual Property Office will permit extensions of time to deadlines for responding to office actions or hearing deadlines for those who have been impacted. 

 

IP Australia

IP Australia is currently accepting extension requests by applicants who declare they have been adversely impacted by COVID-19. It has recently put in place a streamlined process to provide free extensions of time of up to three months. The official fee will be automatically waived and no further documents need to be uploaded, and no further explanation is required. This will remain the case until at least 31 October 2020. 

 

New Zealand Intellectual Property Office

The New Zealand Intellectual Property Office does not have a formal process as in Australia, but will still consider requests for extensions of time on a case-basis case basis. The Applicant should provide specific details of why Covid-19 has impacted their ability to response before the deadline. These requests should be treated favourably by the NZIPO. 

If you or your clients have been impacted, please do not hesitate to contact our team with questions or concerns regarding any official intellectual property deadlines.  We are happy to provide advice on an individual basis. 

 

Labour Weekend Closure 

Monday 5 October 2020 – Australia 

Monday 26 October 2020 – New Zealand 

 

Zone IP and Zone Law will be closed for business on Labour Day, Monday 26 October 2020.

 

Our websites and online platform will still be available. We will be open for normal business hours from Tuesday 27 October 2020

IP Australia will be closed for Labour Day on Monday 5 October 2020 and the Intellectual Property Office of New Zealand will be closed on Monday 26 October 2020. 

Applications and documents submitted on theses dates will have the following working day as their filing date. If the deadline for filing an application or document falls on this date, then the application or document can be filed the following day.