Consultation on patent terms extensions

Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Paul Goldsmith announced today the start of consultation on proposed regulations for the patent term extension provisions in the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement Amendment Bill.

The Bill contains amendments to New Zealand legislation required to implement our obligations under the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement. 

The proposed regulations relate to provisions in the Bill that will allow patent owners to request an extension of the patent term if there has been:

• an unreasonable delay in the granting of a patent; or
• an unreasonable curtailment of the effective term of a patent covering a pharmaceutical substance or biologic pharmaceutical due to delays in Medsafe’s marketing approval process.

“The regulations will cover procedural issues like the information that must be provided with the request for extension of term, proposed time limits, and the procedure for third parties to oppose proposed extensions,” says Mr Goldsmith.

The consultation document also seeks feedback on whether to make regulations that set out the time periods the Commissioner of Patents must disregard when deciding whether there has been an unreasonable delay in the grant of a patent.

Interested parties can make submissions on the consultation document by 8 August 2016. The consultation document is available at: www.mbie.govt.nz/info-services/business/intellectual-property/tpp-intellectual-property-chapter/consultation-on-proposed-patent-term-extension-regulations.