The Australian Government has proposed a number of legislative amendments to the Designs Act 2003 to provide more flexibility for designers during the early stages of getting protection and to simplify and clarify aspects of the designs system.

Henry Hughes Law is a boutique IP law firm associated with Henry Hughes IP, and is proud to have been named a finalist in the Western Union Business Solution Intellectual Property Specialist Law Firm of the Year category in the New Zealand Law Awards 2020.

In October the New Zealand public will be going to the polls. As well as voting in the national election we will be asked to vote on two referendums. One of those referendums - the one about the legalisation of cannabis - has IP implications. Obvious IP considerations relate to the use and registration of trade marks for cannabis products.

Following an internal review and consultation, IP Australia has published its new fees which will take effect on 1 October 2020.

We take a look at the implications of patent protection on the availability of vaccines against, and treatments for, Covid-19 in the rush to discover and create these and issues such as compulsory licensing and patent pools.

We are pleased to announce that our trade mark and patent professionals have been named among the world's leading professionals in WTR 1000 and IAM 1000.

Each year tens of thousands of counterfeit products are imported into New Zealand. An easy way to deter and stop the importation of such infringing goods is to lodge border protection notices with the Customs Service of New Zealand. This is now more accessible as it is no longer necessary to pay a bond.

The Intellectual Property Office of New Zealand (IPONZ) has begun automatically extending certain deadlines due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Prime Minister of New Zealand has announced that New Zealand will move to COVID-19 alert level four at 11.59pm Wednesday 25 March 2020 for a period of four weeks as a preventative measure to break the chain of community transmission. This means that all businesses that are not providing essential services are to close and all our staff must work remotely.