The New Zealand Patents Act 2013 commenced on 13 September 2014, heralding significant changes to the previous Act. The new provisions bring New Zealand’s patent laws into line with the majority of developed nations. Over the last few years, unexpected issues have been encountered in practice when filing and prosecuting patent applications in New Zealand. It is important that all applicants and practitioners are fully aware of these issues and how they affect best practice.

At this seminar, we will take a detailed look at the New Zealand Patents Act 2013 and the new attorney regulatory regime including the following topics:

• Key provisions of the new Act
• Important changes to divisional filing practice, change of procedures and specification amendments
• Specific issues encountered during examination and best practice
• Introduction of the Trans-Tasman Attorney Regime and review of the Code of Conduct

The duration of the seminar will be approximately 1 hour.

About the presenters:

Dr David Hvasanov is a polymer chemist and a Patent Attorney of Phillips Ormonde Fitzpatrick. He has experience in numerous technologies in chemistry and material science. His focus is on new developments in mining, nanoscale drug delivery systems, plasticisers, paint compositions, pharmaceuticals and cement technologies. David is also a member of POF’s Chemistry and Life Sciences Team.

Michelle Blythe is a Biomedical Engineer and a Patent Attorney of Phillips Ormonde Fitzpatrick. She has experience in a number of fields from simple mechanical devices to complex electrical systems. Her focus is on new developments in medical devices and technologies, electrical engineering, ICT and software, with strengths in electronics and biology. She is also a member of POF’s Electronics, Physics and IT (EPIT) team and Medical Technology team.

Details

Date		Wednesday 31 May, 2017
Time		12.15pm for a 12.30pm start (Melbourne and Sydney) 11.45am for a 12.00pm start (Adelaide)
	Location
		Melbourne office Phillips Ormonde Fitzpatrick Level 16, 333 Collins Street Melbourne Sydney office Phillips Ormonde Fitzpatrick Level 19, 133 Castlereagh Street Sydney Adelaide office Phillips Ormonde Fitzpatrick Level 5/75 Hindmarsh Square Adelaide

RSVP	By Tuesday 30 May,  to Luana Spadafora at marketing@pof.com.au
A light lunch will be provided. Please advise of any dietary requirements.
If any of your colleagues are interested in attending, please feel free to forward this invitation to them. Seminar attendees may be eligible to claim points towards their professional development/education. Please refer to your relevant guidelines for more information.