A higher threshold for patentability and the imposition of a five-year time limit for requesting examination were introduced when the New Zealand Patents Act 2013 replaced the Patents Act 1953. Transitional provisions allowed applications which had been filed before the 2013 Act to be examined under the 1953 Act, along with any associated divisional applications.
Co-author: Ryan Gilbertson
These transitional provisions had unintended effects, with some applicants filing endless “daisy chains” of divisional applications, maintaining pending rights and having their divisional applications eligible for examination under the much lower patentability threshold of the 1953 Act.
The New Zealand Parliament recently passed the Patents Amendment Bill, tightening the requirements for divisional applications that claim priority to a complete application filed under the 1953 Act.
The Patents Amendment Bill came into force on 5 June 2026 and requires that any divisional applications filed after commencement must be examined under the 2013 Act in relation to novelty, inventive step and support. These stricter standards will also apply in any opposition, revocation, or re-examination involving those divisional applications.
It is however still possible to “daisy chain” existing divisional applications that fall under the 1953 Act, and the 5-year deadline to request examination (which applies to 2013 Act cases) does not apply to these divisional applications.
The commencement of this Bill standardises examination procedures in New Zealand, bringing clarity to applicants; and effectively puts an end to the loophole exploited under the previous provisions.
