Hot on the heels of the recent purchase of AJ Park by the stock exchange listed company IPH Ltd, the final draft of the proposed Code of Conduct for Trans-Tasman Patent and Trade Marks Attorneys (the Code) has been released.

 The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), a revised version of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement, includes changes agreed to some of the provisions of the IP chapter, including patent term extensions, data protection and copyright term.

An exposure draft of Australia's Intellectual Property Laws Amendment (Productivity Commission Response Part 1 and Other Measures) Bill 2017 has just been released which signals the death knell of the innovation patent.

On 11 October 2017, IPH Limited, a listed company on the Australian stock exchange, announced its purchase of New Zealand Intellectual Property firm AJ Park.

 The publication of the recent Value of Design report caused a stir in New Zealand’s design community. The report claims that last year, design contributed $10.1 billion to New Zealand’s GDP.

In a step signalling the continuing commitment of ASEAN member states (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) to join the Madrid system, Indonesia became the 100^th member of the Madrid Union.

 Australian IP laws are set for another shake up. Key changes originally proposed by the Productivity Commission have been supported by the government in a response released 25 August 2017. These changes include, abolishing the innovation patent, raising the standard of inventive step for patents, and altering the plant breeder’s rights system amongst others.

As of 7 November 2017, Thailand joins Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Lao PDR, Philippines, Singapore and Viet Nam as a member of the Madrid System for the International Registration of trade marks.

New Zealand has joined the Global Patent Prosecution Highway (GPPH) pilot program. As a result it is now possible to request accelerated examination of a New Zealand patent application based on the allowance of at least one claim of a corresponding application in another GPPH office.