In 2018, the Intellectual Property Office of New Zealand (IPONZ) carried out a review of its fees, with a view to providing consistency and transparency across the services it provides. That review has resulted in changes to patent and trade mark fees, which will come into force on 13 February 2020.
Patent fee changes
The key patent fee changes are:
- the introduction of excess claim fees
- an increased examination request fee
- significantly increased fees for maintenance and renewals, especially from year 15 onward.
Changes to fees for patent applications and registrations under the Patents Act 2013 are summarised in the table below.
IPONZ fee |
Current amount (NZ$) |
Amount from 13 February 2020 (NZ$) |
Amount from 13 February 2020 (US$)* |
4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th year renewal fees |
100 |
200 |
140 |
10th, 11th, 12th, 13th, and 14th year renewal fees |
200 |
450 |
310 |
15th, 16th, 17th, 18th, and 19th year renewal fees |
350 |
1,000 |
680 |
Renewal late fee |
50 |
100 |
70 |
Filing a complete specification |
250 |
250 |
170 |
Maintenance fee due on the 4th and each subsequent year, if paid before due date |
100 |
200 |
140 |
Maintenance fee due on the 4th and each subsequent year, if paid within 6 months after due date |
150 |
300 |
210 |
Request for examination or re-examination |
500 |
750 |
510 |
Excess claims fee for examination, for each set of 5 claims over 29 |
n/a |
120 |
80 |
Request for leave to amend complete specification after acceptance |
150 |
500 |
340 |
Request for restoration of patent or patent application |
100 |
600 |
410 |
* Approximate conversion at current exchange rate
The new excess claim fee will be payable between acceptance and grant, but it is calculated based on the maximum number of claims presented during the examination process.
You can minimise the impact of the patent fee changes by requesting examination before the fee increases take effect on 13 February 2020. To a lesser extent, the changes also affect fees for applications that are still progressing under the Patents Act 1953. These changes are summarised in the table below.
IPONZ fee |
Current amount (NZ$) |
Amount from 13 February 2020 (NZ$) |
Amount from 13 February 2020 (US$)* |
On filing complete specification |
250 |
500 |
340 |
Application to amend complete specification before acceptance |
60 |
150 |
100 |
Application to amend complete specification after acceptance |
60 |
500 |
340 |
* Approximate conversion at current exchange rate
Our renewals team is currently reviewing portfolios and looking at ways to minimise the impact of the patent renewal fee changes.
Trade mark fee changes
The key trade mark fee changes are:
- decreased renewal fees
- decreased application fees.
Changes to trade mark fees for applications made under the Trade Mark Acts 2002 are summarised in the table below.
IPONZ fee |
Current amount (NZ$) |
Amount from 13 February 2020 (NZ$) |
Amount from 13 February 2020 (US$)* |
Trade mark application, per class |
150 |
100 |
65 |
Adding a class to an existing application |
150 |
100 |
65 |
Trade mark application where the specification consists only of pre-approved descriptions for that class |
150 |
70 |
45 |
Renewal of a trade mark registration, per class |
350 |
200 |
130 |
* Approximate conversion at current exchange rate
Full information about IPONZ’s fees review can be found here.