4.2 Warning of abandonment

Where an application does not comply with the requirements of the Act, the applicant is sent a Compliance Report giving the applicant 12 months from the date of filing the application in New Zealand in which to respond or amend their application. IPONZ will send the applicant a written communication that warns of the impending abandonment of the application ten months after the date of the Compliance Report, or as soon as possible thereafter.

Given current IPONZ practice this means that where advice was sought from the Māori Advisory Committee regarding the trade mark application, IPONZ will send the applicant a written communication warning of the impending abandonment of the application ten months after the date of the Full Compliance Report, or as soon as possible thereafter.

The written communication shall reiterate the deadline and warn that the application will be treated as abandoned unless:

• IPONZ receives a response to the Compliance Report on or prior to the expiry of the deadline; or
• An extension of the time limit is requested and granted.