6.2 The request is being considered by the Maori Advisory Committee

Where a trade mark contains a Māori sign, the request will be forwarded to the Maori Advisory Committee for advice on whether the mark is likely to be offensive to Māori under section 17 of the Act. A Partial Compliance Report will be issued advising the Applicant that the request has been referred to the Committee. Generally, no time limit will be set in the Partial Compliance Report as IPONZ is awaiting the advice of the Committee. In such situations, a request for extension of time is not necessary as no time limit has been set for the Applicant to respond by.

Once the Committee has provided their advice to IPONZ, a Full Compliance Report will be issued in cases where there are other matters that need to be addressed by the applicant. The Full Compliance Report will set a deadline by which the Applicant’s response must be received.