Please be careful when completing an application or a request, as we do not offer refunds if you change your mind.

A. We will refund the relevant fees you have paid in the following circumstances:

1. We have made a mistake in processing your transaction.
2. You submitted an application for the incorrect type of intellectual property (such as applying for a design when you intended to apply for a trade mark). You must either have notified us of the error within three working days of your submission, or an examiner must have independently determined that an incorrect application type has been made. You must subsequently file a new application under the correct type, where possible.
3. You paid a renewal fee against an incorrect intellectual property case. You must have notified us of the error within three working days of your incorrect payment, and paid the renewal fee for the correct case. Please note that fees are not transferrable.
4. We have declined your trade mark application on the basis that it has no distinctive character, having previously given you preliminary advice that it had distinctive character under Part 5 of the regulations.
5. You have withdrawn from a hearing no less than five working days prior to the date set for the hearing.
6. You paid the Request for Examination fee for a patent application in error, at the point you submitted your application.
7. You paid a fee to add new trade mark classes to an application after a compliance report was issued for it, and the additional classes were not deemed to be necessary or allowable.
8. You paid a fee to renew a trade mark for all of its classes, and your intention was to renew that trade mark for only some of those classes.

B. We will not refund the relevant fees you have paid in the following circumstances:

1. We have commenced work on the examination of your
2. You have changed your mind after being issued with a compliance or examination report.
3. You have paid a renewal fee for an intellectual property case, on behalf of its owner without instruction, and the owner subsequently advises they do not wish to renew their intellectual property.
4. You have requested a refund for a fee’s GST component. GST amounts are not eligible as separate refunds from their applicable fees. Where the applicant or requestor is in New Zealand, the Office will assume that GST is payable by the applicant or requestor

C. Special circumstances

We may apply our discretion to pay a refund in circumstances of genuine error other than those stated above. To qualify you should provide an explanation to us as soon as possible (preferably within 3 working days of paying the fee), and we must not have commenced work on your filing.

D. General conditions

Fees cannot be transferred

Due to system limitations and financial auditing requirements, fees cannot be transferred to other cases or payments.

Currency exchange rates and interest

Refunds are made in New Zealand currency. The exchange rate that applies will be that on the day the refund is made.

Interest is not payable on any refund.

How to request a refund

To request a refund, please send an email to mail@iponz.govt.nz including all of the information below, and our team will consider your request.

Your refund request must be in writing and include the following information:

• your receipt date
• your receipt number
• the amount you are requesting be refunded
• your reason for refund

If you have paid the fee by way of a direct debit or direct credit invoice, your refund will show as a credit note and show as an adjustment on your next invoice. If the fee is yet to be invoiced, the fee will be cancelled.

If you paid the fee by any other payment method, your refund will be directly credited to the bank account or credit/debit card that was the source of the payment.