Shearer David: Trade Marks (International Treaties and Enforcement) Amendment Bill — In Committee 
Shearer David: Trade Marks (International Treaties and Enforcement) Amendment Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:675;Page:21019] 
DAVID SHEARER (Labour—Mt Albert) 
: 
 I am pleased to take a call on this important bill the Trade Marks (International Treaties and Enforcement) Amendment Bill. As my colleague Pete Hodgson quite eloquently put it this is actually very important legislation. We support it as we support important pieces of legislation primarily because as he pointed out this bill was brought into the House while Labour was still in Government. Here we are 3 years later and it is back in the House. 
I do not think there have been massive problems in not having this legislation in place but the importance of this bill is that it protects much of New Zealand’s intellectual property. When we look at New Zealand today and where it is going we see that much of New Zealand’s wealth is derived from intellectual property. That is both in the agricultural sector and more important in some ways in the way the high-tech and telecommunications sector is going. New Zealand companies in this sector add about $6.5 billion worth of revenue to the country and nearly 80 percent of that is exported in the form of ideas and pieces of property. It creates enormous wealth per the individual who is involved in constructing this intellectual property whether a product a piece of software or an idea. The figure is nearly $300000 per person in the high-tech sector. It is of great value to New Zealand. Therefore protecting our intellectual property and ensuring that is reflected in our legislation is extremely important. 
I will move on to the purposes of this bill. The purposes are obviously in relation to the three treaties the bill brings into effect. The Protocol Relating to the Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks (Madrid Protocol) first of all is a protocol that provides a system that simplifies the procedures required for a trademark owner to protect their trademarks overseas. Obviously that is important. Joining that protocol will provide New Zealand trademark owners with the possibility of having their trademark protected overseas by filing one application for registration of a trademark with the Intellectual Property Office of New Zealand and designating one or more overseas countries that are also members of the Madrid Protocol where protection is sought. So it is a reciprocal arrangement between New Zealand and other important countries where we would like protection as well. 
The second of the agreements is the Nice Agreement Concerning the International Classification of Goods and Services for the Purposes of the Registration of Marks which provides a classification system for goods and services for the purposes of registering trademarks. The Nice classification is widely known and widely acknowledged. Those countries that are party to the Nice agreement must apply the Nice classification to registered trademarks although those countries not party to it may still apply the Nice classification. New Zealand has applied the Nice classification to registered trademarks for many many years so we have acknowledged it. It is updated on a five-yearly cycle and parties to the Nice agreement meet on a semi-regular basis to consider whether there need to be or should be amendments to that classification. By becoming part of the Nice agreement New Zealand would be permitted to participate in those meetings where amendments are considered and influence the future development of the Nice classification so that it best meets the needs of New Zealand businesses. In this context the bill will clarify the latest edition of the Nice classification that must be used with all new applications for the registration of a trademark. 
Once again it is New Zealand coming into the context of a series of treaties—the last one I will talk about is the Singapore Treaty on the Law of Trademarks—so that New Zealand is covered under international law. Lastly as I said there is the Singapore treaty which aims to make national trademark registration systems more user-friendly and to reduce business compliance costs for trademark owners.