How long will it take before my trademark is registered?

As soon as you submit your trademark application via DIY Trademarks, it is instantly submitted to the New Zealand IP Office (IPONZ). We will send you an email notification within one business day, so please check your spam folder if you don’t find it in your inbox.

Your trademark will not be automatically registered. All trademark applications go through an examination process. This means that your application will  first be examined by an IP Office trademark examiner who checks that your  trademark meets certain standards.

The Trademark Registration Process in New Zealand

UPDATE: The IP Office is currently taking about 6 weeks to examine trademark applications, not 2-3 weeks as stated in the diagram. (November 2020)

Within around six weeks, the IP Office will examine your application and produce a report. If your trademark application meets the requirements, the IP Office will issue a Notice of Acceptance. We will notify you straight away that your trademark has been accepted!

 If there are issues with your trademark application, the IP Office will raise a trademark objection and issue a compliance report. For example, the IP Office may object if your trademark is descriptive, non-distinctive or confusingly similar to an earlier trademark covering similar goods or services.

Sometimes there are formalities (minor) objections. For example, your company details are incomplete or there is a spelling mistake in your goods and services specification. We will fix these issues for you at no extra cost - they will cause a small delay in the processing of your application, but once they’ve been dealt with your trademark application will be accepted.

After your trademark has been accepted, it will be advertised for a period of three months, to enable any third party to submit a trademark opposition. In practice, we find that trademark oppositions are rare. Only a small percentage, less than 1%, of trademarks submitted via DIY Trademarks are opposed. If no oppositions are filed, then your trademark will proceed to registration within three months of the end of the opposition period.  

The minimum time period in which your trademark application will proceed to registration (assuming all goes relatively smoothly) is 6 months from the date of application. 

At this point, the IP Office issues a certificate of registration and we will send this to you by email and to convey this good news. Once your trademark is registered, you can use the registered trademark symbol ® to protect your brand and enjoy the exclusive rights that registration affords you.