The New Zealand government announced on Monday that it has introduced a bill to ban social media for youth under 16. The law would require social media platforms and AI companions to verify users’ ages before providing services.
The Online
Nuances of divisional patent practice in Australia and New Zealand
A recent opposition decision by the New Zealand Patent
Office in Resmed Pty Ltd v Fisher & Paykel Healthcare Limited [2026] NZIPOPAT 6
provides a useful reminder of how divisional patent practice in New Zealand differs from that
in Australia,
De-Platformed
The BSA has upheld the complaint against Sean Plunket’s internet broadcasting outfit, The Platform. (Of course, the bigger issue here is whether they had jurisdiction at all, but I’ve covered that elsewhere).
I had confidently predicted they wouldn’t uphold the
Overseas surrogacy births are 4 times that of domestic surrogacy births
When talking to colleagues, judges and policymakers, it is assumed that the norm of Australian surrogacy is that of domestic surrogacy births. However, as the most recent figures demonstrate, yet again, domestic surrogacy births are the exception. The norm remains
“Breaches Will Occur. Preparedness Helps You Contain Them”: Five Eyes Releases Statement on AI and Cyber Risk
By: Cameron Abbott, Daniel Knight, Rob Pulham and Emre Cakmakcioglu
Western intelligence alliance Five Eyes has issued a strong warning to business leaders: AI-driven transformation of cyber risk is already here, and the time to act is now.
Quillio and WorkCloud partner on legal AI adoption in Australia and New Zealand
WorkCloud and Quillio announced a partnership to help Australian and New Zealand law firms adopt Quillio’s legal AI platform alongside existing systems such as Actionstep and iManage. The vendor claim is that Quillio supports legal research, document review, drafting, chronologies,
The New Zealand Supreme Court’s judgment in Kea Investments Ltd v Wikeley on anti-enforcement relief
In <a Kea Investments Ltd v Wikeley <a [2026] NZSC 97, the New Zealand Supreme Court recently delivered its reasons for reinstating world-wide anti-enforcement orders in relation to a fraudulently obtained default judgment from Kentucky. The judgment, given by
NZ Hate Crime
The New Zealand Law Commission has released its report regarding the review of law relating to hate crime in Aotearoa New Zealand, with a focus on whether the law should be changed to create standalone hate crime offences. The Commission states 1.2
Longer duration of protection for plant variety rights in Japan and New Zealand
It’s the season for extending the duration of plant variety rights (PVR) protection, apparently. After South Africa and Canada’s recent amendments to increase the duration of protection (see IPKat here and here), the trend has now arrived in Japan and
Schrödinger’s cat, and correcting an error or omission in New Zealand
Under New Zealand law, the Commissioner of Patents has
the discretion to correct an error or omission in the patent register, any
patent, or any other document issued under the Act. A recent decision by
the New Zealand Patent Office