This recent article by AJ Park is a gross misrepresentation of the New Zealand Commerce Select Committee's position and the publicly stated Government position.

http://www.internationallawoffice.com/Newsletters/Detail.aspx?g=555f15a9-c09c-4cd6-a20f-f4ea66b0fcf5

It states:

"The news that the government intends computer program inventions to be patentable in the same way as in Europe is important to New Zealand industry, not just for multinational companies.

"The aim has always been to bring New Zealand law into line with international norms - Australia, Singapore, the United Kingdom, the European Union, Japan and the United States all allow patent protection for inventions that are implemented in software."

That is not what the Select Committee or Minister, Simon Power has stated. They have stated that they want to exclude software patents from being patentable and have changed the legislation to make that clear. Minister Power has been very clear that he backs the Select Committee and has pointed out that software already receives copyright protection.

IPONZ has been asked to issue guidelines to ensure that devices that contain "embedded" software not be excluded from being patentable simply because they have that software. The software itself could not be patentable, because as MED have pointed out themselves, it is not possible to differentiate between embedded software and other types of software.

That AJ Park can continue to be so duplicitous is disturbing and disappointing but we should not allow it to set some sort of precedence for an incorrect interpretation of the New Zealand position.