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Welcome to the May edition of Simpson Grierson's xtech ezine.
Contents May 2006

Intellectual property law changes may be afoot for the IT industry as the Ministry of Economic Development seeks input for policy recommendations. In our first article this month Claire Foggo, Karla Horstmans and Earl Gray of Simpson Grierson's intellectual property team outline the two key issues under discussion - contracting out of copyright law and the "Commisionary Rule". Submissions are currently being called for.

Karen Ngan and Simon Vannini of our information and communications technology group then provide an update on New Zealand's development of a formal Domain Name Disputes Service. An expert panel has now been appointed to determine these disputes.

Finally this month, biotech specialist Dr Anna Jellie and commercial partner Mike Sage report on recent intellectual property developments in China which provide for the compulsory licensing of certain patented pharmaceutical products.

As always - please let us know if there's a topic you'd like to see covered in the ezine and feel free to forward this ezine to friends or colleagues. If you're not on the distribution list - why not sign up?

Regards,
Simpson Grierson's x-tech group

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Simpson Grierson's x-tech group provides suppliers and users of technology with specialist legal advice on information technology, intellectual property, telecommunications, biotechnology and the commercialisation of technology.

To contact us or if you would like to receive a list of all previous x-tech articles, or a hard copy of any articles please email x-tech@simpsongrierson.com or phone Amy Watkinson on +64 9 977 5446.
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IP / IT: Contracting Out of Copyright Law and the Commissioning Rule – Impact on the IT Industry
The Ministry of Economic Development is currently seeking input on two copyright issues which affect the IT industry - contracting out of copyright legislation (for example by shrink-wrap licence) and the adequacy of the commissioning rule, which currently provides an exception to the general rule of first ownership of copyright.
Click here for the full article Written by Karla Horstmans, Claire Foggo and Earl Gray.
IT: Domain Name Disputes Service
After a period of consideration, a formal domain name dispute 'expert panel' has been appointed to determine disputes over .nz domain name registrations, from 1 June 2006.
Click here for the full article Written by Simon Vannini and Karen Ngan.
Biotech / IP: The Doha Mandate – Compulsory Licensing of Pharmaceutical Patents
In January this year China's State Intellectual Property Office issued an order for the compulsory licensing of potential pharmaceutical products, applying the WTO's Doha Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health to China's pharmaceutical industry.
Click here for the full article Written by Dr. Anna Jellie and Mike Sage.
ITEMS OF INTEREST

If you're in the ICT sector and you haven't seen them already you may be interested in the following reports from HiGrowth:

ICT Industry Map
A snapshot of the New Zealand ICT Industry, the opportunities and barriers it currently faces.

Funding and Organisations Reports
Over 60 support organisations serving ICT companies. Find out who they are, what they do and how to access them. Plus, over 100 identified sources of private and public funding. Both reports on searchable spreadsheets for easy reference.

Question of the month
Q: I have a copy of a consultancy services agreement that has worked well for me. Can I use it again to engage another individual by simply changing the name of the consultant?
A: Unless you are engaging that consultant to provide exactly the same services and on the same terms (which is unlikely), that consultancy services agreement is unlikely to meet your specific requirements. For example, if the scope and nature of the consultant's duties have changed, there is a risk that the consultant could in fact be deemed to be an employee because his or her new duties reflect employment qualities. In addition, matters such as intellectual property, liability and insurance should be dealt with on a case by case basis. As such, each consultancy services arrangement should be tailored to meet your specific requirements.
Daniel Park and Jonathan Lewin.
Related article : (April 2006) Issues to Consider in a Life Sciences/Biotech Consultancy Services Agreement.
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