Intellectual property starts us off this month. After considering the submissions and advice from officials, Cabinet has recommended that an experimental use exception be incorporated into New Zealand's patent legislation. Earl Gray and Karla Horstmans outline the background detail and suggest that further consideration of this issue is needed.

Up second and third, our information and communications technology (ICT) group examine two recently released discussion papers from the Ministry of Economic Development (MED). The first of these deals with the renewal of radio spectrum rights for cellular services currently held by Telecom and Vodafone. The second discussion paper relates to the Government's drive to encourage investment in alternative infrastructure for the telecommunications sector, particularly spectrum allocation opportunities for broadband wireless access in New Zealand. Submissions from industry and other stakeholders on this subject are sought.

Finally, Mike Sage and Daniel Park look at yet another discussion paper - this time from the Ministry of Health and relating to the biotech and medical research sectors. The paper in question discusses the proposed guidelines on the use of human tissue for future unspecified research purposes.

Also included in this edition is detail of an upcoming ICT sector event that we're hosting at the end of August that may be of interest to you. Numbers are limited so if you are interested in attending as a guest of Simpson Grierson please contact us as detailed.