New Zealand-Selected Compulsory Licensing, Government Use, and Notable Patent Exception Provisions

The Patents Act 1953
(No. 64 of November 26, 1953 as last amended by Law No. 139 of 1996)




Compulsory Licences, etc.

46. Compulsory license-



( 1) At any time after the expiration of 3 years from the date of the sealing of a patent or 4 years from the date of the patent, whichever is the later, any person interested may apply to the Court for the grant of a license under the patent upon any of the grounds specified in subsection (2) of this section.

(2) The grounds upon which a license may be granted under this section are that a market for the patented invention is not being supplied, or is not being supplied on reasonable terms, in New Zealand.

(3) Subject to subsections (4), (5), (6), and (7) of this section, if the Court is satisfied that either of the grounds referred to in subsection (2) of this section are established, the Court may make an order for the grant of a license in accordance with the application upon such terms as the Court thinks fit.

(4) A license granted under this section-

(a) Is not exclusive:

(b) Must not be assigned otherwise than in connection with the goodwill of the business in which the patented invention is used:

(c) Is limited to the supply of the patented invention predominantly in New Zealand.

(5) Any license granted under this section may, on the application of any interested party, be terminated by the Court, where the Court is satisfied that the grounds on which the license was granted have ceased to exist.

(6) Where a license is granted under this section to any person, that person shall pay such remuneration to the patentee as may be agreed, or as may be determined by a method agreed, between that person and the patentee or, in default of agreement, as is determined by the Court on the application of that person or the patentee.

(7) No license shall be granted under this section unless the person applying for the license, having taken all reasonable steps to do so, has been unable to obtain a license, or to obtain a license on reasonable terms, from the patentee.

(8) No license shall be granted under this section in respect of a patent relating to an integrated circuit.





Use of patented inventions for services of the Crown-



55. Use of patend inventions for services of the Crown-(1) Subject to sections 58A to 58C of this Act, but notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, any Government Department, and any person authorised in writing by a Government Department, may make, use, exercise, and vend any patented invention for the services of the Crown and anything done by virtue of this subsection shall not amount to an infringement of the patent concerned.

(2) For the purposes of this section and section 56 of this Act,-

(a) Any use of an invention for the supply to the Government of any country outside New Zealand, in pursuance of any agreement or arrangement between the Government of New Zealand and the Government of that country, of articles required for the defence of that country shall be deemed to be a use of the invention for the services of the Crown:

(b) The power of a Government Department or a person authorised by a Government Department under this section to make, use, exercise; and vend a patented invention shall include power to sell to any person any articles made in the exercise of the powers conferred by this section that are no longer required for the purpose for which they were made:

(c) The power of a Government Department or a person authorised by a Government Department under this section to vend a patented invention shall not, in the case of a patent relating to an integrated circuit, extend to sale of the invention to the public.

(3) Where the Governor-General, by Order in Council, declares that the use of any patented invention by any person or by any class of persons engaged in a particular industry is necessary or desirable to enable full benefit to be derived by the members of the public in New Zealand of any enterprise or undertaking in which the Crown or any Government Department has a complete or almost complete monopoly, any such use of the invention or inventions shall for the purposes of this section and sections 56 and 57 of this Act be deemed to be a use for the services of the Crown.

(4) The purchaser of any articles sold in the exercise of powers conferred by this section, and any person claiming through the purchaser, shall have power to deal with them in the same manner as if the patent were held on behalf of the Crown.