A professor at the University of Auckland says New Zealand’s new IP policies, implemented in 2025, could become “a global model for turning research into prosperity.”

Rod McNaughton, chair in entrepreneurship and academic director at the Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the university, in an essay published on the university website, says that the government’s new national intellectual property policy “gives university researchers the first right to commercialize inventions from projects funded through the Science, Innovation and Technology portfolio.”

The new rules have “rewritten the rules” for who can commercial innovation, he writes. “Universities can still assist, but their equity share will normally be limited to about five to 10 percent. It is the most significant shift in decades in how this country turns public research into enterprise – an experiment in researcher trust that could unleash a new generation of ventures.”

Changes to New Zealand’s IP policy will go into effect in July 2026, scientists and academics working on eligible, government-funded research will hold those first rights to commercialize. “They can take their discoveries forward independently or in partnership with their university,” says McNaughton, who notes that Public Research Organizations (PROs) “retain the first option to commercialize, but if they decline, the inventors may take over.”

New Zealand’s PROs grew out of what used to be six Crown Research Institutes. In 2025, those six organizations were reformed, creating the New Zealand Institute for Bioeconomy Science, the New Zealand Institute for Earth Science, the New Zealand Institute for Public Health and Forensic Science and the New Zealand Institute for Advanced Technology. According to the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, the four PROs are designed to “concentrate on key areas of national importance to deliver a science system that is more connected, more commercially focused, and better aligned with the needs of New Zealand.” The PROs still function as Crown entity companies, but with a strengthened ability to focus on delivering economic benefits to New Zealand, the ministry says.

McNaughton says that the model draws inspiration from the University of Waterloo in Canada, where a long-standing creator-owned system has helped drive a vibrant start-up culture.

“New Zealand’s version, however, isn’t a true creator-owned approach and adds more layers of procedure,” he writes. “It distinguishes between researcher-led and organization-directed projects, with the Minister for Science, Innovation and Technology or a delegate deciding which applies. Inventors must disclose new IP promptly and reach an agreement within 90 days on who will lead commercialization.”

McNaughton says the policy will only apply to research funded through the government’s science, innovation and technology portfolio and that other projects will continue under existing institutional IP policies or the terms of industry contracts. Instead of simplifying rules for all research, it adds new ones for government-sourced funding.

“Even so, the direction is right,” he says. “The reform marks a decisive move away from institution-centred control toward researcher-led innovation. It signals that the government wants scientists to take the lead in translating ideas into impact, while setting limits on how much universities can retain.

It is with this potential for increased innovation in New Zealand that we turned to IP professionals in the region in order to understand better what clients need today. Asia IP asked a large number of professionals – mostly in-house counsel and corporate legal managers – what they were looking for from their legal service providers. From their answers, we have compiled our list of New Zealand’s IP Experts, those lawyers who understand what their clients need and are able to provide them with the best practical advice.

To anyone familiar with the intellectual property market in New Zealand, it is no surprise that James & Wells and AJ Park lead the list of law firms represented on the list. James & Wells placed six lawyers on our list (Ian Finch, Jonathan Lucas, Carrick Robinson, Jason Wach, Tim Walden and Ceri Wells), while AJ Park placed five on the list (Helen Bellchambers, Anton Blijlevens, Kate Giddens, Thomas Huthwaite and Tim Jackson).

Other firms were also well represented: Catalyst Intellectual Property (Emily Ellis, Greg Lynch and John Mansell), Chapman Tripp (Tom Cleary, Kelly McFadzien and Matt Sumpter), Duncan Cotterill (Jonathan Aumonier-Ward, Michael Moyes and Katy Rostovitch) and Hudson Gavin Martin (Caitlin Hadlee, Tim Mahood and Jason Rudkins-Binks) each had three lawyers included on our list.

Blue Penguin IP (Jon Ashen and Jo Shaw), Henry Hughes IP (David Moore and David Nowak), Ironside McDonald Intellectual Property (Sue Irwin Ironside and Rachel McDonald), Moran Law (Amanda Griffiths and Scott Moran) and Simpson Grierson (Sarah Chapman and Richard Watts) each placed two lawyers on our list.

Our survey includes only those lawyers working at law firms in New Zealand.

Most of the lawyers named to our list have multiple practice specialties. Many of them are litigators, while others concentrate on prosecution work or provide strategic advice.

All of them have something in common: they are Asia IP’s IP Experts for New Zealand.

New Zealand’s IP Experts is based solely on independent editorial research conducted by Asia IP. As part of this project, we turned to thousands of in-house counsel in New Zealand, Australia, Asia and around the world, and asked them to nominate private-practice lawyers, including foreign legal consultants, advisers and counsel. 
The final list reflects the nominations received combined with the input of the editorial team at Asia IP, which has more than 55 years of collective experience in researching and understanding the legal market in New Zealand.
All private practice intellectual property lawyers working at law firms in New Zealand were eligible for inclusion in the nomination process; there were no fees or any other requirements for inclusion.
The names of our 50 IP Experts are published here. Each IP Expert was given the opportunity to include their biography and contact details in print and on our website, for which a fee was charged.