In general, the New Zealand business community had been waiting a long time to see the country accede to the Madrid Protocol, she said.
The Madrid Protocol was an international regime administered by the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), enabling business owners in their "home country" to make an application for a trademark for specific goods and services.
It also allowed them to specify any number of countries which were also members of the Madrid Protocol as part of their registration, Ms Peart, a trademark specialist and a partner in Marks and Worth, told the Otago Daily Times.
"This move brings us into line with the 80-plus other countries which already belong and is welcomed by trademark professionals," she said.
Commerce Minister Craig Foss on Thursday said New Zealand was a step closer to joining the Madrid Protocol after meeting the director-general of WIPO, Francis Gurry, at Parliament.
New Zealand would be the first country to undertake an "operational preparedness" test before it implemented the protocol.
"When New Zealand is fully signed up, Kiwi companies will have a one-stop shop for worldwide trademark registration," Mr Foss said.
New Zealand's online trademark registration system would easily satisfy the required criteria. The country was a world leader in the area of trademark registration online.
Mr Foss was confident the country would pass the application test.
Ms Peart said one of the big advantages was that it would make it easier for New Zealand companies to register trademarks in other countries.
"It will save significant costs because you may not have to engage trademark agents in the local jurisdiction - although in some circumstances, you still will have to. It will enable overseas businesses to register in New Zealand more readily and some commentators are predicting a rush of new applications in New Zealand from overseas entities once the Madrid Protocol is effective in New Zealand."
Local businesses who might be considering trademark protection in New Zealand should get their application in now, she said.
It was possible that a business in a different jurisdiction could have the same trademark which might not be issued for registration in New Zealand. Local businesses could lose the ability to get in first once the protocol was implemented here.
There were a few disadvantages of using the protocol, Ms Peart said. One was if the home country registration or application was cancelled, withdrawn or not renewed during the first five years, every international registration based on the home country application became invalid. Another drawback was the specification of goods and services in a Madrid application could not be broader than those in the home-country application.
In some cases, foreign jurisdictions were more lenient than New Zealand and it might still be advantageous to have separate national applications to allow a broader specification in a different jurisdiction, Ms Peart pointed out.
