In https://bugs.launchpad.net/zope-cmf/+bug/281216, @cjw296 reported:
For background see: http://dev.plone.org/plone/ticket/8579
Summary of the problem: You cannot re-constitute local utilities just from a dotted name:
- the constructor may take parameters. Indeeed, imnsho, this is how utilities that require configuration should be configured.
- the utilities may be changed after registration, as is the case with PortletType utilities.
This is with Plone 3.1.1 and associated CMF and Zope versions.