Pipers Attorney Tom Robertson Elected as NZIPA President
Pipers is pleased to announce that Tom Robertson was elected as the President of the New Zealand Intellectual Property Attorneys organisation (NZIPA) at the recent annual general meeting on 8th September 2023.
A Blurry Decision on Alcoholic Beverage Marks … with a twist of lemon
In Gewei Zhang v QB Trademarks SARL 2023 NZIPOTM 40 the opposition was rejected even though the accepted mark begins with the opponent’s mark and despite the Assistant Commissioner (AC) finding the respective parties goods to be similar.
The Song Remains the Same – Music Awards Rebrand Found to Acquire Distinctiveness from Prior Mark
In Recorded Music New Zealand Limited [2023] NZIPOTM 39 the applicant was allowed to rely on its reputation in a conceptually equivalent registered mark to establish acquired distinctiveness for its otherwise non-distinctive mark.
May I Compare Thee to a Chameleon? NZ’s Comparative Advertising Law in its Historical Context
New Zealand’s law regarding the use of another party’s trade marks in comparative advertising in the last 100 years has been through several forms, and is currently close to where it started.
What is the Deemed Date of Registration for International Registrations Designating New Zealand?
In this article I argue that priority is irrelevant to the deemed date of registration for international registrations under the Madrid Protocol that designate New Zealand. The Intellectual Property Office of New Zealand (IPONZ) disagrees, taking the view that international registrations that designate New Zealand and which have a right to a priority date will have that priority date as the deemed date of registration.