Pipers Bulletins

Pipers issues a bulletin on a monthly basis providing a summary of recent developments in intellectual property law and practice in Australasia and other key countries and regions such as USA, UK, Europe and Asia.  Below are links to articles in the latest bulletin. Previous issues can be accessed via the left pane navigation.

Contents Summary of Latest Bulletin

1. General

New Zealand

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.

Intellectual Property and Misuse of Market Power
Recent changes to New Zealand’s Commerce Act 1986 enhanced the restrictions on the misuse of market power and also changed the extent to which intellectual property rights are an exception to the market competition that the Commerce Act promotes. Will attempts at enforcing IP Rights be seen as a misuse of market power?

2. Trade Marks

New Zealand

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.

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.

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.