Region: New Zealand

The Trademarks Act 2002 has received royal assent. The new act replaces the Trademarks Act 1953, brings New Zealand into compliance with several obligations under TRIPs and increases protection of indigenous rights.

12 February 2003

In <i>ConAgra Inc v McCain Foods (Aust) Pty Ltd</i>, the New Zealand Court of Appeal has ruled that the capacity for a trademark to distinguish the goods of one party from those of another must be present at the time of application, even if registration is sought in Part B of the Trademarks Register.

15 January 2003

The New Zealand Court of Appeal has found that the use of the word 'Budweiser' on bottle labels produced by Czech beer company Budweiser Budvar infringes the trademark rights of the US brewer of Budweiser, even though the claims of passing off and confusion were rejected.

14 November 2002

New Zealand's newest second-level domain - '.maori.nz' - has gone live and, inevitably, has become a target for potential cybersquatters. Craig Beecroft, a former Tainui executive, has registered 'tainui.maori.nz', as well as 60 other domain names.

25 October 2002

A UDRP complaint involving the domain name 'blackwaterrafting.com' has resulted in the removal of the BLACK WATER RAFTING trademark from the New Zealand trademarks register, highlighting the dangers of choosing marks with descriptive connotations.

22 July 2002

Australian-based Internet Name Group and Internet Registry have circumvented their suspension from registering domain names in the '.nz' domain space. Domainz, New Zealand's internet registry, had suspended the two companies following numerous complaints about their marketing campaigns.

17 June 2002

InternetNZ, the non-profit society that administers the '.nz' namespace, is in the midst of implementing a competitive registration system. The new system will encourage the entry of new registrars into the market, ending the monopoly held by Domainz.

26 March 2002

New Zealand's domain name registry Domainz has suspended Strongnet, an internet service provider, after it launched a spam campaign designed to poach customers from rival Asia Online. The suspension remains in place while Domainz considers whether Strongnet broke any registry rules.

06 December 2001