Fair Trading Act Archives

Domain names and websites

A domain name is not intellectual property in itself, but the registration and use of domain names can infringe intellectual property rights. This post considers how domain names are treated at law. Domain name dispute resolution services New Zealand Domain Name Commissioner The Domain Name Commissioner (“DNC”) is responsible for administering the .nz domain space. In 2006, the Commissioner established a system, called the Dispute Resolution Service (“DRS”), for resolving disputes regarding [...]

Louisa Currie2020-07-28T00:44:45+00:00Intellectual property|Comments Off

Comparative advertising and the Fair Trading Act

While the Trade Marks Act governs whether comparative advertisements are permitted in the first place, the Fair Trading Act complements this regime by providing rules that can be used to regulate the substance of such advertisements. There are four sections of the Fair Trading Act potentially relevant to the practice of comparative advertising. These are: (a) section 9 (misleading and deceptive conduct in the course of trade); (b) sections 10 and [...]

Louisa Currie2020-07-28T00:41:40+00:00Intellectual property|Comments Off

Fair Trading Act

The Fair Trading Act regulates the conduct of people who are engaged in trades. It is primarily a consumer protection measure, but is also readily used by competitors engaged in intellectual property disputes, given the relatively broad wording of the operative provisions. The Act applies to parties engaged “in trade”. This clearly applies to companies, but can also cover individuals and the Crown depending on the particular activities. There are a [...]

Louisa Currie2020-06-02T01:48:19+00:00Intellectual property|Comments Off