Few things make my blood boil like those maggoty-sacks-of-offal who prey on the vulnerable. Volunteering at the Māngere Community Law Centre many years ago (via the Russell McVeagh programme) introduced me to all manner of sharks in our midst. I’m thinking of the pay-day lenders with their punitive interest rates and nasty default clauses. And the car dealers who sell lemons at high...
Section 17(1)(a), which prohibits registration of a trade mark if its use is likely to deceive or cause confusion, is a funny provision in terms of onus. An opponent relying on an earlier mark must meet an initial threshold test of showing that the earlier mark has a sufficient reputation, and if it can do so then the onus of proof flips to the trade mark applicant. Traditionally, that initial...
First, a confession. This particular bugbear is linked to an earlier one: direct-to-consumer sales of gene testing for health purposes. I posted about that here. To add fuel to my already well-stoked fire of indignation, the presenter who tried to sell me gene testing and analysis services styled herself as “Dr L_____”. Dr L’s business card gave her qualifications as “DDS, BS, Genetic...
Earlier this year I went to a workshop on the GI aspects of the EU – New Zealand Free Trade Agreement negotiations. New Zealand’s lead negotiator, Martin Harvey, gave an update on the status of those negotiations. As is widely-known, the EU wants New Zealand to recognise GIs that are protected in the EU, and it would reciprocate in kind. Of course, the number of European GIs far...
Maybe I’m naïve, but last year I went to a talk our local library, which was billed as “a free educational evening on epigenetics, nutrigenetics, nutrigenomics, inflammation, methylation, vitamin D & more”, thinking that it was going to be a general academic talk on those subjects. Perhaps I was lulled into a false sense of security by the venue, or the fact that I was invited by...
