The Trade Marks Act 2002 outlines that trade marks must be rejected if they are likely to offend a significant section of the community. The first part of this article discusses trade marks that are likely to offend a significant section of the community more broadly, while the second part focuses specifically on trade marks that are likely to offend Māori.
Likely to offend a significant section of the community
Adopting the Macquarie Dictionary’s definition, the Intellectual Property Office of New Zealand (IPONZ) acknowledges the word ‘offend’ means to ‘irritate in mind or feeling’ and ‘to cause resentful displeasure in’. Under this definition, when assessing whether a trade mark is likely to offend a significant section of the community, IPONZ outlines that its examiners will take into account the following considerations:
– Each case must be decided on its own merits.
– The question must be considered as at the date of application.
– The question must be considered objectively, from the point of view of “right-thinking members of the public”.
– A mark should be considered likely to offend a significant section of the community where:
– The mark is likely to cause a significant section of the community to be outraged; and/or
– A significant section of the community is likely to feel that the use or registration of the mark should be the subject of censure.
– A significant section of the community is likely to feel that the mark should be the subject of censure where the mark is likely to undermine current religious, family or social values.
Influential on the New Zealand approach to assessing what suffices ‘a significant section of the community’ was the 1976 ‘Hallelujah Trade Mark’ case in the UK. When deciding whether to allow the trade mark ‘Hallelujah’ as the name of a women’s clothing brand, the Registrar’s Hearing Officer found the trade mark was “reasonably likely to offend the religious susceptibilities of a not insubstantial number of persons”.
Although this trade mark application might be decided differently today, the Hearing Officer stressed that rejection of an application is warranted even where the group of people offended are a minority, so long as they are substantial in number. Influenced by this UK decision, IPONZ also outlines that its examiners will also take into account the following considerations:
– The significant section of the community may be a minority that is nevertheless substantial in number.
– A higher degree of outrage or censure among a smaller section of the community, or a lesser degree of outrage or censure among a larger section of the community, may suffice.
Lastly, one interesting principle that the IPONZ examiner will consider is that the application should not be rejected merely because the mark is considered to be poor taste. In a more recent decision by the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market (the trade mark registry for the European Union) the previous examiner had rejected the trade mark ‘Dick & Fanny’ on the basis it could offend a significant portion of English speaking consumers. However upon appeal, the trade mark was accepted, on grounds that the trade mark “may, at most, raise a question of taste, but not one of public policy or morality”.
This decision has made it clear that a distinction should be drawn between trademarks that are offensive and trade marks that could be considered poor taste. While the former will be rejected, registration of the latter is not necessarily prohibited.
Likely to offend Māori
In the mid 1990’s, in response to claims that the Trade Marks Act 1953 insufficiently protected Māori intellectual property, the New Zealand Government established the Māori Trade Marks Focus Group. On the focus group’s recommendation, the commissioner now has access to the Māori Trade Marks Advisory Committee when making decisions on Māori trade marks. While not binding, the committee provides advice to the commissioner to minimise the risk of registering trade marks that are likely to cause offence to Māori.
All trade mark applications using Māori text or imagery will be referred to the advisory committee, who will then make a recommendation to the commissioner. One of their key considerations concerns the Māori words ‘Tapu’ and ‘Noa’. Tapu is the strongest force in Māori life, and can be used to describe people, objects or places that are ‘sacred’ or carry ‘spiritual restrictions’. Conversely, noa can be used to describe people, objects and places that are ‘common’, from which the tapu has been lifted. Therefore, trade marks that combine or associate tapu and noa can be considered offensive or inappropriate to a number of Māori.
For example, in 1927 the ‘Native Brand Co’ produced Worcester sauce under a logo that depicted a rangatira (Māori Chief, which is a position considered tapu). IPONZ considers that such a trade mark would not likely be registered today, because associating tapu (a Māori Chief) and noa (a household food items) signifies an attempt to lift the tapu of a Māori Chief, which could be considered offensive.
In some circumstances, it may be appropriate for a Māori name to be gifted to a business or organisation by tangata whenua – the Māori people of the land. Such a gifting or blessing is often done in accordance with mana whenua – the mana or power that comes from the land or rights to the land. A recent example was the gifting of the name ‘Tūranga’ to the new Christchurch City Central Library by Ngāi Tūāhuriri, a subtribe of Ngāi Tahu. Because the name honours a North Island settlement that was home to the Ngāi Tahu ancestor Paikea, use of the name without Māori consent could have likely been considered offensive.
If you are still unsure whether your trade mark might be considered as too offensive to be registered, you may like to consider getting a ‘Search and Preliminary Advice Report’ from IPONZ. This preliminary assessment will give an indication whether your Trade Mark will be allowed. You can read our article about getting a Search and Preliminary Advice Report here.
Should you need any assistance with these, or with any other Commercial matters, please contact Kris Morrison or Steven Moe at Parry Field Lawyers (+64 3 348 8480).
For a more general overview of registering a trade mark, please see our original article here.
