McLaren's bids and the PNG Chiefs: How does trademark law work?

Trademark law is in the spotlight with a couple of key cases making the news.  

British Car Manufacturer McLaren has applied to trademark the Auckland suburbs of Remuera and Muriwai – potentially for their first SUV.  

And NZ Rugby has taken legal action to stop Papua New Guinea's new NRL franchise from using the 'Chiefs' name. 

Intellectual Property Lawyer Rick Shera told Mike Hosking that while it's unlikely there'd be confusion between New Zealand's Chiefs and Papua New Guinea's, trademark law isn't based on confusion, it's based on distinction. 

He says that even if NZR was sympathetic to the PNG club, they have to defend their trademark or they risk losing it later down the line.  

With the McLaren case, securing those trademarks within New Zealand would likely be a challenge, Shera told Hosking, but not overseas. 

He says trademarks are jurisdictional, so as long as there's no Remuera SUV mark, car mark, or vehicle mark in the UK, they'll probably be fine. 

Shera says their bigger issue would be the fact that they're Māori names, which could cause controversy.  

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