Trade Marks Act 2002

Registrability of trade marks - Relative grounds for not registering trade mark - Registrability of trade mark that contains flags

30: When emblems, etc, are protected under Paris Convention or TRIPS Agreement

You could also call this:

"Rules for using country symbols and names on trade marks"

When you see a flag, symbol, or name of a country or international organisation on a trade mark, you might wonder if it's allowed. This part of the law explains when these things are protected.

A country (other than New Zealand) or an international organisation can ask New Zealand to protect their special symbols, signs, or names. They do this by sending a notice to New Zealand. This notice is like saying, "Please don't let anyone use our symbol without permission."

For the protection to work, three things need to happen:

First, the country or organisation must send the notice to New Zealand in the right way. They follow special rules to do this.

Second, the notice must still be active. If they sent it a long time ago and then changed their mind, it might not count anymore.

Third, New Zealand must not have said "no" to the request. If New Zealand did say no at first, they must have changed their mind and said "okay" later.

If all these things happen, then the symbol, sign, or name is protected. This means you can't use it on a trade mark without special permission.

This text is automatically generated. It might be out of date or be missing some parts. Find out more about how we do this.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM164483.


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29: Registrability of trade mark that contains armorial bearings, etc, of certain international organisations, or

"Rules for using symbols of international groups in trade marks"


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31: Classification of trade marks, or

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Part 2Registrability of trade marks
Relative grounds for not registering trade mark: Registrability of trade mark that contains flags

30When emblems, etc, are protected under Paris Convention or TRIPS Agreement

  1. For the purposes of sections 28 and 29, the State emblems (other than the national flag) of, or the official signs or hallmarks adopted by, a convention country, or the emblems, abbreviations, or names, of an international organisation, as the case may be, are protected under the Paris Convention or the TRIPS Agreement only if, or to the extent that,—

  2. the country or the organisation concerned has notified New Zealand in accordance with Article 6ter (3) of the Paris Convention, or under that Article as applied by the TRIPS Agreement, that it desires to protect the State emblem, official sign, or hallmark, or the emblem, abbreviation, or name, as the case may be; and
    1. the notification remains in force; and
      1. New Zealand has not objected to it in accordance with Article 6ter (4) of the Paris Convention, or under that Article as applied by the TRIPS Agreement, or any such objection has been withdrawn.