Fair Trade
New Zealand has a comprehensive set of laws which govern how businesses trade with each other and with consumers.
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Fair trading in New Zealand
New Zealand has a comprehensive set of laws which govern how businesses trade with each other and with consumers. These include the Fair Trading Act 1986, the tort of passing off, the Sale of Goods Act 1908 and the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993.
Of this legislation intellectual property rights are primarily enforced under the Fair Trading Act (FTA). The FTA applies to conduct “in trade” and endeavours to promote fair competition and protect consumers by prohibiting businesses from making misrepresentations to consumers about their goods and services. The Act also obliges businesses to comply with product safety, service safety and consumer information standards.
Meet our experts
Partner
Ceri Wells
Ceri is a founding partner of James & Wells, a past president of the New Zealand Institute of Patent Attorneys, an experienced patent and trade mark attorney, and an outspoken champion of innovation. As an experienced lawyer and patent attorney…
Managing Partner
Tim Walden
Tim is the Managing Partner of James & Wells and specialises in trade mark law. Managing large trade mark portfolios, completing clearance investigations for new brands, devising filing strategies, establishing brand ownership, and enforcing trade marks overseas, are all part…
Partner
Carrick Robinson
Carrick is a trade mark and branding specialist with over 23 years of intellectual property experience in New Zealand and the United Kingdom. He assists businesses with mitigating brand risk and with leveraging their IP and works with brand managers…
Partner
Ben Cain
Having spent 14 years as a professional marketer and brand design manager before qualifying as a lawyer, Ben’s passion is resolving disputes concerning registered or common law trade mark rights, domain names, copyright rights, registered designs, fair trading issues and…
Associate
Stephanie Hadley
Stephanie is an Associate and Trade Mark Attorney based in our Christchurch office. With a background in marketing, media, and food and beverage law, she delivers quality legal service and brand strategy on trade marks, has specialist knowledge in food…
Associate
Shaun Hagerty
Shaun is an Associate in the Hamilton Trade Marks team. Shaun also works in the Asia Division. He specialises in advising clients from a wide range of industries regarding the availability, protection and maintenance of their brands in New Zealand…
Associate
Edward Chen
Edward is a Taiwanese born and New Zealand educated trade mark lawyer with a background in commercial law. The majority of Edward’s work concerns trade mark law and practice, with a particular focus on registering and clearing trade marks for…
Of Counsel
Andrew Knowles
With over 30 years’ experience working in intellectual property, Andrew has been involved in numerous trade mark and design cases both in prosecution and litigation. His current practice includes working with clients on trade marks, copyright, design and patents. Outside…
Partner
Alexia Mayer
Alexia is an experienced Australian and New Zealand intellectual property (IP) litigator. Alexia’s practice includes patent, trade mark and copyright infringement, patent and trade mark oppositions, breach of confidence, IP ownership disputes, misleading and deceptive conduct, IP licensing, and pharmaceutical/medical…
Partner
Jason Wach
Jason is an experienced intellectual property litigator. He has an extensive background in acting for local and international businesses and assisting them with the enforcement of intellectual property rights. He has appeared as counsel and assisted senior counsel in all…
Partner
Ian Finch
Ian is recognised as one of New Zealand’s most influential leaders in intellectual property. He has extensive experience advising clients in the filing, prosecution, and enforcement of their innovation at all levels and across a range of industries, particularly in…
Partner
Gus Hazel
Gus is one of Australasia’s most experienced intellectual property lawyers. His experience includes litigation at all levels of the Australian and New Zealand systems, alternative dispute resolution procedures (mediation and arbitration), commercialisation, regulatory issues and administrative law. In addition to…
Associate
James Rowland
James is an Associate in our litigation team. James’s practice, while extending across a range of intellectual property rights, is centred predominantly on the obtaining and enforcement of patent rights. Frequently working across teams and in multi-jurisdictional disputes, James has…
Associate
George Jackson
George is an Associate with the litigation team based out of Tauranga. George’s practice includes dispute and enforcement of a range of intellectual property rights, but with a particular focus on trade mark and Fair Trading Act 1986 matters. George…
Associate
Kathryn McLardy
Kathryn is an Associate in the James & Wells Litigation team, based in our Christchurch office. She completed her LLB (Hons) at the University of Canterbury and upon completion she received the University Prize in Law. During her degree, Kathryn…
Insights and resources
Champions of Innovation®
Since 1979, James & Wells has been at the forefront of innovation in Australasia. We are here to help you grow, leverage and protect your IP. Our depth of experience ranges from managing large IP portfolios for international corporations, right through to protecting the ideas of start-ups, and everything in between. No matter the size of your organisation, James & Wells are here to be your dedicated Champions of Innovation®.
We are a full-service IP firm – that means you will find everything you need to protect your IP just by working with us. We will help you with patents, trade marks, litigation and IP strategy – our people are externally recognised as some of the best in the business, and they work together to bring you custom-built IP solutions that are tailored exactly to your needs. When you work with James & Wells, you know you’re in a safe pair of hands, with a highly experienced team supporting you.
Talk to us today about how we can work together.