The Parties
Lacoste is the registered trade mark owner. Crocodile
International Pte Limited (Crocodile
International) applied to revoke the trade mark
registration on the basis of non-use. This New Zealand Court of
Appeal judgment (Wild, French and Kós JJ) relates to an
appeal by Crocodile International from the earlier High Court
judgment of Collins J, who allowed Lacoste's appeal against the
original decision by the Assistant Commissioner of Trade Marks to
revoke the trade mark registration.
The Trade Mark
The trade mark in issue was New Zealand trade mark number 70068
for the following logo:
(the Registered Mark).
Background and Issues
Under section 66(1)(a) of the Trade Marks Act 2002
(NZ), a registered trade mark may be revoked if it has not been
genuinely used as a trade mark in the course of trade for its
relevant goods or services for a continuous period of 3 years.
(Note that the timing for when a non-use application can be brought
differs
