Our Work

2007

Trelise Cooper v Tamsin Cooper
Bell Gully acted for Arrowtown fashion designer Tamsin Cooper in relation to High Court proceedings brought against her by Trelise Cooper Limited, a company associated with the fashion designer Trelise Cooper. This was a high profile dispute relating to Tamsin Cooper's ability to trade under her own name, and involved claims for trade mark infringement, passing off and the Fair Trading Act. The matter was resolved in July 2007 by Trelise Cooper discontinuing the proceedings and abandoning oppositions which had been lodged against the "Tamsin Cooper" trade marks. Trelise Cooper also agreed that Tamsin Cooper has the right to continue to trade under her own name.

Hermes International v Hermes Gloves Limited
Bell Gully is acting for Hermes Gloves Ltd in a claim brought against it by French fashion entity, Hermes International. The French company alleges that Hermes Gloves Ltd has infringed its copyright and that its trade mark registration in New Zealand should be revoked for non-use and/or because its use of the relevant trade marks has been such that it is likely to deceive or confuse the public.

InterCity Group Limited v Traction Group Limited
InterCity Group claimed that its rights resulting from its registered trade mark INTERCITY and its extensive reputation in the INTERCITY name meant that the defendant's registration of the domain name www.intercity.co.nz amounted to an unfair registration. Bell Gully acted successfully for InterCity Group in what was the first claim lodged with New Zealand’s new domain name dispute service which came into force on 1 June 2006.

Kabushiki Kaisha Sony Computer Entertainment v van Veen
Bell Gully is acting for Sony in this anti-circumvention device claim relating to the copy- protection contained in PlayStation2 game systems and PlayStation2 game software.

Automobile Club de L'Ouest Aco v South Pacific Tyres New Zealand Limited
South Pacific Tyres' opposed the French automobile club famous for organising the 24 hour race of LE MANS from registering LE MANS as a trade mark for tyres in New Zealand.  South Pacific Tyres has used the mark LE MANS in connection with tyres in New Zealand for almost 20 years. Bell Gully acted successfully for South Pacific Tyres in a claim which is significant in the wider context of providing guidance on the extent to which a party can rely on its global reputation to acquire rights in a country where it has not traded.