12 Jul 2023
ZURU NEW ZEALAND LIMITED v LEGO JURIS A/S [2023] NZHC 1808
- Citation
- [2023] NZHC 1808
- Court
- High Court
The Court held that ZURU's prominent use of the word 'LEGO' (with ®) on the front panels of its packaging WOULD be taken by a substantial number of prospective purchasers as use of the LEGO trade mark; ZURU's use was not in accordance with honest commercial practices (it sought to leverage LEGO's reputation, had inadequate legal justification and acted despite known objections); the use was not protected by s 94 (not comparative advertising) nor s 95 (not reasonably necessary nor honest descriptive use); accordingly ZURU infringed s 89(1) though passing off and FTA claims failed.