30 Jul 2013
HOLDFAST NEW ZEALAND LIMITED V MECHANICAL PLASTICS CORP CA240/2012, [2013] NZCA 335
- Citation
- [2013] NZCA 335
- Court
- Court of Appeal
The Court upheld the High Court's findings that Holdfast substituted its BULLDOG products for MPC's TOGGLER products without informing retailers (demonstrated by continued use of MPC SKU codes and trap-order evidence), and that this substitution amounted to reverse passing off and misleading and deceptive conduct in breach of s 9 of the Fair Trading Act; the Court found, however, that the High Court erred in treating Holdfast's advertising alone as independently constituting actionable passing off and s 9 breach, though that error did not alter the outcome of liability for substitution.