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Ka Mate can't be stuffed back in its genie bottle
Surely it's too late to try to shove the Ka Mate genie
back in any kind of intellectual property lamp
By Peter Kerr for sticK
(sticK - 22 Nov. 2010 ) Well IPONZ, the Intellectual Property Office, have opened up a can of worms in accepting that the words 'KA MATE' and a logo featuring those words can be trademarked.
This follows the mandated authority for Ngati Toa, Te Runanga O Toa Rangatira Inc unsuccessfully trying from 1998 to 2006 to win trademark registration for the entire words to Ka Mate, the well-known All Black haka, and spur-of-the-moment performance given by overseas kiwis.
It is also the subject of various other renditions from YouTube lego to advertising take offs.
Originally IPONZ ruled that the words were in the public domain and could not be monopolised as no one particular organisation could be identified as the trade source of goods or services promoted in conjunction with this haka. In other words, it wasn't a 'brand' capable of distinguishing your activities from those of others.
On that basis, Ka Mate's genie was well and truly out of the lamp. For the majority of people, this haka is part of our cultural identity.
For sticK – science, technology, innovation &
commercialisation KNOWLEDGE - is a new Wellington based
news service concentrating on following the money from ideas
to income. Contact editor Peter Kerr at peter.kerr055 @
gmail.com
Peter Kerr
Message maker
Writer, communicator, simplifier, storyteller.
Versed in the art and science of translating something complicated into an understandable message.
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