The best way to protect Kiwi taonga is not to protect them

The best way to protect Kiwi taonga is not to protect them

The best way for New Zealanders to protect our stuff, our taonga – things that help define our identity – may be to leave them alone in the public domain.

Intellectual property expert, Theodore Doucas of Zone IP, an intellectual property management consultancy in Wellington, said recent headlines about a court case involving the use of the name Tui by a German company, and the Maori stylised tattoo in The Hangover II might leave some people feeling robbed of things New Zealand.

In particular a recent American lawsuit between Americans over the rights to a Maori influenced tattoo in The Hangover II Hollywood movie may have left some New Zealanders feeling aggrieved.

“The reality is that as far as trade marking the likes of the name Tui or Paeroa – even the Kamate Haka – comes down to a question of first in first served, and it doesn’t matter if the companies applying to assert rights over these things are overseas based.

“Coca Cola owns Paeroa or a version of it, for soft drinks, and a German company owns some trademarks around the name Tui – the subject of current dispute with DB Breweries (which is overseas owned anyway).

“If we look to trademark things like the Kamate Haka or stylised Maori tattoos, then all we’re doing is turning them into commodities. That then means they become products that can be traded, licensed and used for profit purposes, that could eventually be owned by an overseas company.

“Indigenous rights to cultural imagery and wording do not fit neatly into the intellectual property arena. However, over the years, indigenous groups have moved to try and protect sacred institutions and things of cultural significance by utilising legal protection through intellectual property, as best they can, to prevent the exploitation of such things.

“We should look at it as a compliment that people would want to copy our uniquely New Zealand style. However, maybe the time is ripe for New Zealand to lead the way in a new form of intellectual property that protects indigenous and cultural rights.”

Mr Doucas said that until then the best protection for Kiwi stuff may be to leave it in the cultural domain as part of our cultural identity.

“Many of these things don’t have any significance elsewhere, so our culture and our history asserts a natural ownership. If people want to trace the origins of something, they’re going to find the roots here in New Zealand anyway,” he said.

Mr Doucas said it was natural for some people to feel annoyed when they find that rights to our names, our taonga and other uniquely Kiwi things, might be owned by offshore interests.

“But a better way to protect them at this stage may be to assert traditional cultural rights in the public domain, instead of trying to commoditise things of spiritual significance.

“They will always inherently belong to us,” he said.

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