Manuka Honey Certification Mark Application Unsuccessful

The Intellectual Property Office of New Zealand (IPONZ) has published its decision on the opposition to the ‘MANUKA HONEY’ trade mark application.

The decision refuses the application to register ‘MANUKA HONEY’ as a certification mark. It refuses the application on several grounds, including that ‘MANUKA HONEY’ is descriptive of the goods of the application and is therefore not registrable under the Trade Marks Act 2002.

In 2015 an application was made to IPONZ seeking registration for ‘MANUKA HONEY’ as a certification trade mark in Aotearoa New Zealand for honey produced in New Zealand.

The mark was formally accepted on 3 April 2018 in the name of the Manuka Honey Appellation Society (MHAS).

The Australian Manuka Honey Association Limited (AMHA) opposed the application.

A copy of the decision can be found here

Both parties have twenty working days to appeal the decision to the High Court.

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