Sticking up for brand name Sellotape

By IRENE CHAPPLE

Warnings over the use of the Sellotape trademark will intensify next month as the company seeks to protect its sticky tape brand.

Sellotape New Zealand is in pre-emptive damage control over pending changes in trademarks law.

The Trade Marks Bill, reported on by the select committee in March, is in limbo until after the election.

However, legal firm A.J. Park has been sending letters to publications and people who use the word Sellotape, warning them to use the brand name correctly.

While the letters have irritated some, Sellotape New Zealand marketing manager Keath Seto said most responses had been positive.

Next month, similar warnings would be placed in major newspapers, he said.

The kerfuffle arises from a controversial new clause introduced to the Trade Marks Bill.

The clause, opposed by the Institute of Trademark Attorneys, allows trademarks to be revoked if they become a common name in public use. At present, trademarks can be revoked only if they become common within the same industry.

The change means brand names commonly used to describe types of product - such as Sellotape for clear sticky tape, Jandals for thongs and Rollerblades for in-line skates - are under threat of losing the rights to their brand names.

Instead, the brand name would enter common use, and could be used for generic descriptions.

Ironically, the MP behind the change, Associate Commerce Minister Laila Harre, is the granddaughter of Jandals inventor Maurice Yock.

Bryan Thompson, a partner at A.J. Park and author of the Institute of Patent Attorneys' submission on the bill, said the group could do little more to stop its progress.

Instead, companies with commonly used brand names should focus on educating the public.

Sellotape now had a clipping service to watch use of the name and lawyers had searched the internet to find usage of the brand name.

Those who used the brand name were asked to ensure it was in upper case and recognised as a trademark.

That angered one woman. She had used the word on a personal website and said she felt bullied.

Sellotape lawyer John Hackett said people needed to understand the brand would lose its valuable goodwill if used generically.

As well, the public relied on trademarks to recognise quality.