Gen-i not happy about Gen IP

By RICHARD WOOD

Systems integrator gen-i says it will not stand by and let Australian company Dattatech open a subsidiary under the name Gen IP in New Zealand.

Dattatech, whose stated expertise is in intellectual property (IP), reserved the company name Gen IP on Wednesday - ironically after it found the name
Dattatech was not possible.

The company, which started in July 2001, also has plans to change its name to Gen IP in Australia, where gen-i has also been operating since early last year.

Gen-i managing director Garth Biggs said he found out about the Gen IP registration this morning and immediately put his lawyers on the case.

Biggs said gen-i had a lot invested in its name. "I can only believe it is a genuine mistake, but it has got to be resolved."

Dattatech director of business technology Gavin Matthews said his company was unaware of the existence of gen-i until the Herald called.

"That's a new one to us. We searched for GenI, Gen I, Gen IP, Generation IP, all these sorts of things. Our solicitors normally go through all that sort of thing really thoroughly," he said.

In New Zealand gen-i is a $125 million per year business with 400 plus staff. In Australia it turned over $11.2 million last year and employees 38 staff.

A meeting of Dattatech directors has been called urgently.

"We may extend the name to Generation IP. It will be one of those things that we will look at and look at advice from our solicitors when they get the letter," said Matthews.

Biggs said the name Generation IP still leaves him uncomfortable as Dattatech appears to offer services that are in gen-i's core business, but Matthews says there is unlikely to much overlap between the two companies. Dattatech's website says described its business as knowledge management, online services and business infrastructure. It states Dattatech is "a wholly Australian owned Information Technology company developing knowledge networks to regional corporate and Government clients."

Matthews said Dattatech is not really an IT integrator: "We are an intellectual property company and that includes everything. It's based around IT and technology fields but it's based on individuals."

The company develops IP-based businesses within its business or as separate entities and sells those off with appropriate IP rights or licensing, he said. Dattatech has eight full time staff and 85 contractors and expects to open its New Zealand office by the end of the year. The move into New Zealand is on the back of a deal with an unnamed New Zealand government-owned organisation.

The board of Dattatech includes two New Zealanders who have not lived here for a number of years. The New Zealand operation will be headed by one of those, Kane Robinson.