Category: Business

Source: Radio New Zealand

The head of Airways NZ is confident there were no mistakes made by his staff after a 20-year-old software glitch left planes circling in the air.

The aircraft service provider has released its investigation into the 16 August issue with its oceanic air traffic control system.

It was caused by a problem with its software’s code that had been there for more than 20 years.

The organisation did regular testing of its system but, Airways NZ chief executive James Young told Morning Report it was not picked up.

“It has never presented itself in the past, no.”

Young said the computer problem had since been patched.

His workers managed the situation effectively, he said.

“They followed all of our established procedures, they ensured safety was protected at all times and they also restored the system quite quickly. The outage itself lasted for 49 minutes.”

As the owner of the software Airways NZ took responsibility for the problem, Young said.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

You might be on track to save a lot more in your KiwiSaver than you think.

When you receive an annual statement from your KiwiSaver provider, it will show you what lump sum you are on track to have saved by the time you are 65, and what that should mean per week.

The projections are based on assumptions set by the government, which include what returns you can expect from your fund.

These assumptions are also used in most calculators that you might use online.

But the problem is that many funds have been delivering more than twice those projected returns for a number of years.

The government says conservative funds need to assume a return of 2.5 percent a year after fees and tax. Balanced funds need to assume 3.5 percent, growth 4.5 percent and aggressive 5.5 percent.

Morningstar data director Greg Bunkall said the growth fund benchmark had returned 8.8 percent a year for the past 10 years, before inflation.

Rupert Carlyon, founder of Koura Wealth, said tax would take off up to about 1 percent.

“I guess it is important to point out that the last 10 years has delivered market returns of about 14 percent in New Zealand dollar terms, compared to a longer-term average of 9 percent. Blackrock are estimating equity returns for the next 10 years to be in the range of 5 percent to 6 percent. After adjusting for fees and tax, you are well below the 5.5 percent assumption currently used for a growth fund.

“The FMA is potentially being conservative with their assumptions, though I think that is the right approach. You are better off ensuring people have a little more than expected rather than using a heroic assumption that then means they come up short. The flip side is you are encouraging people to save too much and making their goal a little harder than anticipated.

“I don’t think the returns have been reviewed since they were created and it would also be nice to understand the maths on what has driven those returns. “

Mike Taylor, founder of Pie Funds, said there could be an argument to expect 6 percent from growth funds and 8 percent for aggressive funds.

At Kernel, founder Dean Anderson said it was important the assumptions were standardised, and it was better if the assumption was too low rather than too high.

“They’ve created consistency and said we’re not going to enable people to effectively market and attract customers through making up assumptions about the future but conversely it’s obviously now potentially sort of understated – there’s quite a conservative assumption about very long term returns.”

Danielle McKenzie, financial markets manager at the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment said the ministry was aware the regulatory formula for calculating future returns on KiwiSaver investments, set out in the Financial Markets Conduct Regulations, needed review.

“This is not in our current work programme but will be considered as we look ahead. There is no timeframe for a review, which will depend on government priorities.”

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

An Inland Revenue system fix last weekend has rectified an error that affected more than 150,000 student loan borrowers.

Inland Revenue said in 2020, as part of its business transformation project, student loan accounts were moved into a new system.

“This was extremely complex and with complexity errors can arise.”

Last year, Inland Revenue found an error with the student loan interest calculation for some student loan accounts, which resulted in borrowers being overcharged or underchanged interest. The error was worth $15 million.

“Student loan interest calculations are complex, and some of the underlying causes relate to before the system upgrades were made through our business transformation.

“It took some time for us to establish the causes, establish fixes and test them. We also needed to do some manual work in preparation for making a system fix. Implementing the system fix required a system outage and to limit the impact the outage needed to take place on a weekend that is not on (or close to) a significant tax filing date.

“Inland Revenue successfully implemented a system fix over the weekend of 6 and 7 December 2025. We are confident that the system fix we have implemented has resolved this system error,” a spokesperson said.

About 23,000 people who had paid off their loans had been given a refund, an average of $10.50.

Another 64,500 still paying off their student loans received a credit, of an average $10.

About 67,000 people had interest added and then written off. IRD said most had less than $20 written off.

IRD said it had notified the affected borrowers.

“Customers will not receive an unexpected bill due to this error. Inland Revenue has written off the undercharged interested that was applied to affected customers’ accounts. Customers have been credited overcharged interest or refunded if the loan has been repaid.

“The total amount written off due to this error is approximately $15 million, which is less than 0.1 percent of all student loan balances.”

One affected borrower said she had been told she owed $276.61 for loan interest that was incorrectly calculated during her time overseas.

She refused to pay while she asked for more information, during which time IRD contacted her employer to deduct from her pay directly.

When she filed an Official Information Act request to find out more about what had happened, she was told the balance had been reduced to zero.

She was then told the problem had been resolved and she was getting a $1.31 refund.

Inland Revenue said it was not always possible to fix problems immediately.

“Some errors take time to be discovered and appropriate fixes to be worked through. When we do find an error, or someone alerts us to something that is not working as intended, we work as quickly as we can to understand what the error is and fix it. Every year, we update our systems and processes multiple times to make improvements. While very few errors come from these updates, occasionally there are some.”

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

New Zealand’s public listed companies can expect to see a rise in shareholder activism as well as major legal reforms ahead as the economy continues to recover.

Legal firm Chapman Tripp’s latest Corporate Governance Trends and Insights report indicates big changes ahead for the boards of NZX companies.

“It’s a dynamic period for bold governors. There’s quite a lot of change going on in our own business. We’re confronting what artificial intelligence means for us, as are many businesses,” Chapman Tripp corporate partner Roger Wallis said.

“There’s a lot coming up. We’re coming out of a deep recession, so with that comes quite a few opportunities for boards to have a fresh think about how they can get the best outcomes for their shareholders and other stakeholders.”

He said there were likely to “some quite profound changes in the way that companies are managed” over the next two or three years.

“Some of that will come out of law reform. Some of that will come out of the needs of investors at the time, as the marketplace changes.”

Among the changes would be an increase in shareholder activism from large and small shareholders, which was expected to gather further speed over the next 10 to 15 years.

“The world in which boards operate has become more difficult and the statutory framework has struggled to keep up,” he said.

“Obvious examples of this are the emergence of social media and the intrusion of privacy that it allows, and the pendulum swing away from prescription and toward simplicity.”

Contributing factors for increased activism

• Larger shareholders with deep pockets seeking to increase their stake and influence
• A continuing flow of small shareholders to the share market, and their ability to mobilise through Sharesies and the New Zealand Shareholders’ Association
• A complex mesh of challenges that businesses will have to negotiate – the AI revolution

environmental, economic and regulatory impacts of climate change, the changing geopolitical environment and what to expect as developed economies, including New Zealand, confront stubborn fiscal constraints and the social pressures they will generate.

The law reforms coming

“Reform of the governance statutory framework is very much on the agenda for 2026,” Wallis said, adding change had been coming for some years.

The Law Commission was expected to advance a review of directors’ duties, with the final report due before the end of 2027.

Wallis said the reforms would also include modernisation, simplification and digitisation changes to the Companies Act, including the long-awaited director role-holder identification number.

“There’s some things NZX can do to make things simpler for high growth companies — to make the settings more attractive, more flexible,” Wallis said.

“There’s a role to make it easier to convey information to investors using more modern technologies, but for the governors of those companies, that puts a special onus on them to make sure that investors are getting high quality information.

“And so there are some useful things that the government is working on with NZX to try and make the rules more useful for investors and less costly for issuing companies.”

Changes in board compensation

Wallis said there had also been a welcomed shift in board composition of the NZX Top 75 over the past nine years:

• The proportion of women directors as of 31 March 2025 was 35 percent, compared with 29 percent in 2017 and 24 percent in 2015
• Women comprised 25 percent of board chairs compared with 8 percent in 2017
• Heavier preponderance of independent directors to 78 percent from 68 percent in 2017.

“I think it’s just recognition of the benefits of greater diversity of thought,” he said, adding the length of time directors sat on boards had also changed.

“On average it’s only six years. . . that’s a healthy thing, that there is turnover and change over time, so that people bring fresh perspectives.”

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

Behind a sea of road cones, diggers and traffic chaos, businesses on a busy Auckland road are crying out for help.

Shop owners in Grey Lynn say they have been struggling to stay afloat since a year-long roadwork project began on Great North Road in January.

With access often cut off and shops hidden from view, one business is surviving off loans, while another said times are the toughest they have been in 23 years, including during Covid.

High metal fences surround the frontage of Avi’s Pies and Patisserie.

It is part of the Great North Road Improvement Projects, aimed at making the busy road more accessible for pedestrians and cyclists.

Despite the project’s end date being set for later this month, one morning this week a digger sat unmanned, the road was quiet and the work looked far from complete.

The bakery’s owner, Raj Singh, said it has been this way for months now.

“The foot traffic has dropped down, people can’t see if we are open or closed because of the machines in front of our shop, barriers, everything.”

Since the roadworks appeared in front of his shop in October, he said sales have dropped by around 40 percent.

Since everything is baked fresh on site, if product isn’t sold it can’t be kept, meaning most days he finds himself throwing out countless pies.

He has even had to take out multiple loans in order to pay rent on the shop after being denied compensation by Auckland Transport.

“When the sale is not going it’s hard to pay staff, and for me I’m not taking any salary because when I earn some money, I just buy the food for my bakery and make it.”

Singh said Auckland Transport has told him works will done by Christmas, but after multiple delays he does not feel confident.

“I took the loan because I was thinking for two months, I can survive with no one helping me, they will be gone, nearby Christmas, before Christmas, but they’re not so now I have to keep asking the loan company can you help me a little bit more so I can survive for another two months.”

The last thing Singh wants to do is close the doors on his dream business that he only opened last year, but he fears if things don’t wrap up soon, it could come to that.

“Maybe I will close the business then, because it’s a financial hardship, I already took so many loans for surviving, now I don’t know how it will go because I asked the council, I asked AT, I asked the landlord for compensation to help me for a couple of months until the roadworks are gone.”

Down the road, Steven Joeng from the Newton Fish and Chippery is also feeling the pinch.

The roadworks have been constant outside his shop since June.

“The last two or three months business has been so so bad. Especially during lunchtime, I think I’m losing business by 50 to 60 percent.”

Earlier in the year high fences surrounded his shop, completely blocking it from view.

“I’ve been here for 23 years and it’s the worst thing that’s ever happened. Covid is not that bad, this is worse than Covid in terms of the business, in terms of the sales.”

Joeng is frustrated at the slow progress of the project and said many businesses on the street have reached out to Auckland Transport in hopes of a helping hand.

“We emailed Auckland Transport to see whether we can get some compensation, even a little bit to cover the loss, and their feedback to us is that this is not their responsibility. Their responsibility is to look after the road so it’s safe for everyone, I said this is not the case, safe or not safe, this is a case of I’m losing so much business because of this project.”

Across the road from the chippy, the owner of Alloy Wheel Repair, Ashley Ghillam said he was forced to close his business for a week while work was done in front of their driveway.

“It has certainly affected the business with people not being able to access the business, half the time they couldn’t even get into King St. I don’t know what it has cost us, but it’s definitely had an impact on the business, and on staff. The yard was out of action for a week, so there’s a week’s rent gone, about $1700.”

No compensation was offered by Auckland Transport to cover the losses.

Further up the road, owner of Charlie Boys Coffee, Nick Meng said if it hadn’t been for a loyal group of regulars, his business would have struggled to pull through.

The roadworks first popped up outside Meng’s café in March, and for two months a high fence completely blocked the café from view.

“It was disaster, there were no people all day,”

Like many other businesses, Meng is frustrated by the lack of parking available during the construction.

He said this cut out an entire portion of their customer base.

“The reason we survived is because this a long running café, it’s been here for 15 years… because the regulars support us we can survive.”

He said they were told work would occur on their section of the road for two months, but nine months later, cones are still scattered outside the storefront.

In a statement, Auckland Transport said construction has been ongoing since January and they plan to have the road resurfacing done by 19 December, however work may be delayed by bad weather.

They said everything possible is being done to maintain access to businesses, including allowing parking in areas where we are not working directly outside of, and providing information about the project and who to contact with any issues they have.

Work is now taking place overnight to allow for more extensive road closures.

Given the agency provided the necessary communications prior to and during construction, AT said there is no justified claim for compensation.

Mayor Wayne Brown, who has frequently decried the excessive use of road cones and lane closures in the city, was unavailable to comment.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

The New Zealand Exchange Top 50 Index is ending the year slightly stronger than where it started, with a few out-performers more than offsetting weakness in others.

Harbour Asset Management portfolio manager Shane Solley’s top picks for the year included seafood company Sanford, speciality milk company A2 Milk, the dairy co-operative Fonterra and the apple and pet food exporter Scales.

“Over the year, certainly the New Zealand share market performance has improved,” Solley said.

“People are seeing the market is getting this earnings recovery, but we will want to see confirmation, and so a lot of investors will be watching for the December period results that should come through in February, just to confirm that momentum.”

Generate investment specialist Greg Smith said the dairy sector had been particularly strong, with A2Milk’s share price up about 60 percent and Fonterra’s 40 percent, while Fletcher Building rose 25 percent, despite having had a difficult time over the past few years.

“It’s had its fair share of problems in recent years, but investors seem to be seeing some light there on a number of fronts and also the fact that it is a name that should benefit as the economy turns around.”

He said an easing in interest rates, as well as a notable increase in building consents.

“Could make for a much better 2026 for Fletchers and others in that sector.”

Solley said the second half of the calendar year had seen some big swings in the economy, as large cuts to the Reserve Bank’s official cash rate helped improve the outlook for a number of businesses.

“But really that first half of the year, we were rolling through negative earnings downgrades, and so that’s been a real battle for the market. If I look over the full year, there’s a couple of themes that come through.

“The share prices that have done better are Tower and Turner’s Auctions, with really strong franchises that could deal with that slower economy.

“Businesses like Fonterra, Sanford, A2Milk, Scales – great businesses run by people who are really focused on improving returns.

“We’ve also had some really strong infrastructure franchises with purchasing power. Channel Infrastructure, Napier Port – they have got some great growth opportunities, so the markets rewarded them.

“And then finally, over the full-year period, we’ve seen Tourism Holdings, for example, with merger and acquisition activity.

“But we’ve actually seen some of these domestic improvement names start to come back up the list of the best performers over the last six months – Oceania, Heartland Group, Freightways, Sky TV – and the market has rewarded that.”

Solley said a number of companies with exposure to the domestic economy have had a tough time, but so have technology companies such as Gentrack and Vista, and some big names, including Meridian, Spark, SkyCity, EBOS and Meridian Energy.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment has directed Jetstar to stop using two baggage scales at Wellington Airport after inspections found they failed to meet legal accuracy requirements under the Weights and Measures Act 1987.

Following a public complaint in September, Trading Standards, a business unit of MBIE, inspected two portable baggage scales Jetstar used to weigh carry-on luggage at Wellington Airport.

Both were found to be non-compliant because they were not level when tested and did not meet their approval conditions.

The scales were rejected, and Jetstar instructed to stop using them until they were re-verified by an accredited person.

The airline told Stuff that the inspection identified minor wheel misalignments that caused the scale plates to sit unevenly.

“This affected the stability of the units, not their weighing accuracy, and both scales were immediately removed from service,” Jetstar said.

MBIE’s national manager trading standards Stephen O’Brien said compliance instructions had been issued to Jetstar. As well, a formal corrective action request has been sent to the verifier involved to investigate the root cause of the issues identified and to put in place steps to prevent their recurrence.

Trading Standards would follow up with both parties to ensure effective resolution of the issues identified and that long term compliance is achieved.

O’Brien said businesses using weighing instruments for trade, including airlines, were responsible for ensuring their equipment was legally verified, level, and accurate. Instruments must be approved for trade use and verified by an accredited person. Regular checks and record-keeping are recommended to demonstrate due diligence.

“Consumers should be confident that the price they pay reflects the correct weight or measure. Investigations and compliance checks are carried out to protect people from being incorrectly charged due to inaccurate weighing.”

Airline denies any overcharging

Jetstar told Stuff the scales’ misalignment would not have resulted in higher weight readings and any additional baggage fees applied would still be correct.

“Any impact from this misalignment would have resulted in slightly lower weight readings, meaning customers would not have been overcharged and any additional baggage fees applied would still have been correct.”

By 15 October, 2025, Jetstar said every scale it used across New Zealand had completed its scheduled annual inspection, and all were confirmed to be fully compliant.

The airline said it recognised that carry-on baggage was “a pain point for customers” and it was “actively exploring ways to improve the carry-on experience and policy”.

Trading Standards’ Stephen O’Brien said with more than 20 million air traveller departures from New Zealand airports in the past year, even small inaccuracies in weighing instruments could have a wide-reaching impact.

Travellers were encouraged to check that baggage scales were level, start at zero, and carry a mark of verification.

If a scale appeared inaccurate or unverified, consumers could contact MBIE’s Trading Standards team, who investigate complaints and enforce compliance under the Weights and Measures Act 1987.

Trading Standards focuses on education and guidance to help businesses meet their obligations. If compliance was not achieved, enforcement options were available, including infringement offence notices or prosecution for serious or repeated breaches.

Penalties could reach up to $10,000 for individuals and $30,000 for companies.

Across sectors, O’Brien said Trading Standards helped build trust by ensuring accuracy, fairness and transparency in everyday transactions – whether people were flying, shopping, or using services charged by weight or measure.

More information is available here.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

Property investment company Opes Partners has been censured for failing to comply with obligations under its financial advice provider licence.

Opes offers clients a wealth plan, then helps them find properties to invest in, as well as helping to arrange their mortgage and manage the property.

It also produces the Property Academy podcast.

But Financial Markets Authority director for response and enforcement Louise Unger said there were short-comings in its record-keeping, how it ensured client understanding of advice, management of conflicts of interest and oversight of advisers.

“The way Opes’ client documents are completed, how they are stored, and the level of detail recorded is not consistent, and records weren’t efficiently accessible, to the extent that Opes was in breach of the requirements of standard condition one of its FAP licence. In addition, this breach made it difficult for FMA to verify whether other regulatory obligations were being met.

“There were additional reasonable steps that Opes could have taken to ensure its clients who did not progress to purchase a property with Opes understood the risks and limitations of the advice provided. Clients who did not proceed through the full advice process with Opes, where they would have received further risk disclosures, may not have been made fully aware of the potential downsides or the implications of acting on limited advice.”

She said because the business offered property sales, investment planning, mortgage advice, accounting and property management, there was a risk of conflicts of interest.

“Making adequate policies and procedures in this area, and the implementation of them, critical to appropriately managing this risk. The FMA found that Opes did not have adequate policies or processes in place and could not be confident that all conflicts had been identified, disclosed, and managed.

“Opes acknowledged that its regulatory compliance, policies, procedures and staff adherence to policies had not kept pace with its rapid growth and were not fit-for-purpose for the business. It has acknowledged the FMA’s view that there has been a gap between Opes’ compliance with its FAP obligations and where it actually needs to be.

 ”While no actual client harm was identified by the FMA’s review, we consider that these contraventions have the potential to increase the risk of detriment to customer outcomes. Censuring and naming Opes is important to ensure the transparency of FMA decision making; it informs the public and previous clients, prevents and reduces the opportunity for consumer detriment, and helps to maximise the deterrent effect on the industry.

Unger said Opes had fully co-operated with the FMA and had taken significant steps to address the concerns and provide a voluntary remediation plan for further improvements.

Opes economist Ed McKnight said the business supported the censure and would take the necessary steps to address the issues identified.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

The manufacturing industry and government have come up with a plan to address the chronic and increasing shortage of skilled staff with a programme described as recruitment speed dating.

The Earn as You Learn programme was trialed earlier this year by Waikato manufacturers, Advancing Manufacturing Aotearoa, WINTEC, the Waikato Engineering Careers Association and Workforce Development Council Hanga-Aro-Rau.

The industry employed 220,000 people across 23,000 firms and contributed 8 percent of GDP and 60 percent of the country’s exports.

The initiative was developed to address New Zealand’s worsening manufacturing skills shortage at a time when the manufacturing, engineering and logistics sectors were facing a projected shortfall of 157,000 workers over the next five years.

Hanga-Aro-Rau deputy chief executive Samantha McNaughton said the model worked because it combined the strengths of classroom learning with on-the-job training.

“This programme brings together the strengths of classroom learning and in-work training in a way that genuinely reflects what employers need.

“Learners gain a recognised qualification while being paid, and employers get to see how they perform in real workplaces, which creates a practical and scalable way to close the workforce gap,” she said.

The 30-week model combined paid workplace rotations with classroom study, giving students two days a week at WINTEC’s Rotokauri campus and three days in hands-on roles across some of the region’s most advanced manufacturing firms.

Over the course of the programme, students rotate through three employers, gaining exposure to different production environments and technologies.

Employers said the training programme was expected to cut the costs of hiring staff, after delivering one of the highest completion and employment rates seen in the manufacturing sector.

APL Manufacturing general manager Howard Fountaine said one of the biggest surprises had been the calibre of people coming through the programme.

“This is the closest thing to speed dating for recruitment. Instead of a half-hour interview, we get ten weeks with each learner, so the risk almost disappears because we already know how they work before offering them a job,” he said.

“These kids have genuinely surprised us with their engagement, aptitude and on-the-job analysis, and some have come in well above what we would normally expect at entry level.

“Of the ten students we hosted, we would have hired nine if positions were available, and we even held vacancies open because the calibre coming through was so strong.”

Of the 17 learners who met all course requirements, nine had secured full-time roles with their host companies.

A further two learners were already employed prior to joining the course.

“Two have already stepped straight into trainee leading hand roles, which shows the capability in this group. It is rare for a pilot to need almost no changes, but we may have got the recipe close to right because the structure has absolutely proved itself,” Fountaine said.

Nathaniel Lua was one of the first to complete the programme and had taken a job as a machine operator at APL Manufacturing.

He said the company had already offered him leadership training, which was something he never imagined straight out of school.

“It showed me I could build a long-term career at home, stay close to my family and still aim high,” he said.

Other employers had reported similar results, including Longveld Engineering, Hansa Products, Stainless Design and NZ Aero.

Fountaine said the success in Waikato had accelerated the national expansion of the initiative, with a regional steering group overseeing expansion to Lower Hutt, Canterbury and Auckland.

The goal was to grow graduate numbers from 17 in year one to between 100 and 150 by 2027.

Lower Hutt will run the programme next year, followed by Canterbury in 2027.

Exposure to industry-leading Waikato businesses also included Gallagher Group, ES Plastics, Stafford Engineering, Action Manufacturing, Loadscan and Supreme Stainless.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

Zuru has scored a major win in its long-running legal fight with Lego, the Court of Appeal overturning a High Court ruling that had found Zuru breached Lego’s trademark.

The heart of the dispute centred on a simple phrase printed on packaging of Zuru’s own-brand MAX Build More plastic brick building kits: “LEGO® BRICK COMPATIBLE.”

Lego argued the wording infringed its trademark, potentially misleading shoppers into thinking Zuru’s cheaper bricks were Lego products or endorsed by Lego.

In 2023, the High Court agreed, ruling Zuru had infringed Lego’s trademark, but today, the Court of Appeal said the High Court had got it wrong.

The judges found Zuru’s statement to be purely descriptive, telling consumers the bricks work with Lego, not that they were actual Lego bricks.

In its written decision, the court said, “When use of LEGO is seen in its full context, the consumer would think that Zuru’s bricks were MAX BUILD MORE bricks.”

“The phrase ‘LEGO® BRICK COMPATIBLE’ is descriptive, not a badge of origin.”

Double loss for Lego

The court also dismissed Lego’s counter claims of passing off and misleading conduct under the Fair-Trading Act, saying shoppers would clearly see Zuru’s own brand, MAX Build More, on the packaging.

The court said there was no evidence of confusion.

The ruling aligns a legal precedent with Australia’s, known as “comparative advertising” – using a competitor’s trademark to make a comparison of products.

Comparative advertising is allowed under New Zealand law, providing its honest and not misleading.

For Zuru, it means the company can reinstate the phrase, “LEGO® BRICK COMPATIBLE” back onto its Max Build More packaging.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand