LAWCOMM 463 : Trade Marks and Related Rights
Law
2025 Semester One (1253) (15 POINTS)
Course Prescription
Course Overview
This course provides a detailed examination of the Australian and New Zealand laws that govern the protection of commercial symbols and indicia. A significant part of the course is devoted to the protection of registered trade marks under the Australian Trade Marks Act 1995 and New Zealand's Trade Marks Act 2002. The course also covers various other methods of protecting unregistered or unregistrable trade marks or commercial symbols and indicia, including the law of passing off, consumer protection legislation, special events legislation, domain name protection and the protection of geographical indications.
Capabilities Developed in this Course
| Capability 1: | People and Place |
| Capability 2: | Sustainability |
| Capability 3: | Knowledge and Practice |
| Capability 4: | Critical Thinking |
| Capability 5: | Solution Seeking |
| Capability 6: | Communication |
| Capability 8: | Ethics and Professionalism |
Learning Outcomes
- Identify and apply rules and principles under New Zealand and Australian case law and statute law that govern the protection of unregistered and unregistrable trade marks (or other commercial symbols) against misuse. (Capability 1.1, 2.1, 3.1, 3.2, 4.1, 4.2, 5.1, 6.1 and 8.1)
- Articulate and apply the legal principles that determine the registrability of signs as trade marks. (Capability 1.1, 2.1, 3.1, 3.2, 4.1, 4.2, 5.1, 6.1 and 8.1)
- Identify the grounds upon which intellectual property offices and third parties in New Zealand and Australia can object to registration of a trade mark and evaluate how these grounds apply in hypothetical situations. (Capability 1.1, 2.1, 3.1, 3.2, 4.1, 4.2, 5.1, 6.1 and 8.1)
- Identify, apply and evaluate various mechanisms that can be used to overcome objections to registration. (Capability 2.1, 3.1, 3.2, 4.1, 4.2, 5.1, 6.1 and 8.1)
- Articulate and apply key legal principles and concepts that relate to the enforcement and loss of registered trade mark rights to different factual scenarios in order to reach reasoned solutions and make reasoned recommendations. (Capability 2.1, 3.1, 3.2, 4.1, 4.2, 5.1, 6.1 and 8.1)
- Compare and contrast the approaches New Zealand and Australian trade mark law take to key legal issues, and evaluate such approaches in comparison with approaches in other jurisdictions. (Capability 1.1, 2.1, 3.1, 3.2, 4.1, 4.2, 5.1, 6.1 and 8.1)
Assessments
| Assessment Type | Percentage | Classification |
|---|---|---|
| Assignment(s) | 40% | Individual Coursework |
| Final assignment | 50% | Individual Coursework |
| Synopsis of issues for final assignment | 10% | Individual Coursework |
| 3 types | 100% |
| Assessment Type | Learning Outcome Addressed | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | |||||
| Assignment(s) | ||||||||||
| Final assignment | ||||||||||
| Synopsis of issues for final assignment | ||||||||||
All forms of assessment are subject to change due to changes in teaching team for 2025.
Workload Expectations
This is a 15-point course. There will be around 24 hours of lectures in this course. For this course, you should expect a workload of four to five hours outside of the classroom for each hour spent in class. The guideline for the total workload for this course is 150 hours.
Delivery Mode
Campus Experience
Delivery of the course is face-to-face, Attendance is expected for all sessions. There will be interactive activities conducted during classes, and students are expected to take part. Recordings will also be available.
Learning Resources
Course materials are made available in a learning and collaboration tool called Canvas which also includes reading lists and lecture recordings (where available).
Please remember that the recording of any class on a personal device requires the permission of the instructor.
Student Feedback
At the end of every semester students will be invited to give feedback on the course and teaching through a tool called SET or Qualtrics. The lecturers and course co-ordinators will consider all feedback and respond with summaries and actions.
Your feedback helps teachers to improve the course and its delivery for future students.
Class Representatives in each class can take feedback to the department and faculty staff-student consultative committees.
The teaching team from 2024 will pass on relevant feedback to the 2025 teaching team as appropriate.
Other Information
This course is co-badged with LAWCOMM796, which is the postgraduate version of the course. All students (undergraduate and postgraduate) will attend the same classes and be delivered the same content. However, the assessment tasks are different for postgraduate students to take into account the fact that they are enrolled as postgraduates and are expected to engage with a higher level of complexity than undergraduate studentsand the PG assessments will involve greater emphasis on independent research.
Academic Integrity
The University of Auckland will not tolerate cheating, or assisting others to cheat, and views cheating in coursework, tests and examinations as a serious academic offence. The work that a student submits for grading must be the student's own work, reflecting their learning. Where work from other sources is used, it must be properly acknowledged and referenced. A student's assessed work may be reviewed against electronic source material using computerised detection mechanisms. Upon reasonable request, students may be required to provide an electronic version of their work for computerised review.
Class Representatives
Class representatives are students tasked with representing student issues to departments, faculties, and the wider university. If you have a complaint about this course, please contact your class rep who will know how to raise it in the right channels. See your departmental noticeboard for contact details for your class reps.
Inclusive Learning
All students are asked to discuss any impairment related requirements privately, face to face and/or in written form with the course director, lecturer or tutor.
Student Disability Services also provides support for students with a wide range of impairments, both visible and invisible, to succeed and excel at the University. For more information and contact details, please visit the Student Disability Services’ website http://disability.auckland.ac.nz
Special Circumstances
If your ability to complete assessed coursework is affected by illness or other personal circumstances outside of your control, contact a Student Academic and Support Adviser as soon as possible before the assessment is due.
If your personal circumstances significantly affect your performance, or preparation, for an exam or eligible written test, refer to the University’s aegrotat or compassionate consideration page https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/students/academic-information/exams-and-final-results/during-exams/aegrotat-and-compassionate-consideration.html.
This should be done as soon as possible and no later than seven days after the affected test or exam date.
Learning Continuity
In the event of an unexpected disruption we undertake to maintain the continuity and standard of teaching and learning in all your courses throughout the year. If there are unexpected disruptions the University has contingency plans to ensure that access to your course continues and your assessment is fair, and not compromised. Some adjustments may need to be made in emergencies. You will be kept fully informed by your course co-ordinator, and if disruption occurs you should refer to the University Website for information about how to proceed.
Student Charter and Responsibilities
The Student Charter assumes and acknowledges that students are active participants in the learning process and that they have responsibilities to the institution and the international community of scholars. The University expects that students will act at all times in a way that demonstrates respect for the rights of other students and staff so that the learning environment is both safe and productive. For further information visit Student Charter https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/students/forms-policies-and-guidelines/student-policies-and-guidelines/student-charter.html.
Disclaimer
Elements of this outline may be subject to change. The latest information about the course will be available for enrolled students in Canvas.
In this course you may be asked to submit your coursework assessments digitally. The University reserves the right to conduct scheduled tests and examinations for this course online or through the use of computers or other electronic devices. Where tests or examinations are conducted online remote invigilation arrangements may be used. The final decision on the completion mode for a test or examination, and remote invigilation arrangements where applicable, will be advised to students at least 10 days prior to the scheduled date of the assessment, or in the case of an examination when the examination timetable is published.