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Building safety and the workplace (21 February 2012) (NZ)
Buddle Findlay
Nearly a year has passed since the February quake, and building safety is very much at the forefront of people's minds. We have been answering an increasing number of questions from building owners, employers and employees about building safety. How do they know if their building is safe?...
Intellectual Property, Media
Legal update on information and communication technology - February 2012 (NZ)
Buddle Findlay
In this issue - Torrenting of private photos prevented; Australian cloud computing guidelines; SOPA and PIPA - Implications for New Zealand websites; Government launches its government cloud programme; AstraZeneca v IBM; and Megaupload shutdown...
Administrative , Commercial, Judicial Review, Resource Management
Public law update - Overseas Investment Act (17 February 2012) (NZ)
Buddle Findlay
The decision by the High Court on 15 February to set aside the consent granted to Shanghai Pengxin's subsidiary Milk NZ to acquire the Crafar farms is the latest twist in the long-running Crafar farms saga. The Ministers' initial decision to approve the Shanghai Pengxin acquisition caused...
Environment, Resource Management
Environmental reforms gather pace (16 February 2012) (NZ)
Buddle Findlay
As the National-led Government settles into a second term in office New Zealanders can expect a programme of wide-ranging environmental law reform and policy development. Having introduced "simplifying and streamlining" amendments to the Resource Management Act 1991 (RMA) in its...
Building, Local Government
The progress of earthquake-related demolitions in Christchurch (15 February 2012) (NZ)
Buddle Findlay
There are already signs that the rebuild of Christchurch is underway. Construction of the first new multi-storey building in the CBD red zone has begun on the site of the old Harcourts Grenadier building in Madras Street, and nearly 900 earthquake related building consents have been issued...
Commercial, Property
Judicial review of Crafar farms overseas investment consent (17 February 2012) (NZ)
Russell McVeagh
The recent decision of the High Court1 to set aside the Overseas Investment Act 2005 ("OIA") consent for the Crafar farms sale was the result of an error in the Ministers' decision making process, given that the Overseas Investment Office ("OIO") did not properly assess the...
Commercial, Environment, Social Security
Watching Brief (15 February 2012) (NZ)
Russell McVeagh
In this edition: A MATTER OF OPINION ‘One size fits all’ approach to social policy no fit at all - Following on from his less than populist observations on the moral and fiscal failure of prisons, Bill English chose a pre-Christmas address to public servants to tilt...
Commercial, Property
Implications of the Crafar Decision (21 February 2012) (NZ)
Simpson Grierson
The High Court has set aside the Government's consent to Shanghai Pengxin Group's purchase of 16 dairy farms around the North Island of New Zealand, known as the Crafar farms. The judgment requires the Overseas Investment Office (OIO) and Ministers to take a different approach to assessing...
Building, Local Government
Property Update: Earthquake Prone Buildings (Part One: Council Policies) (NZ)
Minter Ellison Rudd Watts
The impact of the Christchurch earthquakes has focussed attention on earthquake prone buildings across the country, both in terms of the human and economic costs. Those with the greatest interest include the councils that are required to implement earthquake prone building policies under the...
Commercial, Property
High Court sets aside Crafar farms OIO consent (16 February 2012) (NZ)
Minter Ellison Rudd Watts
In a decision released yesterday,the High court has decided that the Overseas Investment Office's decision to grant consent to Shanghai Penxin to buy the Crafar dairy farms must be reconsidered. Justice Miller rules that Ministers Maurice Williamson and Jonathon Coleman had misdirected...
Commercial, Property
Crafar farms: has investing in New Zealand by overseas persons just got harder? (16 February 2012) (NZ)
Kensington Swan
A judgment issued by the High Court yesterday has set aside Ministerial consent to the overseas investment to be made by a Chinese company for the purchase of farmland in New Zealand commonly referred to as the ‘Crafar farms’. The price has not been disclosed but there has been...
Intellectual Property
Keeping on top of IP strategy (20 February 2012) (NZ)
A J Park
The start of a new year is a great time for new ventures to refocus. Business plans and strategies can be dusted off, critiqued, amended or binned. IP and commercialisation strategies are no different. They need regular review and refinement to make sure they’re not heading in one...
Civil Procedure
Sweeping new changes to court rules for litigation (22 February 2012) (NZ)
Bell Gully
On 1 February 2012 the High Court and District Court introduced substantial changes to the court rules relating to discovery and inspection. The changes have been described as the most significant in a generation, and aim to fundamentally change the conduct of litigation. The purpose of the...
Administrative
Government restructuring set to continue in 2012 (16 February 2012) (NZ)
Bell Gully
Indications from the Prime Minister at a press conference on Monday confirm plans to further revamp the public sector during a second term in power. Late last year, the Government signalled that significant restructuring was likely over the next three years, with some significant announcements to...
Fair Trading
Chrisco Cops Fine for Misleading Customers; NZ Corporate and Commercial Update - February 2012 (22 February 2012) (NZ)
DLA Phillips Fox
On the 1st of February well known Christmas hamper company Chrisco pleaded guilty to 10 charges brought under the Fair Trading Act 1986 following an investigation by the Commerce Commission. The charges were brought under the ‘false and misleading’provisions of section 13(i) of the...
Company, Insolvency
2012: Are you in the cross hairs for creditor claims? (13 February 2012) (NZ)
Chapman Tripp
Recent decisions from the courts have raised the legal risk for directors and underlined the exposure to third party liability of auditors, trustees and promoters. As a result, we can probably expect this year to have more claims made by receivers, liquidators and out-of-pocket investors...
Commercial, Insolvency, Trusts
Are trading trusts getting an easy ride, Law Commission asks (21 February 2012) (NZ)
Chapman Tripp
The Law Commission is looking into whether the regulation of trading trusts gives enough protection to creditors and beneficiaries in circumstances of insolvency. For the purposes of the review, the Commission has defined a trading trust as a structure under which a company holds property...
Commercial, Property
Overseas Purchasers of New Zealand Land – Test for Approval (16 February 2012) (NZ)
Brookfields
Ministers directed to reconsider decision to approve sale of Crafar Farms The High Court has ruled that the decision to approve the sale of 16 North Island farms to an overseas buyer should be set aside and that the relevant Ministers must reconsider their decision. The court's ruling appears...
Intellectual Property
Has Australia illegally stripped the tobacco industry's IP rights with plain cigarette packaging? (15 February 2012) (NZ)
Baldwins
Australia has taken a world first step in passing legislation mandating plain packaging of tobacco products. As of December 1, 2012, all cigarettes, pipe tobacco and cigar products sold in Australia will be required to be in plain olive-brown packets with no branding, trade mark logos,...
Intellectual Property
Update on ACTA (21 February 2012) (NZ)
Baldwins
The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) has courted controversy ever since its inception in 2007, when several developing and non-developing nations began to discuss the formation of an international intellectual property rights-oriented treaty. The negotiations have faced significant...
Employment, Intellectual Property, Media
Do you have a social media policy? (9 February 2012) (NZ)
A J Park
It is becoming increasingly common for a business to have a social media presence. Social media sites are fast becoming major communications platforms for many businesses. Social media sites offer businesses a whole new way to interact with customers, as well as get a fresh and constant view of...
Company, Taxation
Salmond ignores NZ's robust corporate tax regime (10 February 2012) (NZ)
Chapman Tripp
Professor Rob Salmond’s claims (reported in the New Zealand Herald on Tuesday) that the rich are taxed less in New Zealand than in comparable countries because New Zealand has a comprehensive GST but no capital gains tax ignores some important facts, says Casey Plunket, a member of the 2010...
Intellectual Property
Timber treatment patent faces the chop due to insufficient disclosure (February 2012) (NZ)
Henry Hughes
The recent decision of the Assistant Commissioner of Patents in Koppers Arch Wood Protection (Aust) Pty Ltd v Osmose New Zealand & TimTech Chemicals Ltd [2012] NZIPOPAT 1 (9 January 2012) is a rare example of a New Zealand patent application being refused on the ground of insufficient...
Commercial, Company
2012: Are you in the cross hairs for creditor claims? (13 February 2012) (NZ)
Chapman Tripp
Recent decisions from the courts have raised the legal risk for directors and underlined the exposure to third party liability of auditors, trustees and promoters. As a result, we can probably expect this year to have more claims made by receivers, liquidators and out-of-pocket investors...
Intellectual Property
The Pirate Bay takes to the high seas (15 February 2012) (NZ)
Baldwins
“The Boat that Rocked” may be a comedy film, but its history resides in a serious and true story. In the 1960s, in the wake of government crackdowns on illegal radio broadcasting, radio pirates took to the high seas. By broadcasting from international waters, radio pirates at the...
Competition
Overseas defendants and the long (jurisdictional) arm of the law (14 February 2012) (NZ)
Bell Gully
First published in NZ Lawyer 10 February 2012, Issue 177. Commerce Commission v Deutsche Bahn AG & Ors (High Court, Auckland, CIV-2010-404-005479, 12 October 2011, Justice Venning) represents the latest challenge by an overseas defendant to the jurisdiction of New Zealand courts over...
Employment, Taxation
The latest Inland Revenue Interpretation Guideline and why you should care (9 February 2012) (NZ)
Kensington Swan
The application of the Employment Relations Act 2000 and different tax treatment are key reasons it is important to properly establish whether a person is an employee or an independent contractor. Just before the Christmas break, Inland Revenue published a useful interpretation guideline which...
Banking and Finance
Australian PPSA now live (16 February 2012) (NZ)
Kensington Swan
Following numerous delays, the Australian Personal Properties Register (‘PPS Register’) went live on 30 January 2012. The PPS Register was created by The Australian Personal Properties Securities Act 2009 (Cth) (‘PPSA’). Like the New Zealand and Canadian systems, the...
Employment
Prevent a back-pay problem: discretionary payments under the Holidays Act (9 February 2012) (NZ)
Kensington Swan
A number of employers could find that they have miscalculated holiday pay due to confusion over changes to the Holidays Act 2003 introduced in April last year. The Act has always provided that discretionary payments were excluded from the definition of gross earnings for the purposes of annual...
Commercial, Environment
NZ ETS – Update 2012 (8 February 2012) (NZ)
Simpson Grierson
Topics include: Banned industrial gas CERs Fine tuning of the ETS Transition measures What's happening in different sectors International co-operation/developments Read more
Commercial, Environment
NZ Climate Change Update (February 2012) (NZ)
Minter Ellison Rudd Watts
In this issue: Applications for industrial allocations opened in January 2012 Mandatory greenhouse gas emissions reporting for waste and agriculture sectors Restrictions on the use of HFC-23 and CERs ...
Intellectual Property, Media
Technology update (February 2012) (NZ)
Minter Ellison Rudd Watts
In this newsletter: the guidelines on social media (released by DIA). Essential reading for all agencies engaging with the community through today’s technology. a recent Court of Appeal decision on the scope of limitation clauses. In relation to interest on damages. the guidelines...
Local Government, Privacy
Building consent information – provision of such information (February 2012) (NZ)
Office of the Ombudsmen
The Ombudsman has releases its report on its investigation into the extent to which personal details may be withheld from building consent information held by local authorities. The Building Act 2004 requires that local authorities must keep and make available building consent applications...
Intellectual Property
New powers for NZ Customs in war on counterfeit products (8 February 2012) (NZ)
Baldwins
In New Zealand, counterfeiting continues to be a problem, with New Zealand Customs regularly intercepting shipments of counterfeit and pirated goods destined for the New Zealand market. Under the Trade Marks Act 2002, it is a criminal offence to import or sell goods with falsely applied...
Local Government, Property
Lessees Claim To Reversionary Interests In Leases Fails (8 February 2012) (NZ)
Brookfields
Whangarei District Council has succeeded in avoiding an interim injunction sought by lessees to restrain it from marketing or selling the reversions of leased land in Whangarei. When it comes to commercial matters it sometimes seems local authorities are expected to extend a greater degree of...
Banking and Finance
Non-Bank Deposit Takers Bill: solving yesterday's crisis, and creating tomorrow's? (8 February 2012) (NZ)
Chapman Tripp
On the face of it, little in the Non-Bank Deposit Takers Bill (NBDT Bill) would excite the non-specialist. But the prudential regime it envisages goes well beyond the finance companies it was designed to regulate. The Bill, which was introduced into the last Parliament and released for...
Banking and Finance, Criminal
AML Guide for small adviser businesses (8 February 2012) (NZ)
Minter Ellison Rudd Watts
Some financial advisers are currently unsure as to the extent to which they are required to comply with the AML/CFT (Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism) regime. Accordingly the FMA has released a guide to help advisers working independently or in a small business comply...
Intellectual Property
My - What a shambles! (7 February 2012) (NZ)
A J Park
Registering your trade mark gives you monopoly rights beyond those you would otherwise have through just using your trade mark. But not all trade marks are registrable. If you want the strongest monopoly over your trade mark, you should choose one which is registrable. To be registrable, a...
Banking and Finance, Commercial
Australian Personal Property Securities Act comes into force (7 February 2012) (AUS)
Minter Ellison Rudd Watts
The Australian Personal Property Securities Act 2009 came into force in Australia on 20 January 2012. The legislation is modelled on the New Zealand PPSA and changes the process of taking security in Australia. Existing security arrangements may also be affected. It is important to note there are...
Civil Evidence, Civil Procedure
New discovery rules (7 February 2012) (NZ)
Kensington Swan
There has been a significant change to the New Zealand legal landscape. From 1 February 2012, new discovery rules covering litigation in the New Zealand High Court came into effect by way of amendment to the High Court Rules. The intent of these changes is to make discovery more streamlined...
Intellectual Property
The not-so-sweet dispute over Brown Sugar (1 February 2012) (NZ)
Baldwins
The recent dispute between the Taihape-based Brown Sugar Café and the Nelson-based House of Brown Sugar Café highlights how important trade marks are to small businesses. The matter gained media coverage in September last year when Brown Sugar Café (along with its sister business of the...
Company, Taxation
Tax, reputational risk and the duties of the director (03 February 2012) (NZ)
Chapman Tripp
This article first appeared in the February 2012 issue of Boardroom magazine. Tax authorities, including our own Inland Revenue Department, sometimes try to promote the idea that companies must pay their “fair share” of taxes (on a theory of social duty). The IRD’s...
Intellectual Property
The beginning of .xxx domain name disputes (2 February 2012) (NZ)
Baldwins
In the months leading up to the introduction of .xxx sponsored top level domains, thousands of companies worldwide rushed to defensively register their .xxx domains and thereby protect their brand names. Some companies publicly criticised the new scheme, stating that cybersquatting and domain...
Commercial, Local Government
Watching Brief (2 February 2012) (NZ)
Russell McVeagh
News on policy and politics In this edition: MATTERS OF OPINION: Stop-gap solutions not enough in local government Māori Party’s political power play: The current imbroglio over the sale of shares in SOEs may appear as a crack surfacing between the Māori Party...
Banking and Finance, Commercial, Intellectual Property
Australian Personal Property Securities Register (31/01/2012) (AUS)
Baldwins
The Personal Property Securities Act 2009 (Cth) (PPSA) introduces in Australia a national law that will affect secured financing transactions involving personal property, including most forms of intellectual property (IP). Anyone who is selling, purchasing or licensing IP assets in Australia or...
Intellectual Property
Megaupload shut down by US authorities (26/01/2012) (USA)
Baldwins
On 19 January, United States authorities shut down Megaupload.com, one of the world’s largest digital storage and file sharing sites, charging several people, including a number of New Zealand residents, with federal crimes including racketeering, money laundering and criminal copyright...
Intellectual Property
What's all the fuss over NUCKING FUTS? (25 January 2012) (NZ)
Baldwins
The modern world has become so clogged with sensory stimulation that businesses are resorting to shock advertising tactics or “shockvertising” to differentiate their products. Polarising vignettes capture the attention of buyers, evoke reactions and can equate to big profits. For...
Banking and Finance
FMA drafts Guidance Note on how to prepare and present prospectuses and investment statements (31 January 2012) (NZ)
Buddle Findlay
The Financial Markets Authority (FMA) released a Consultation Paper requesting feedback on a Guidance Note regarding preparing and presenting prospectuses and investment statements. The Guidance Note, called "Effective Disclosure", is split into 6 sections, and under each section the...
Banking and Finance
FMA seeks feedback on proposed disclosure requirements (27 January 2012) (NZ)
Chapman Tripp
The Financial Markets Authority (FMA) issued a consultation paper on how to prepare prospectuses and investment statements. This is a good initiative and worthy of the FMA’s mandate to educate the market regarding its expectations as a regulator – something that the Securities...
Environment, Resource Management
Envirolink (January 2012) (NZ)
Minter Ellison Rudd Watts
In this issue: Unitary plans for all? Simplifying and streamlining of the RMA continues Auckland planning Fresh water reform Emissions trading scheme Crown Minerals Act review Housing affordability report Proposed environmental...