5.2 Distinctiveness under section 18 of the Act

Where the Māori Trade Marks Advisory Committee advises that the application does not contain matter that is offensive or, likely to be offensive to Māori, the mark will be examined for its distinctiveness under the same guidelines for distinctiveness under section 18 of the Act.

The fact that a word, of any other language, is recognised as a Māori word in New Zealand, will mean that it will be treated as such. For example, “amaru” in Japanese means “to remain, to be left over, to be in excess”, however, in Māori “amaru” is defined as “dignified”.

The same applies to imagery. For example, the fact that a spiral, whether it is a koru or a Greek spiral design, is recognised as a Māori sign in New Zealand, will mean that it will be treated as such.

Where the trade mark is or consists of an abbreviation that forms a word that is identifiably Māori, the abbreviation is to be considered to be a Māori word and examined accordingly.