{"id":632722,"date":"2026-10-16T19:46:09","date_gmt":"2026-10-16T19:46:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/632722\/"},"modified":"2026-10-16T19:46:09","modified_gmt":"2026-10-16T19:46:09","slug":"new-zealand-rugby-dealt-early-setback-in-legal-action-against-arlc-over-chiefs-name","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/632722\/","title":{"rendered":"New Zealand Rugby dealt early setback in legal action against ARLC over Chiefs name"},"content":{"rendered":"

New Zealand<\/a> Rugby (NZR) suffered a major setback when its application for an interim injunction against the Australian Rugby League Commission (ARLC) regarding the usage of the Chiefs name was turned down in court.<\/p>\n

The governing body of the game in New Zealand headed to the country\u2019s High Court in Wellington to prevent the incoming Papua New Guinea (PNG) NRL club from using the Chiefs name which is already associated with the Super Rugby Pacific franchise.<\/p>\n

Last week, NZR<\/a> filed an urgent application at the High Court for the interim injunction ahead of the PNG team\u2019s planned jersey and branding launch in Port Moresby next Wednesday.<\/p>\n

The PNG Chiefs was established in 2024 and they are scheduled to compete in the NRL from the 2028 season while the Hamilton-based Chiefs<\/a> was founded in 1996 ahead of the inaugural Super 12 season.<\/p>\n

The ARLC own both the NRL and the new PNG club and their lawyer, Clive Elliott, told the Wellington High Court on Friday that the launch would go ahead regardless of the outcome of the hearing.<\/p>\n

Two clubs in \u2018different jurisdictions\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s in another country and under a different jurisdiction, the only way in which the courts in New Zealand can control it is the extent to which any information reaches New Zealand,\u201d Elliott submitted.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe say there is no use of the trademark in New Zealand.\u201d<\/p>\n

Elliott also revealed that the NRL and PNG Chiefs are willing to geo-block content on its social media platforms regarding the launch. According to Elliot, that indicates that the ARLC are \u201cdoing everything in their power to address\u201d NZR\u2019s concerns.<\/p>\n

Those assurances from the ARLC resulted in the High Court\u2019s Justice Karen Grau declining NZR\u2019s application. The court will release the reasons for its decision next week.<\/p>\n

While the High Court\u2019s ruling is a setback for NZR, it does not mean it\u2019s the end of the trademark dispute. The opposing organisations are heading for a further showdown in a full court which is set to take place early next year.<\/p>\n

In outlining the case for an interim injunction, NZR\u2019s lawyer Earl Gray said the PNG Chiefs\u2019 proposed launch next week would lead to the entrenchment of the PNG Chiefs name.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe genie will be very hard to squeeze back into that bottle,\u201d Gray said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe owner [of the trademark] has freedom to use and exploit the brand as it sees fit. It is not for infringers to dictate that result. The ARLC are trying to take that exclusivity and freedom away by stealth.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, Elliott countered that by saying the jersey launch would not \u201cchange the status quo when it\u2019s one step in a long process\u201d.<\/p>\n

New Zealand Rugby move to \u2018protect\u2019 Chiefs brand as legal action taken against ARLC<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been portrayed as a milestone event that\u2019s going to change everything,\u201d he added. \u201cThat is not the case. Over the next three months there is limited prospect of irreparable harm to NZ Rugby.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also said the perceived urgency was \u201creally an edifice\u201d which NZR had created to \u201ctry and cover up for its own inaction\u201d.<\/p>\n

Gray then argued that rugby league officials had \u201cbrought the issue upon themselves\u201d.<\/p>\n

ARLC accused of not doing the \u2018rudimentary checks\u2019<\/p>\n

He explained that it was apparent from the ARLC\u2019s submissions that the organisation had not done the \u201crudimentary checks\u201d to ensure the trademark was available before announcing the name of the new NRL club.<\/p>\n

\u201cA responsible brand owner or business person would think \u2018hell we\u2019ve got a problem here \u2013 we can\u2019t use this\u2019,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut what\u2019s clear from the defendant\u2019s evidence is that the defendants did not bother to check that the name was available to use before adopting it.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, they\u2019ve brought this issue upon themselves, and, inexplicably, now want to get away with it.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added that giving the PNG Chiefs permission to use the name would create significant \u201cconfusion and brand damage\u201d and said the two codes operate in increasingly overlapping sporting markets.<\/p>\n

To indicate how there is an overlap between the codes, Gray used a slip-up made by New Zealand\u2019s Prime Minister Christopher Luxon as an example. Ahead of the NZ Warriors\u2019 appearance in the NRL play-offs last month, Luxon referred to them as the Waratahs.<\/p>\n

However, Justice Grau responded by saying: \u201cThe average New Zealand sporting fan might not do that. People interested in sport\u2026 surely they know the difference between rugby and league?\u201d<\/p>\n

Elliott told the court the ARLC are confident of its position.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a good and arguable defence that there is no trademark infringement,\u201d he said. \u201c[Granting an injunction] would create uncertainty and cause reputational damage.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think my client deserves its day in court where this issue can be fully ventilated.\u201d<\/p>\n

READ MORE: Dave Rennie gives blunt verdict on the NPC and opens up on New Zealand\u2019s Super Rugby Pacific participation<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New Zealand Rugby (NZR) suffered a major setback when its application for an interim injunction against the Australian…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":632723,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[17909,1463,111,43,139,69,82286],"class_list":["post-632722","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-chiefs","tag-home-page","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-super-rugby"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/632722","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=632722"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/632722\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/632723"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=632722"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=632722"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=632722"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}