CHRIS THOMSON
EXCLUSIVE: The Australian Rugby Union is suing Auckland-based clothing company Canterbury over what the ARU claims are trademark infringements.
Among other matters, the ARU alleges Canterbury misled the public into thinking the ARU authorised it to distribute playing uniforms and other products.
The Wallabies wore Canterbury jerseys during their disastrous 2007 World Cup campaign in France and Wales.
At last year’s World Cup in New Zealand, where the Wallabies came a comparatively respectable third, they wore a strip made by Queensland-based KooGa.
The trademark dispute is now before the Federal Court – with the ARU seeking discovery before it delivers its evidence in chief.
In a decision handed down yesterday, Justice Nye Perram granted the ARU access to certain Canterbury documents after it complained it did not know the extent of Canterbury’s alleged use of the marks.
“I do not see that [the ARU] can be expected to put its case forward unless and until what Canterbury has been doing with these products is brought into the light,” Justice Perram noted.
“Although Canterbury has made efforts to identify the impugned products I do not consider that the ARU should be required to take its word for it.”
“In reaching that conclusion I do not disregard the likely cost of the process – some $20,000 to $30,000 – or the likely inconvenience.”
In recent decades, Canterbury has provided rugby jerseys for many national teams including the All Blacks and Wallabies.
Canterbury’s tagline is: ‘Canterbury: the world’s original rugby brand’.
