The High Court has declined New Zealand Rugby’s application for an interim injunction against the PNG Chiefs NRL rugby league franchise using its name in New Zealand.

The NZR has been seeking to stop Papua New Guinea’s incoming franchise from using the Chiefs moniker also used by the Super Rugby franchise.

The trademark dispute is likely bound for a more substantive trial next year. Meanwhile, the PNG Chiefs, who are to enter the NRL in 2028, will launch their brand and logo next Wednesday.

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The NZR has held the trademark for the Chiefs name since the 1990s, and IP Australia has previously knocked back attempts by the NRL to register the Chiefs trademark because of what it identified as the potential for brand confusion.

Following the High Court decision, the CEO of the rugby Chiefs, Simon Graafhuis, told RNZ Pacific that the NZR was “absolutely” considering legal action in Australia.

At today’s High Court hearing in Wellington, the NZR’s lawyer Earl Gray argued that the PNG Chiefs made no distinction from the rugby Chiefs in its various media materials.

He argued that the NRL was seeking to take away the rugby Chiefs’ brand exclusivity ‘by stealth”, claiming PNG Chiefs’ plans for a brand launch showed the “ramping up and loss of control of this brand” which had been built up over decades by the rugby Chiefs.

Status quo unchanged
But Clive Elliot, the lawyer for the defendant, the Australian Rugby League Commission, said the launch would not change the status quo and was simply the unveiling of the franchise’s strip or team jersey.

He said given the NZR became aware of the PNG Chiefs name around a year ago, that to only now be filing an urgent application for an injunction after an “extremely long delay” was not appropriate.

Earlier, Gray said the NRL franchise’s representatives had been using the “PNG Chiefs” and “Chiefs” interchangeably, which created confusion for sports fans and the many people who follow both union and league codes.

“Confusion can reign,” he said while also warning of potential impact on sponsorship, but Elliot said the geographical qualifier of “PNG” distinguished the franchise clearly.

He said that the PNG Chiefs were at a critical juncture as they tried to build the club and recruit key players during the brief free agency period which opens up in November and ends by the new year.

Elliot said that a temporary injunction at this point would threaten those efforts by creating a cloud over the franchise’s reputation.

However, Earl Gray said a cloud was effectively already hovering, due to the confusion factor.