It's bourbon and Pepsi from now on...

[LBD]

Just read this on Stuff....Copyright my#$%$&%

Next thing Speights will want to do the same with ..."Yea...Good on ya mate"

Tui's will want..."Yeh right"

A Paeroa man has taken on a multinational company in an intellectual property rights dispute over the phrase "World Famous in New Zealand".

Tony Coombe has objected to Coca-Cola Amatil's attempt to trademark the saying. The dispute played out yesterday at an Intellectual Property Office hearing in Auckland.

Coca-Cola has used the slogan to promote its L&P soft drink, which has its spiritual home in the Hauraki Plains town of Paeroa, since 1993 – though the company applied for the trademark only in 2004.

But Mr Coombe owns a non-trading company named World Famous in New Zealand and said he believed the phrase, a "Kiwi-ism", belonged to all New Zealanders. Coca-Cola disagreed, saying the words were clearly connected to its product and the trademark application should proceed.

Mr Coombe previously owned and ran the L&P Cafe in Paeroa with his business partner John Tregidga. After using the L&P name for six years, Coca-Cola forced the cafe and associated companies to change their titles.

The partners renamed the companies with their own initials – J&T – and Mr Coombe sold out in 2003 but still believes the use of the "World Famous" phrase should be unrestricted.

"Coca-Cola just want to control everything and World Famous in New Zealand has been around for a long time and now they're trying to control it," Mr Coombe said after the hearing.

"It's more or less part of everyday language so I thought I'd put my hand up and say 'No'."

His lawyer, David Marriot, argued that the phrase was used in the title of a book, a CD and a television series and had entered the Kiwi vernacular.

In its submission Coca-Cola said that its advertising agency invented the slogan in 1993. A commissioner's decision is expected in six to eight weeks.

[peasea]

I don't think I'd have the balls/money to take on Coca Cola, but good luck to him.

Big corporate bullies they are.

[Storm]

Best of luck mate, but Coke has deep pockets. Here's hoping he can find a lawyer willing to donate a bit of time to tell a multinational to bugger off

[h211]

Just seen that on xtra too. Funny story because I think they should have copyrighted when it was invented, not now. Go the little guy!:2thumbsup

[Headbanger]

Pepsi?

Are you insane?

I've switched to ginger ale with my Bourbon.

And its fine, damn fine, So much so I feel like one right now......

[spacemonkey]

Pepsi?

Are you insane?

I've switched to ginger ale with my Bourbon.

And its fine, damn fine, So much so I feel like one right now......

During summer try sticking a wedge of lime in it..... it works well when you do that with Canadian club or whiskey with Dry ginger ale. :2thumbsup




*edit* mind you schweppes ginger ale is just another Coke brand too.........

[KiwiGs]

I hope the little guy wins, but I can't see it happening....
For a short time I used to work for coke and they are pack of dodgy arseholes!

[TOTO]

Seems Coke is going right up (down) there with McDonalds.

Bastards

[StoneY]

Just to be devils advocate (and I do NOT agree that Coke can trademark the saying so dont misread this)

Coke actually have a legal high ground in this one when history is applied
The guy who said 'No" has twice abused loopholes to make his own money from Paeroa's fame as the home of L&P, yet he has never had any share or input into that brand

The L&P Cafe was his, and he has used other schemes to make his cash on Coke's shirttails, beacuse face it L&P was nothing till Coke put its giant name behind it

But good on him for fighting back, just be aware he aint all 'Its a Kiwi thing and its imorral, im fighting the good fight' hes driven by wanting to make $$$'s on a known brand....thats is not his own



:)

[TOTO]

even this way, I still support the guy. I'm sure coke has done way worse things than that and got away with it. The poor bugger just wants to make a living and feed his children - coz lets face it, there is not much happening at paeroa except for 2 days a year.

[Headbanger]

L&P was world famous in NZ well before Coke bought it.

[jim.cox]

L&P was world famous in NZ well before Coke bought it.

Stuff is running a poll as to whether Coke should be allowed to Trademark the phrase.

When I first looked at around 9:00, it was running about 85% against

Now its about 55% for

Looks to me like 'someone' is rigging the poll....

Join the fightback - vote No

[Rayray401]

well, lets hope the little guys got enough money to keep him going, orelse cocacola will just drag it out til he's out of money.

[avgas]

I used to think like that....."go the little man"...."Screw the big companies"......"Arghhhh I hate big corporates". I have however recently woken up to the real world - and sometimes the underdog is there for a reason.

Its a shame that this thing has dragged on to this point. This could have been easily solved if Coke copywrote the phrase 20 years ago.

Please have a look at this from a different point of view:
- L&P becomes popular drink in NZ (after millions invested)
- Coined phrase increases pupularity (along with a million dollar marketing campaign)
- Guy opens cafe and uses brandname and phrase to boost own business
- Guy told to stop "riding the wave" for free
- Guy attempts to continue riding the wave using catchphrase of previous business
- Coke attempts to copywrite phrase, man complains that his whole life is based around something he did not come up with.

Who owns the intellectual property?
Who invested the most?
Who started it?

Imagine if I started a porn website called "KiwiBiker.ru" using SM logo and everything. Would you fight for me then?

No, I don't work for Coke - but I do not think they are in the wrong here. Its is very clear here that this guy is after a free pass - rather than coming up with his own idea.

[avgas]

The poor bugger just wants to make a living and feed his children
He should work with Coke then, not against them.
I'm sure they would not hesitate to offer him a job - plenty of promo work out there

[wysper]

Did coke marketers come up with the phrase?
Isn't that the heart of the matter?
Or is everyone arguing since we have adopted it so closely then it is now ours?

[StoneY]

Did coke marketers come up with the phrase?
Isn't that the heart of the matter?
Or is everyone arguing since we have adopted it so closely then it is now ours?

Yes, and yes

Coke DID coin the phrase, it was invented by one of thier staff, it was not 'already' a saying in regard to L&P

[wysper]

Yes, and yes

Coke DID coin the phrase, it was invented by one of thier staff, it was not 'already' a saying in regard to L&P

So the trick will be in how a copyright is used.
You shouldn't be able to copyright a country name. That would set a bit of a scary precedent.

Nike's 'Just do it', for example. I suspect many people say Just do it in the course of their lives but have no fear of Nike suing them. However if you tried to use it in relation to advertising a brand then you might have issues.
Would it not be the same for coke. They just want to stop some other company using their slogan?

[cowboyz]

whatever... buy more coke.......

ps.. I work for coke....

[Oscar]

I used to think like that....."go the little man"...."Screw the big companies"......"Arghhhh I hate big corporates". I have however recently woken up to the real world - and sometimes the underdog is there for a reason.

Its a shame that this thing has dragged on to this point. This could have been easily solved if Coke copywrote the phrase 20 years ago.

Please have a look at this from a different point of view:
- L&P becomes popular drink in NZ (after millions invested)
- Coined phrase increases pupularity (along with a million dollar marketing campaign)
- Guy opens cafe and uses brandname and phrase to boost own business
- Guy told to stop "riding the wave" for free
- Guy attempts to continue riding the wave using catchphrase of previous business
- Coke attempts to copywrite phrase, man complains that his whole life is based around something he did not come up with.

Who owns the intellectual property?
Who invested the most?
Who started it?

Imagine if I started a porn website called "KiwiBiker.ru" using SM logo and everything. Would you fight for me then?

No, I don't work for Coke - but I do not think they are in the wrong here. Its is very clear here that this guy is after a free pass - rather than coming up with his own idea.


I agree.
Unless this bloke can prove that the phrase was in common use prior to the Advertising, it comes under intellectual copyright.

[The Pastor]

yeah but this guys SELLS cokes products. its pretty funny.

[slofox]

Reminds me of Dominion Breweries "copyrighting" the generic term "Radler" and trying to block anyone else in New Zealand from producing a "radler" style beer labelled as such. This is like copyrighting "lager" or "bitter" or "pilsner" or any other term describing a beer style.

If the copyright board had known shit from clay, they would never have granted the copyright in the first place. But DB, despite knowing they have no moral right to their claim, insist on prosecuting the letter of the law and using it to bludgeon tiny little craft breweries who use the term.

For that reason, I no longer sell DB products in my store.

More to the point, a distribution company in NZ is importing a "radler" from a European brewery - which is owned by the same group who own DB. DB threatened to sue over this import but have been told to "go sue yourselves then" by the importers. Which is what they would have to do...hehehe.

Dumb arses...

[Headbanger]

For that reason, I no longer sell DB products in my store.



Respect.

...

[nallac]

whatever... buy more coke.......

ps.. I work for coke....

The legal kind or illegal kind?......


How much work can i get done for a can of coke?.

[Hiflyer]

Money will help Coke heaps, but if he can hit a heart string with teh deciders then he could have a chance I reckon

[avgas]

makes me wonder.
World Famous in NZ.
Its not really that good a catch phrase. I wonder if it would have any popularity at all if coke had not pushed and marketed it.

Bit like that "Spray and walk away"
or "Lovin' it"

Guy should get a life and come up with his own crappy slogan.

Paeroa - Stoners Capitol!
Paeroa - Cos Lemon and Taro sounds stupid!
Paeroa - the best places are well hidden

[LBD]

Tuatapere Sausages...world famous in New Zealand...been around just as long or longer....

[RDjase]

Just read this on Stuff....Copyright my#$%$&%

Next thing Speights will want to do the same with ..."Yea...Good on ya mate"

Tui's will want..."Yeh right"

A Paeroa man has taken on a multinational company in an intellectual property rights dispute over the phrase "World Famous in New Zealand".

Tony Coombe has objected to Coca-Cola Amatil's attempt to trademark the saying. The dispute played out yesterday at an Intellectual Property Office hearing in Auckland.

Coca-Cola has used the slogan to promote its L&P soft drink, which has its spiritual home in the Hauraki Plains town of Paeroa, since 1993 – though the company applied for the trademark only in 2004.

But Mr Coombe owns a non-trading company named World Famous in New Zealand and said he believed the phrase, a "Kiwi-ism", belonged to all New Zealanders. Coca-Cola disagreed, saying the words were clearly connected to its product and the trademark application should proceed.

Mr Coombe previously owned and ran the L&P Cafe in Paeroa with his business partner John Tregidga. After using the L&P name for six years, Coca-Cola forced the cafe and associated companies to change their titles.

The partners renamed the companies with their own initials – J&T – and Mr Coombe sold out in 2003 but still believes the use of the "World Famous" phrase should be unrestricted.

"Coca-Cola just want to control everything and World Famous in New Zealand has been around for a long time and now they're trying to control it," Mr Coombe said after the hearing.

"It's more or less part of everyday language so I thought I'd put my hand up and say 'No'."

His lawyer, David Marriot, argued that the phrase was used in the title of a book, a CD and a television series and had entered the Kiwi vernacular.

In its submission Coca-Cola said that its advertising agency invented the slogan in 1993. A commissioner's decision is expected in six to eight weeks.


It sounds like a modifyed version on the script for "The Castle"

I wonder if the little guy will go and pull the gates off the Coca Cola building with his towtruck:lol:

[neels]

They paid good money to an advertising company to come up with it, and it's become a commonly used expression, so what that happens. If they want to copyright it then probably fair enough.

[P38]

Skip the mixers Mate!!!

Dont waste ya good Bourbon on them!

[peasea]

whatever... buy more coke.......

ps.. I work for coke....

I would if I could find a willing drug dealer........:2thumbsup

[cowboyz]

The legal kind or illegal kind?......


How much work can i get done for a can of coke?.


actually, the pay is shite but I get to drink whatever I want, whenever I want so I drink about 6 cans of coke a night.

[cowboyz]

The legal kind or illegal kind?......


How much work can i get done for a can of coke?.


actually, the pay is shite but I get to drink whatever I want, whenever I want so I drink about 6 cans of coke a night.

[avgas]

Would it not be the same for coke. They just want to stop some other company using their slogan?
Reading into this a month later it sounds like Coke have been pretty nice to him. They simply did not want their copywritten catch phrase used as the name of his business.
They were quite happy with him using the slogan in advertising for their product etc. So by the sounds of things all needs to do is rename the business "Paeroa Cafe" and carry on with life.

[sosman]

Who owns the phrase " The right amount of friendly" Arh hahaha!

[Lias]

actually, the pay is shite but I get to drink whatever I want, whenever I want so I drink about 6 cans of coke a night.

I drink more coke a day than that and I have to pay retail :-(

[cowboyz]

yeah, but I have to do some work. it would be mint if I got to hang out and drink coke. maybe a large screen tv or something..........................

[Skyryder]

I have always preferred Pepsi to Coke, its just so much harder to find these days if at all.


Skyryder

[kwaka_crasher]

It's the Ugg boot saga all over again! :lol:

[yachtie10]

They paid good money to an advertising company to come up with it, and it's become a commonly used expression, so what that happens. If they want to copyright it then probably fair enough.

If its a commonly used expression why do thry have rights to it
dont know the law here but many companies have lost rights to a commonly used expression because it is used too commonly
eg Xerox and hoover

personaly I hate that companies can own an expression. Sure they can own a trademark as in "Coke" but unless someone is misleading people and hurting Cokes business why make a fuss (cause they can)

Also you seen the price of Coke lately total ripoff compared to a lot of other countries