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Written by David Alizade PARTNER; Darryl King PARTNER; Janice Lamont LAWYER on November 28th, 2023.
A bill expressly allowing company directors to consider environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors has passed into law despite strong opposition during the select committee process.
Written by David Alizade PARTNER; Xanthe Mowat LAWYER on June 26th, 2023.
A strong, distinctive brand is a valuable asset of your business that will enable you to stand out from your competitors and build loyalty and trust with your customers. It is important to protect that asset and the best way to do this is use trade mark protection for your brand. In this article, we explain what trade marks are and the benefits of using trade mark protection.
Written by David Alizade, PARTNER; Darryl King, PARTNER on September 29th, 2022.
The Fair Trading Act 1986 (FTA) was amended last month to ban businesses from engaging in unconscionable conduct. When introducing the legislation at its first reading, Minister David Clark said that it was “necessary to deal with a very small minority of businesses that take advantage of the vulnerabilities and lack of bargaining power of consumers or other businesses”. This update explains the new law, considers some Australian cases where the equivalent law has been applied and suggests some steps businesses can take to avoid breaching the new law.
Written by Darryl King, PARTNER; David Alizade, PARTNER on August 17th, 2022.
Changes to the Fair Trading Act 1986 (FTA) are now in force which mean that all standard form business to business contracts with an annual threshold value under $250,000 (including GST) will be subject to the same unfair contract terms rules that already apply to business to consumer contracts. This article provides a brief summary of the application of the unfair contract terms rules to B2B contracts. For more detail please see our top 10 things to think about article here.
Written by Darryl King, PARTNER; David Alizade, PARTNER on August 17th, 2022.
Franchisors should be aware that changes to the Fair Trading Act 1986 (FTA ) are now in force which mean that all standard form business to business contracts with an annual threshold value under $250,000 (including GST) will be subject to the same unfair contract terms rules that already apply to business to consumer contracts. Set out below is a brief summary of the application of the unfair contract terms rules to franchise documentation. For more detail, please see our top 10 things to think about article here.
Written by David Alizade, PARTNER; Jennifer Paterson, SENIOR ASSOCIATE on August 17th, 2022.
On 5 April 2022, the Incorporated Societies Act 2022 (New Act) was passed into law. Upon its commencement, the New Act will replace the Incorporated Societies Act 1908 (1908 Act) and have a significant effect on existing incorporated societies. In this update, we summarise the most important changes for existing incorporated societies and what needs to be done between now and the end of the “transition period” for the New Act, which ends on 1 December 2025.
Written by Darryl King, PARTNER; David Alizade, PARTNER on July 28th, 2022.
Last month courts in both New Zealand and Australia imposed significant penalties on companies and individuals for breaching cartel laws. In imposing the sentences both courts referred to the need to deter possible offenders from engaging in cartel conduct. The large penalties – including jail in the Australia case - are a timely reminder for NZ businesses. This update discusses the cases and a brief recap on New Zealand cartel laws and their penalties.
Written by Darryl King, PARTNER on May 24th, 2022.
The Fair Trading Act’s “unfair contract terms” regime is being extended to many B2B contracts from 16 August 2022. It is important that franchisors are aware of the new rules and that they update their franchise documentation and template B2B contracts before 16 August. This article discusses ten key points for franchisors.
Written by David Alizade, PARTNER; Darryl King, PARTNER on March 9th, 2022.
New country of origin food labelling regulations are now in force (for fresh and thawed food) and come into effect for frozen food in May 2023. If you are a manufacturer, supplier or retailer of the prescribed fresh, frozen or thawed food, you need to comply with the new Consumer Information Standards (Origin of Food) Regulations 2021 (Regulations).
The purpose of the Regulations is to ensure that consumers can clearly understand where the different types of regulated foods originate from. In this update, we summarise the background to the Regulations, what foods are captured by the Regulations and what information needs to be disclosed.
Written by David Alizade PARTNER; Darryl King PARTNER; Kelly Seabourne PARTNER; Stephanie Aquilina-Little, SENIOR LAWYER on August 30th, 2021.
A tenant’s ability to renew its lease for a further term is an important aspect of the bargain a landlord and tenant strike for the lease of a commercial property. However things can go awry when the parties don’t renew their lease at renewal time. The Property Law Act 2007 (PLA) gives a tenant the ability to go to Court for an order renewing its lease if its landlord refuses to renew it. This can be a saviour for a tenant but it means that a landlord needs to tread carefully if it wants to end a lease that has not been renewed.
Written by David Alizade PARTNER; Darryl King PARTNER on August 30th, 2021.
The Overseas Investment Amendment Act 2021 (Amendment Act) was passed on 24 May 2021 and introduces a number of key changes to the Overseas Investment Act 2005 (Act).
Written by David Alizade PARTNER on August 30th, 2021.
The Privacy Act 2020 (Act) is now more than six months old. Under the Act, organisations must report serious privacy breaches to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner (OPC) – predictably, this has resulted in a large increase in the number of privacy breaches being reported. This update runs through the types of breaches that have been reported so far, and new guidance issued by the OPC in relation to breach reporting.
Written by Darryl King, PARTNER; David Alizade, PARTNER on June 15th, 2020.
After much lobbying from business groups, the government has recently announced promised changes to leasing laws to provide some relief for small tenants that do not have a rent relief clause in their lease. The changes as announced will benefit far fewer tenants than originally proposed, and many tenants will be left with little relief. Click the link to read a summary of the changes.
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