Kia Ora, a followup to Taco Tuesday & more…Keep up to date with the latest IP news in our weekly round-up…

Kia Ora: Air New Zealand faces boycott over trademark bid

Air New Zealand’s bid to trademark the image of the words “Kia Ora”, the title of its in-flight magazine, has prompted threats of a boycott. The phrase kia ora is a Maori greeting and the trademark attempt has sparked anger from the indigenous community. The airline said it wants to trademark the magazine logo, not the phrase itself. The New Zealand Maori Council described the move as “cultural misappropriation” and “frankly despicable”.

UK must enshrine EU copyright rules to protect performers’ pay, says Equity

The government is to be lobbied to protect performers from being exploited financially by enshrining European Union copyright rules into UK law.

Huawei wants to sell its 5G tech to rivals

The latest bid by Chinese kit vendor Huawei to adapt to US sactions could involve licensing its 5G technology to whoever is willing to pay.

Ohio State can’t trademark the word ‘the’, patent office says

Ohio State University has failed to trademark the word ‘the’, with the US Patent and Trademark Office on Wednesday, turning down its application to claim it as its own.

And finally…

LeBron’s ‘Taco Tuesday’ trademark filing gets denied

Sadly, LeBron James had his application to trade-mark the phrase ‘Taco Tuesday’ denied by the US patent and trademark office.