Sunday, 16 May 2021 08:27 AM MYT
Beekeeper Sven Stephan explaining about manuka honey in the New South Wales town of Somersby. AFP pic
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MAY 16 Beekeepers in New Zealand are seeking the exclusive right to use the “manuka” label for their honey, pitting them against rival Australian farmers over a prestige product that can fetch hundreds of dollars per jar.
Manuka honey takes its name from the Maori term for Leptospermum scoparium, the flowering shrub whose nectar forms its essence, which is found in both Australia and New Zealand.
Mānuka honey battle: New Zealand, Britain, Australia in trademark fight
16 May, 2021 12:00 AM
4 minutes to read
British honey manufacturer Rowse has instructed lawyers to fight an application by the New Zealand Mānuka Honey Appellation Society to trademark the mānuka honey name. Photo / File
British honey manufacturer Rowse has instructed lawyers to fight an application by the New Zealand Mānuka Honey Appellation Society to trademark the mānuka honey name. Photo / File
Daily Telegraph UK
Britain has become embroiled in a bitter international legal battle over who is entitled to produce mānuka honey, The Telegraph can reveal.
Britain embroiled in bitter international legal battle over who can produce manuka honey
New Zealand has applied to trademark the manuka honey name, leading to fears the already expensive superfood could increase in price
15 May 2021 • 6:00pm
Manuka hives at Tregothnan: The British honey manufacturer Rowse has instructed lawyers to fight an application by the New Zealand Manuka Honey Appellation Society to trademark the ‘manuka honey’ name
Britain has become embroiled in a bitter international legal battle over who is entitled to produce manuka honey, The Telegraph can reveal.
The British honey manufacturer Rowse has instructed lawyers to fight an application by the New Zealand Manuka Honey Appellation Society to trademark both the “manuka honey” name as well as what actually constitutes the costly superfood.
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Bee keepers are warning that a trademark stoush over the right to use the word âmanukaâ could set a damaging precedent if a New Zealand tribunal bans Australian producers from marketing their products under that term.
The Intellectual Property Office of New Zealand is due to consider an application by the Manuka Honey Appellation Society (MHAS), which represents a group of New Zealand producers, for a certification mark on the word âmanukaâ. The Australian Manuka Honey Association is opposing the application.
The New Zealand government is attempting to prevent Australian beekeepers from marketing their products as âmanukaâ.
Credit:Wolter Peeters