Insights & Articles

Passed on 1 March 2017, the Contract and Commercial Law Act 2017 ("CCLA") represents a step taken by our Parliament to consolidate and modernise New Zealand's law relating to contracts and sales. The CCLA will come into force on 1 September 2017.

Intellectual Property is an asset that has the potential to be more valuable to your business than tangible business assets and should be protected as much as possible. A famous trade mark or a market leading patent may be of far greater value to a company than its physical assets.

On 30 October 2020 the Supreme Court delivered a landmark judgment in the context of contracts of guarantee in the case of Brougham v Regan [2020] NZSC 118. A summary of the key facts of the matter and important points in the Court's decision follow.

Often in commercial contracts, parties agree that they will use their "best endeavours", their "reasonable endeavours" or their "all reasonable endeavours" to perform certain actions or to achieve a certain outcome. But what do these terms mean in reality? While there are no set definitions and much is dependent on the particular circumstances, we are able to make some practical comments about the requirements of each of these terms so you have a clear idea of what you are agreeing to.

The Fair Trading Amendment Act 2021 - The Fair Trading Amendment Act 2021 ("Amendment Act") was enacted on 16 August 2021. It introduces changes to the Fair Trading Act 1986 ("Act"), some of which have come into effect and others which will come into effect on 16 August 2022.