New Zealand honey makers have dropped their bid to trademark the term ‘Manuka honey’ in the UK and Europe, allowing Australian Manuka honey growers free range to sell their products under the globally recognised name in those regions.
New Zealand’s Manuka Honey Appellation Society (MHAS) has discontinued its High Court appeal in the UK to trademark the words and withdrew its application for the ‘Manuka Honey’ certification mark in the European Union.
Manuka honey is premium honey derived from the flowers of the manuka tree, native to New Zealand and parts of southeastern Australia. Manuka is also a word from the indigenous Maori language.
The global market for manuka honey is worth around $1.27 billion annually, and it sells at high premium price to other honey, at between $300 and $500 per kilo, depending on levels of MGO+, the manuka ingredient which is considered to have therapeutic properties.
The Australian Manuka Honey Association (AMHA) says the proceedings’ withdrawal will significantly impact thousands of Australians employed in the honey sector.
“For five years, the AMHA has been battling the New Zealand MHAS in multiple jurisdictions over their attempts to trademark the term Manuka as exclusively their own,” said Paul Callander, chairman of the AMHA.
“The MHAS backdown means the UK IPO ruling of December 2021 in Australian beekeepers’ favour stands, and there is no restraint or trademark on Manuka naming rights.”
Callander said the growing demand for the product for both consumption and medicinal use and the greater certainty in the UK and Europe would allow Australian manuka makers to enjoy their share of this demand.
“Clearly, there has been a change of thinking by the New Zealand group, and hopefully, we can spend our time and money working together to promote this wonderful medicinal honey to the world rather than fighting over naming rights,” he added.
The AMHA is still awaiting the outcome of a New Zealand trademark application by MHAS that the New Zealand IPO regulator heard in 2021. The Australian producers mounted a similar defence in New Zealand to their position in the UK and EU hearings.
The New Zealand MHAS will be liable for costs under procedural rules in the UK.
