All Blacks threaten legal action
English National League Two side Launceston have been threatened with legal action by the New Zealand Rugby Union after trying to register their All Blacks nickname as a trademark.
English National League Two side Launceston have been threatened with legal action by the New Zealand Rugby Union after trying to register their All Blacks nickname as a trademark.
The Cornish All Blacks, as they have been known since forming in 1948, ran into trouble when they attempted to register their name at the UK Patent Office.
New Zealand rugby's trademark agents have warned that they are prepared to take legal action in order to safeguard the All Blacks name.
“It has got pretty heavy,” Launceston president Tony Randel told The Telegraph.
“We are still in negotiations with them and we hope that we can reach an agreement.
“But there is a possibility that it will go to a Patent Office hearing and if it goes to a hearing those with the deepest pockets will win.
“Although we punch above our weight for a club from a small town, we are basically a small Cornish club and we don't have the sort of money to fight a legal campaign.
“We wouldn't have had a problem if we had not tried to register Cornish All Blacks as a trade mark.
“It's the name we have had for sixty years and we made it clear that the name Cornish All Blacks referred purely to a rugby club playing in the county of Cornwall.
“We were a little surprised to get a letter from the trade mark agents representing the New Zealand All Blacks saying that we were infringing their trade mark.
“They have threatened that unless we withdraw our application they will take legal action against us.”
At this stage the Cornish club are prepared to fight their battle, citing other clubs, such as Gosford All Blacks in Oxford and Neath – better known as the Welsh All Blacks – in an attempt to persuade New Zealand to let their name stand.
Launceston, who had a season in National One before being relegated last April, have played in all black kit throughout their history and legend has it that their first shirts and shorts were made from old black-out curtains.
“The story goes that the players' wives got together made the first playing strip from black-out curtains,” Randel said.
“I can't confirm whether that is true or not but it it's one of those lovely rugby stories.”