5.00pm: Mystery surrounds the identity and motivation of an organisation which is seeking to formally register the name of Auckland's iconic Big Gay Out picnic day, an integral part of the annual Hero Festival. The Intellectual Property Office in Wellington has confirmed that an entity calling itself The Company Of Angels, with a Glenfield, North Shore, address has lodged the application. However, the Hero Brand Management Group and the BGO event organisers say they have no knowledge of who The Company Of Angels is. Both Rachael Le Mesurier, executive Director of the NZ AIDS Foundation which organises the event for Hero, and Michael Modrich of the Hero Brand Management Group say they are unaware of the motivation behind the attempt at registration of the name. Both say their organisations have received legal advice that the registration attempt is unlikely to survive an appeal to the Intellectual Properties Office. In the meantime, they say they have "engaged legal counsel to persue rightful ownership of the intellectual property" of the Big Gay Out. They say this year's Big Gay Out will proceed as planned and they are sure that the BGO will continue in future to be a Hero event organised by the AIDS Foundation for the glbt communities. Ref: GayNZ.com (j)
Credit: GayNZ.com News Staff
First published: Tuesday, 23rd January 2007 - 12:00pm