Preventing unfair competition in Australia, New Zealand and South Pacific countries: the intertwined roles of passing off and consumer protection statutes.

This article examines how Australia, New Zealand, and other South Pacific countries implement protections against unfair competition, focusing on the interplay between the tort of passing off and consumer protection statutes prohibiting misleading or deceptive conduct in trade. These countries, whose laws are based on English law, rely on a combination of intellectual property statutes, equitable doctrines, and broadly worded consumer protection laws—many modeled on Australia's Trade Practices Act (now the Australian Consumer Law)—to fulfill their obligations under Article 10bis of the Paris Convention. Courts in the region, particularly in Australia, treat passing off and statutory prohibitions as having a largely merged operation, balancing protection of traders' goodwill with consumer interests and competitive freedoms, while avoiding extending liability to mere copying or misappropriation. Additional legislation in Australia and New Zealand addresses specific issues like ambush marketing, but overall, the tort of passing off and consumer protection statutes remain the primary legal mechanisms against unfair competition in the region.