KAPAI: Maori words in brand names belong to ...

There are a couple of words found in the Maori dictionary that have very similar meanings. One is awhi and the other is okooko. Basically they both mean to cradle or embrace in your arms and are brilliant brand names for bedding products.
In 1991 after a decade of travelling the world, I came home via Hawaii and was horrified to see everything about the Hawaiian culture, especially its language, was commercialised to the degree you had to speak Japanese to get a job in tourism.
So I decided to trademark certain Maori words and iconic symbols such as kia ora, kapai and the hongi to hopefully hold on to them for Maori for ever so they wouldn't end up like the other lost languages of the world.
To counter the cost of policing this very expensive exercise I licensed the brands out to a number of companies and from day one we always paid a royalty to the Maori designers, something no other New Zealand company using Maori brands or language has done, to my knowledge. Not even Kia Kaha, the global golfing brand who came on stream years after Kia Ora Clothing, pays royalties on original designs. It is something I have discussed with [leading Kiwi golfer] Michael Campbell across the dinner table when he launched the label.
Whenever I was approached by a Maori company to use our brands, they were always given the green light at no cost. Many were naive about intellectual property rights as were the artists who created the wonderful work we displayed on everything from Maori blankets to Feltex carpets.
One Tauranga master carver who has since passed away asked for a meagre $50 for his design we used on Maori blankets but our company kaupapa saw his royalty payments run into thousands of dollars.
At the same time many Maori, including my own, believed we were picking the eyes out of Maori taonga and making huge commercial gains from it. This was far from the case. Now into our 15th year, we are yet to make a profit but many local organisations and artists have benefited, especially in whanau fundraising such as Tauranga Intermediate School last year for a trip to Thailand.
We have continued to lobby local and national companies to take on our design concepts using a Maori brand to give them a culturally cool international edge above and beyond their competitors.
So it was to my great surprise when I read in last Wednesday's Bay of Plenty Times that a Tauranga company, which we had approached four years ago, had as its managing director claimed in the story, come across the name okooko as a brand for its 50 new stores. Was this coincidence or marketing brilliance on his behalf?
Given that we already have brands Moemoea (to slumber) and Awhi (to embrace) as manchester and soft furnishing brands I will leave that for to you to sleep on.
Tomorrow at Orakei Marae, in Auckland, the final claims hearings of the Wai 262 claim to indigenous flora and fauna and cultural and intellectual property rights begin.
Wai 262 seeks recognition of tino rangatiratanga or control and decision making over taonga including Maori language and how it is used, by whom and for what purposes, including commercial. This is to ensure the integrity of Maori language is maintained and where third parties are using Maori concepts including kupu (words) to make commercial profits, they will have to get prior consent from Maori and a royalty may be charged.
This claim has gained international recognition including from the World Intellectual Property Organisation and should be supported by all Kiwis who care about our culture ending up in the hands of foreigners, as is the case in Hawaii.
I have supported the Wai 262 claim led by kaumatua Del Wihongi and my aunty Saana Murray and also Wellington lawyers Maui Solomon and Leo Watson representing Te Rarawa, Ngati Kuri and Ngati Wai since its inception, as this ethical framework has been the cornerstone of our company from day one.
The traditional non-Maori device for protecting copyright and ownership, as offered by intellectual property companies, in my experience only works for the big boys with the big bucks, especially overseas where my friend Moana Maniapoto cannot use her own name because it has been locked up by corporate warriors of greed.
So getting back to Awhi and Okooko and who should benefit from the use of the Maori language in a national and international brand. For my two bobs' worth the answer is simple and that is Maori. Maybe the managing director of Okooko is tangata whenua or is already channelling benefits back to the origins of his cutting edge marketing campaign.
I guess it will either be ``The cheque is in the mail' or it could be ``cheque, mate'!
tommy@indigenius.org