A Kiwi inventor has been awarded more than $1 million in damages after a court ruled an American company copied his patented champagne bottle opener.

Naming your company is not the end of it for a business. Over its lifetime you will have to protect it as competitors seek to benefit from the qualities the name bears.

International competitors have often thought the marketplace here not sufficiently important, giving companies such as Fisher & Paykel, Douglas Pharmaceuticals and Glidepath opportunities to establish themselves.

Opponent says islanders would never have seen money if Epsom mansion sold.