NZ Rugby loses round one in Chiefs v Chiefs trademark dispute

New Zealand Rugby has lost the first round of its increasingly bitter trademark dispute with the Australian Rugby League Commission , after a High Court judge on Friday turned down its bid for an injunction.

NZ Rugby is seeking to prevent the incoming Papua New Guinea NRL side from using the Chiefs name already associated with the Super Rugby franchise.

The organisation last week filed an application for urgent interim injunction ahead of the PNG side's planned jersey and branding launch in Port Moresby next Wednesday.

However, the lawyer acting for the Australian Rugby League Commission (ARLC), which owns both the NRL and the new PNG side, Clive Elliott, told the Wellington High Court on Friday that the launch would go ahead regardless of the outcome of the hearing.