Localist goes to court to challenge “brand-jacking”

Localist goes to court to challenge “brand-jacking”

Localist – Auckland’s new local information and directory service – is taking legal action against Yellow Pages Group in an effort to halt alleged breaches of the Fair Trading Act including cyber squatting and online “brand-jacking by Yellow.

The action was filed in the Auckland High Court on Monday 21 February.

Localist Chairman Sam Knowles says Yellow has been actively attempting to divert traffic away from Localist’s web site by creating “phoney” web addresses and “brand-jacking” Localist’s trade mark in an online campaign which the company believes is also in breach of Google’s policies.

Mr Knowles said ongoing efforts to resolve the issues failed, requiring Localist to take legal proceedings to protect its intellectual property.

“Localist is providing a real challenge to incumbents in the local media market. We want to make sure Aucklanders get the best deal – and misleading behaviour by any company is not good business practice.

“Our plans to bring a better priced and genuinely local information service to Auckland are now well advanced. The legal action is to ensure customers can make an informed choice, and to protect Localist’s ability to give the market a much-needed alternative.”

Mr Knowles said tens of thousands of businesses in Auckland had already registered with Localist and that a market launch was imminent.

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