Chairman of the PNG Rugby Football League (PNGRFL), Sandis Tsaka, says the PNGRFL owns all its trademarks and they are registered.
Tsaka was responding to media reports after Yan Kunxiang, Chen Chaohui, Jei Cheng, Emma Huayue Zhuang, Zhuang Weiqiang, Liao Sumin, Chuangcheng Wu and Yan Jinping were committed to stand trial on Nov 23 last year.
On April 7, 2015, they were caught selling jerseys and polo shirts containing the PNG Rugby Football League, Kumuls and Hunters trademark logos.
This saw a total of 10,244 printed jerseys and polo shirts confiscated by police when they were arrested.
The case was dismissed yesterday after the State put to the court that the trademark they were accused of illegally producing was not registered.
“It was reported that the PNGRFL did not own the trademarks. That’s actually wrong. The PNGRFL actually owns the three trademarks.
“This issue is that our trademarks were registered in August 2015. We placed a complaint in April 2015 and the 8 Chinese were arrested.
“On a technicality, the Public Prosecutor decided that we withdraw the case. They got out on a technicality because unfortunately, the people that ran this organisation before us did not register the trademarks.
“The legal interpretation was that technically, we did not own the trademarks because the trademarks were registered about two months after the Chines group were arrested,” said Tsaka.