The long-running Sealegs saga seems to have drawn to a close, at least for now, with the Supreme Court declining leave to appeal the Court of Appeal’s decision.

It did so on the basis that the Court of Appeal had not made an error of principle (mainly around the issue of functionality and the distinction between idea and expression), as contended by Sealegs and there was no issue of general or public importance or a risk of a miscarriage of justice.

This means that Sealegs’ success in the High Court, reversed on appeal, stands. See: Sealegs International Ltd v Zhang [2019] NZSC 147 (13 December 2019)