Cindy Cameronne

In a loss for the Australian Taxation Office, an appeals court has found that the Liberty Group’s use of corporate and trust ‘silos’ was not an unlawful tax avoidance scheme.

Epic Games’ case alleging Google ran its Play Store anti-competitively is “significantly more ambitious” than the Fortnite game maker’s claims against Apple, according to the search giant, which says its restraints are “more flexible and less draconian” than the iPhone maker’s.

Hitting back at claims that its App Store stifles competition, Apple has told a trial that app developers have myriad ways of maximising profits without paying it a commission, noting Epic Games made US$3.8 billion from in-game currency V-Bucks in 2021.

The lead plaintiff and several group members in a class action against the Australian Football League on behalf of players who allegedly suffered brain injuries have “very strong” opposition to adding individual clubs, a court has heard.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has won an interim travel ban against the CEO of software company Dubber Corporation and its external solicitor in Melbourne, with the regulator saying it suspects misuse of term deposit funds. 

Investors in an apartment development in Melbourne have brought a class action against the responsible managers for two managed investment schemes, alleging their funds were misused. 

Google has criticised two competition class actions which piggyback on claims brought by Fornite developer Epic Games as “opportunistic”, but counsel for the class actions told a court the suits on behalf of more than 15 million group members were in the public interest.

The Australian unit of drug giant Mylan has triumphed in a dispute with Australian Taxation Office, with a judge finding the ATO’s assessment for 2020 was “excessive” with respect to interest on loans to fund Mylan’s $1.2 billion acquisition of generic drug maker Alphapharm.

A judge overseeing a landmark competition case against Apple and Google has questioned whether Apple’s US lawyers wrongly used court submissions in Australia to put pressure on Epic Games in Europe and justify temporarily removing its developer account. 

Google offered Fortnite creator Epic Games $200 million and proposed to acquire equity in the company to prevent it from opening its own app store with exclusive content that could compete with the search giant’s Play Store, a court has heard.