An Australian maker of neoprene handbags sold at high-end retailers has appealed its loss in a copyright dispute over alleged knockoffs, contesting a judge’s finding that its trendy tote is not a work of artistic craftsmanship.
Australasian food company Goodman Fielder has successfully challenged a bid by Conga Foods and an Italian pasta producer to register the ‘La Famiglia’ trade mark for pasta products.
Nine-owned Fairfax will have to pay out over $2 million in legal fees after being hit with indemnity costs on top of a $280,000 judgment in its defamation spat with venture capitalist Dr Elaine Stead for its “Micawber-like” approach to the case.
A judge has rejected a class closure order application by the lead applicants in a class action against convenience store chain On The Run ahead of mediation, finding that the court does not have power to make such an order at a “relatively early” stage in a class action.
A judge has ordered ASIC to enter mediation before heading into a “very expensive” trial with an IOOF subsidiary accused of giving shonky advice, over objections from the regulator that mediation would be “completely futile”.
IOOF subsidiary Australian Executor Trustees failed to drag law firm Sparke Helmore into a case after it was hit with a $76.6 million judgment over breaches of duty in the sale of a 42,000 hectare timber plantation by collapsed forestry giant Gunns Group.
A judge has approved a $9.5 million settlement in a class action against McMillan Shakespeare as fair and reasonable, allowing a common fund order and a nearly 30 percent commission for the litigation funder despite previously raising “real concerns” about the small portion flowing to group members.
Whether a contingency fee order made in a Victoria Supreme Court class action can survive a transfer application to a NSW court could be the next high stakes class action issue for the courts.
Norwegian shipping company Wallenius Wilhlmsen Ocean has been fined $24 million for conspiring to fix the rates charged for shipping vehicles to Australia, bringing the total fines won by the ACCC over the shipping cartel to $83.5 million.
A Victorian barrister has reached a settlement on the eve of trial in a breach of fiduciary duty lawsuit brought by a former client who lost a court case over a $24.5 million real estate dispute.