The Federal Court’s recently retired top judge has landed on his feet with his appointment by the court as referee to determine which of a group of competing firms should dole out a $300 million settlement that resolved the J&J pelvic mesh class actions.
Racing NSW has won access to documents that concern an alleged plan by its Victorian counterpart to exclude it from the thoroughbred racing industry as part of an alleged anti-competitive agreement with four other states.
A contradictor in two pelvic mesh class actions against Johnson & Johnson and unit Ethicon has told the court of the “extraordinary amount of group member unhappiness” following approval of a $300 million settlement – the largest in the history of Australian product liability group proceedings.
Commonwealth Bank and other lenders of failed steel giant Arrium have lost a second attempt to put two of the company’s directors on the hook for alleged misleading representations on loan drawdown notices ahead of its $2.8 billion collapse.
Racing NSW has accused its Victorian counterpart of planning an anti-competitive agreement with five other states to exclude it from the thoroughbred racing industry, as it seeks documents to bring potential claims.
The High Court has been asked to weigh in on whether online ads targeting Australian consumers can be the basis for a trade mark registration, in a long-running intellectual property spat between the maker of Mother Energy drinks and Vittoria Coffee over their respective ‘mother’ marks.
Coffee brand Vittoria can’t transfer a case over the trade mark for rival Moccona’s instant coffee jar from one Federal Court registry to another, with a judge reminding the company that the court was “well into the 21st century” and could livestream hearings without the need for interstate travel.
Shine Lawyers can deduct 50 per cent of its fees and all of its costs from a $300 million settlement in pelvic mesh class actions against Johnson & Johnson while a judge mulls whether the law firm’s total bill is fair and reasonable.
Moccona’s instant coffee jar shape trade mark should be cancelled because the mark is functional and can’t distinguish the company’s goods, the owner of coffee brand Vittoria argues in a trade mark infringement cross-claim.
The NSW state racing authority has won access to communications between public relations firm Cato & Clive and five other racing bodies, including Racing Victoria, as it weighs a lawsuit alleging they plotted to exclude the body from the Australian horseracing industry.