Judgment

A tribunal has recommended that a Sydney solicitor be struck from the roll after finding him guilty of professional misconduct for sending numerous profane emails to a Mills Oakley solicitor during a dispute, noting the “unrelenting stream of discourteous, insulting or offensive correspondence” directed to the tribunal. 

A GlaxoSmithKline unit has defeated Nova Pharmaceuticals’ bid to trade mark ‘Novadart’ for a generic version of the British company’s market-leading drug prostate drug ‘Avodart’, with a delegate finding the mark would cause consumer confusion.

Deciding an “unusually difficult” costs application, a judge has declined to award Monsanto all of its costs for defending a class action alleging its Roundup weed killer is carcinogenic, saying the agrochemical giant should have pushed harder for a split trial. 

A judge has rejected Queensland’s bid to transfer two class actions over the removal of Indigenous children to its home turf from Victoria, saying removal was unnecessary in light of the court’s use of livestreaming technology and willingness to hold hearings in Brisbane.

US-based Dana-Farber Cancer Institute has succeeded in patenting a patient-specific method for developing cancer vaccines using genome sequencing.

A fair work claim against the University of Canberra by the former deputy general counsel of Australian National University has been dismissed, with the Fair Work Commission finding she had no reason to think her fixed contract would not terminate at the agreed date, especially considering her legal background. 

IP Australia has rejected an Italian cheese lobby’s bid to block an American cheese maker from using a trade mark containing the word ‘asiago’, saying there was “very little evidence” Australians were aware of the cheese at all.

A judge has signed off on an agreed-to $5 million penalty against Noumi in ASIC proceedings for violating its continuous disclosure obligations and found the food company’s non-disclosures caused it shares to trade at an inflated price.

Now-defunct sushi chain Sushi Bay has been slapped with penalties totalling more than $15 million, with a court calling its long history of staff underpayments “calculated” and “audacious”.

A judge has rejected Lendlease’s argument that Queensland building legislation does not apply to cross-border works carried out at Gold Coast Airport, saying the builder’s construction of the law would require a “bolt-by-bolt” analysis of construction work.