Judgment

South Korean biotech ToolGen has won court approval to patent its genome editing technology CRISPR, after an earlier bid to protect its IP found the revolutionary technology was not patentable.

A New South Wales developer’s competition case against NSW Ports over a ports privatisation agreement looks bound for the High Court after a judge found a related ACCC proceeding did not bar it from bringing the case, which will challenge a Full Court finding that the ports operator was shielded by derivative Crown immunity.

An appeals court has found that a solicitor’s caveat over his bankrupt client’s property was valid, after the client agreed to mortgage his property as security for up to $100,000 in legal costs, saying it was the only binding costs agreement they had.

Ramsay Health Care has won a partial interim injunction banning the union representing its nurses from running ads that claim the private hospital operator runs on a staff-to-patient ratio double that of public hospitals.

Sydney Trains can’t unilaterally direct engineering workers to wear long pants while working but must carry out its obligation to consult with them first, Fair Work Commission has said.

Victoria Attorney-General Jaclyn Symes’ interference in a Fire Rescue Victoria union dispute was not “unlawful, unconscionable or illegitimate”, despite the AG overstepping her statutory authority, a judge has found.

A judge hearing a defamation case over a podcast by The Australian about the murder of Shandee Blackburn has granted a bid by a News Corp unit for a pre-trial hearing to determine whether acquitted suspect John Peros suffered serious harm from the podcast.

An appeals court has dismissed an environmental advocacy group’s challenge to the extension of two Mach Energy and Whitehaven Coal mega coal mines in NSW, saying the current environmental laws are “ill-suited” to dealing with the global threat of climate change. 

Billabong founder Gordon Merchant has lost his challenge to a decision by the ATO to increase his tax liability to $31 million, finding that he conducted a “wash sale” of his Billabong shares and engaged in dividend stripping on the sale of bio plastics manufacturer Plantic Technologies. 

A judge that tossed two shareholder class actions against the Commonwealth Bank of Australia has found the bank did not have to alert investors to the possibility of AUSTRAC proceedings, saying investors did not expect to be apprised of the “toings and froings” of regulatory investigations.