Events

The High Court has rejected an appeal by a mortgage broker in a saga stretching back a decade, when the corporate regulator imposed a lifelong ban against the broker for failing to disclose a conviction on his credit licence application.

Facebook has agreed to pay a $20 million penalty for misleading consumers by representing that its discontinued Onavo Protect mobile app would keep users’ personal activity data private, when in fact it was being collected for commercial use.

A litigation funder that bankrolled a photographer’s unsuccessful copyright claim against CoreLogic has appealed a ruling ordering if to pay indemnity costs to the property data analytics company.

The judge weighing the legal costs sought to be deducted from a $300 million settlement in pelvic mesh class actions against Johnson & Johnson has questioned Shine Lawyers’ bid to make group members pay $32 million in interest incurred on a loan the firm took out at “credit card” rates.

Pop star Katy Perry has appealed her loss in a long-running trade mark fight with an Australian fashion designer over the right to use her name to sell clothing in Australia.

Skincare giant L’Oreal has lost the rights to use a 23-year-old trade mark for branding some of its products, after a competitor successfully campaigned IP Australia to strike it from the register for non-use. 

A judge has questioned an $11 million settlement in a class action against retirement village provider Aveo, resolving to appoint a contradictor and a costs referee amid a dispute between the plaintiff law firm and its litigation funder, which the court heard has “grave concerns” about the costs incurred in the case.

Seven Network has lost its effort to stop convenience chain 7-Eleven from using a contested logo even though Seven had registered the trade mark first, with a court finding the broadcaster sat on the mark for too long before using it. 

Cruise operator Scenic Tours has agreed to settle a long-running class action with travellers who were promised a “once in a lifetime cruise along the grand waterways of Europe” but were instead forced to take the bus, after almost ten years of litigation that went all the way to the High Court.

Commonwealth Bank of Australia has copped a record $3.55 million penalty for breaching spam laws after it sent more than 65 million emails without an easy way for individuals to unsubscribe.