Events

A judge overseeing a superannuation class action against two Westpac units that settled for $30 million has flagged the possibility of appointing a contradictor to examine the litigation funder’s claimed cut of the settlement, which includes a deduction of over $1 million to cover the costs of after-the-event insurance.

Sunshine Loans has lost its bid to have the Full Court weigh in on ASIC’s authority to seek penalties for Credit Code violations, in proceedings accusing the online lender of charging over $320,000 in prohibited fees. 

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.