Consumer Goods

A judge has urged the Fair Work Ombudsman to act quickly after it told the court it accidentally undervalued claimed underpayments in a case against the owner of Rebel Sport, the regulator’s first case against a holding company for alleged wrongdoing by its subsidiaries.

The ACCC has brought proceedings against a national flower retailer for allegedly adapting its websites and google ads to deceive online customers into believing they were a local florist. 

Marlow Foods, maker of popular meat-replacement product Quorn, has lost an application to patent a vegan burger that contains a non-egg binding agent, with IP Australia saying the recipe lacked inventiveness.

New Zealand honey producers have failed in a lengthy fight with their Aussie counterparts to trade mark the term ‘manuka honey’, with the Intellectual Property Office of New Zealand ruling the phrase is merely descriptive of a type of honey.

US singer Katy Perry and an Australian fashion designer are at loggerheads over court orders to be made following a judge’s finding the pop star was liable for trade mark infringement, with concerns raised that Perry’s ‘Teenage Dream’ shorts could “fall between the cracks”. 

Dental aligner maker Invisalign has lost its case accusing competitor SmileDirectClub of misleading consumers about the cost and efficacy of its direct-to-consumer teeth alignment kits

Online florist Bloomex will admit to the Australian Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s allegations that it violated consumer laws by posting misleading customer ratings on its website.

An infringement ruling against US singer Katy Perry in a case brought by an Australian fashion designer is a “win for the little guy”, experts say, showing that fame doesn’t give celebrities a blank cheque to exploit their brand at the expense of someone’s else’s registered trade mark.

A judge has hit the maker of Fairy dishwashing products with an interim injunction that will disrupt the launch of its 30 Minute Miracle detergent, after finding consumer claims by the maker of Finish dishwashing products had a strong prospect of success.

In what a judge has dubbed a “tale of two women, two teenage dreams and one name”, US pop star Katy Perry has lost her bid to cancel the “Katie Perry” trade mark owned by an Australian designer and has been barred her from using her stage name to market clothing merchandise.