Industries

In a landmark competition case, Apple has told the Federal Court that Epic Games and other developers should not be allowed to “freeride” on the resources and user base the tech giant has “spent many billions” to develop. 

Defunct microloan company Ferratum has been hit with $16 million in penalties for overcharging low-income consumers during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, with a judge noting the company’s conduct affected a large number of vulnerable customers.

Stockbroking firm Ord Minnett has challenged a judgment that found it must pay years of wages and other entitlements to a wealth adviser who was only remunerated by commission payments, a decision that could have major repercussions through the industry.

ANZ is set to acquire Queensland bank Suncorp, with treasurer Jim Chalmers signing off on the deal after the ACCC failed to block the $4.9 billion merger on competition grounds.

UK law firm DWF has acquired Melbourne claims management business Proclaim, expanding its insurance business in Australia. 

Sydney-based plastic surgeon Daniel Lanzer and several of his associates have objected to a class action’s eighth attempt at getting its claims over allegedly negligent cosmetic procedures right, saying the plaintiffs were engaged in a “continuing cycle of propagating versions” of their case.

Five years after it was first hit with a competition case by Dialogue Consulting, Meta has filed a cross-claim against the Melbourne social media company, alleging it collects and stores Instagram user login credentials and instructs clients to provide inaccurate information to the platform.

Westpac has won its case against the owner of a fruit stand in Sydney’s Flemington Markets over a fraudulent scheme perpetrated using a $15 million invoice discounting facility provided by the bank.

A judge has rejected Samsung Bioepis’ bid to discover research and development documents from Pfizer as it seeks to invalidate the drug giant’s patent for its blockbuster autoimmune drug Enbrel, agreeing with Pfizer that it may be “no more than an exercise in fishing”.

Aldi has slammed what it says is a novel copyright infringement case alleging the German grocery chain copied the “vibe” of a rival’s snack packaging.