A judge has handed a partial win to homewares brand Bed Bath N’ Table, finding rival House misled consumers by opening a sub-brand called House Bed & Bath but rejecting the retailer’s trade mark infringement claims.
The country’s most experienced class action law firm won two and lost two in last year’s beauty parades before the courts, showing track record is not everything when it comes to winning carriage of cases and that picking the winner can be a tricky business. From line-ball decisions to law firm team-ups and the lowest contingency fee order yet, here’s how 2023’s class action contests went down.
Energy company Santos has defeated a challenge by a Tiwi Islander traditional custodian to the construction of a pipeline for its $5.6 billion Barossa gas project, with a judge rejecting expert evidence about risks to cultural heritage.
Developer Centurion Australia Investments has lost an appeal in a dispute with builder APM Group in which it argued that its RMIT Village student accommodation falls under laws applying to domestic buildings.
Over three years into a class action against failed asset finance lender Axsesstoday and auditor PricewaterhouseCoopers over a $50 million prospectus, the applicant has won the green light to add four insurers to the case.
Electric car giant Tesla has brought court proceedings against a NSW man seeking the removal of documents from the web, including material allegedly leaked by a former employee who recently raised concerns about the company’s self-driving software.
Atomos’ former US-based CEO — who was fired after she failed to relocate to Melbourne — has lost her fight to stay the video technology company’s lawsuit, with a judge finding the dispute over a bridging loan for the international move should be decided under Australian law.
A Network Ten executive received an angry phone call from former prime minister Scott Morrison’s chief media advisor after claims about the Liberal Party’s handling of Brittany Higgins’ alleged sexual assault were aired on The Project, new court documents reveal.
Gaming giant Aristocrat is suing its head of design for alleged intellectual property infringement and has secured orders restraining him from using or disclosing any of thousands of company files he is accused of copying.
An environmental group has lost its case alleging the federal government failed to take climate change into account when it renewed an agreement for logging in New South Wales, with a judge saying it was a ‘political’ issue rather than one for the courts.