Pharmaceutical giant Wyeth has accused Merck Sharp & Dohme of a “baseless” patent invalidity case, saying on the second day of trial over the world’s best selling vaccine that the development of its patented Prevnar 13 pneumococcal shot was anything but obvious, as its rival contends.
A showdown between global pharmaceutical giants over the world’s best selling vaccine began Monday in Federal Court, with Merck Sharp & Dohme claiming three patents for Prevnar 13 sold by Pfizer’s Wyeth are invalid and that its own vaccine offers greater protection against pneumococcal bacteria.
Shareholder cases made up half of all class actions filed in the past two years, and are to blame for an “unprecedented spike” in class actions, according to a new report by a leading defence law firm.
A late proposal by the Australian Law Reform Commission to introduce a ‘leave to proceed’ mechanism into class actions has been blasted by a major litigation funder and a plaintiffs-side law firm as a de facto class certification procedure that would ramp up costs and add years of delay to cases.
An expert witness in an investor class action against Fitch Ratings over toxic financial products is no expert at all, the lead applicant told the court in contesting the admissibility of the expert’s evidence.
Litigation funder Investor Claim Partner won’t promise it will maintain a lower commission rate in one of the Dick Smith class actions if mediation is delayed to next year.
Westpac-owned BankSA has admitted that convicted Ponzi schemer Michael Samra withdrew funds at “near excess” of the bank’s limits and had insufficient money to honour cheques drawn on his company’s bank account.
A Dick Smith shareholder has lost his bid to bring a separate proceeding against the failed home goods retailer while two class actions are afoot.
Litigation funder Regency Funding has sought leave to intervene as a major player in one of two challenges to the courts’ powers to issue common fund orders in class actions, but it might have a fight on its hands.
Westpac has been ordered to pay a $3.3 million penalty for engaging in unconscionable conduct when it traded in bank bills in an attempt to influence the benchmark Bank Bill Swap Rate on four occasions, with a Federal Court judge admitting the fine was “inadequate.”