Sydney-based research foundation Brien Holden Vision Institute has filed a lawsuit alleging three senior researchers misused confidential information when they jumped ship to a rival research group and filed applications to patent seven inventions for opthalmic lenses designed to treat myopia allegedly based on that information.
Coffee capsule maker Caffitaly is challenging a ruling that revoked three patents at the centre of an intellectual property war with rival One Collective.
Former Liberal leader John Hewson has filed a defamation suit against Nine, claiming a report by A Current Affair about his insurance firm was gratuitous and “seriously dishonest”.
Animal health company Abbey Laboratories has successfully challenged an application by rival Bayer Australia for a patent covering a treatment for biting lice.
In its recent decision, the Federal Court has confirmed that schemes are not patentable merely because they are “new and ingenious” and are implemented using a computer. While the door is not completely closed on computer implemented schemes, the patentability threshold will never be passed unless there is some innovation in the computer technology, says Jane Owen and Rebecca Currey of Bird & Bird.
GlaxoSmithKline and Novartis have agreed to a combined penalty of $4.5 million after the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission accused the pharmaceutical giants of making misleading claims in marketing their Voltaren Osteo Gel and Voltaren Emulgel pain relief products.
Two Italian cheese consortiums have failed in separate bids to trade mark their respective cheeses, Gorgonzola and Asiago, with delegates ruling the trade marks were not capable of distinguishing each consortium’s products from other cheeses.
The Australian arm of global telecommunications firm BT Group has filed legal action against a former chief operating officer who jumped ship to Japanese competitor NTT.
A theatre producer facing a lawsuit by his former collaborators for stealing the script for his off-Broadway puppet show parody of the 80s TV sitcom Golden Girls has lost his own legal action against them, which alleged they defamed him and engaged in misleading and deceptive conduct by talking to a New York Times reporter about their lawsuit.
The lead applicants in seven class actions against auto manufacturers over explosive Takata airbags have criticised the courts for losing their way in ensuring justice is done, in a landmark challenge to class closure orders made in the cases.