Venture capitalist Dr Elaine Stead has been awarded $280,000 in her defamation case against the Nine-owned Australian Financial Review after the Federal Court found she suffered hurt and damage to her reputation through a “targeted campaign of offensive mockery” about her role in collapsed investment firm Blue Sky Alternative Investments.
Drug giant Merck Sharp & Dohme has brought a cross appeal in its long-running intellectual property dispute with Pfizer’s Wyeth over the top selling Prevnar 13 pneumococcal vaccine.
A $25 million settlement has been reached in three long-running shareholder class actions over the collapse of electronics retailer Dick Smith, under which the funders that backed the litigation will not recover their costs and shareholders recoveries will be small.
Pfizer unit Wyeth is seeking to overturn part of a judge’s decision in its high-stakes patent dispute with Merck Sharp & Dohme that found claims in two of its patents relating to the blockbuster Prevnar 13 pneumococcal vaccine were invalid.
Payouts in class actions in 2020 largely kept pace with the previous year despite the financial strain of the COVID-19 pandemic, with companies and other defendants paying more than $696 million to settle class actions last year.
Facebook and its subsidiary Instagram have lost a bid to shut down a lawsuit brought by an Australian social media startup, with a judge finding the digital giants relinquished their right to move the dispute to California.
A judge has found a NSW training company is liable to pay $139 million for over 12,000 students who racked up VET FEE-HELP debts but failed to complete their courses due to an “unconscionable” enrolment system.
Rival bookmakers Sportsbet and Sportsbetting.com.au have reached a settlement in their trade mark and consumer law dispute, agreeing to drop their claims against each other for unspecified terms.
A judge has signalled his intention to sign off on a $138 million settlement in a class action against IAG and approve a common fund order that gives the litigation funder a $34.5 million commission, but an application by the funder for reimbursement of after-the-event insurance has been refused.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has taken franchise giant Retail Food Group to court for allegedly misleading purchasers of loss-making franchises about the profitability or viability of its stores.