The maker of Mother energy drinks has had its Motherland trade mark removed by IP Australia, with a delegate granting a win to rival caffeinated beverage maker Vittoria Food & Beverage in finding that the mark should be removed for non-use.
Class action experts have knocked several recommendations from the Parliamentary Joint Committee for reforming the class action system, including that group members be guaranteed at least 70 per cent of any settlement or judgment, saying this would be challenging to implement and could make disputes harder to resolve.
A fight over whether a class action applicant must fork over security for costs is not a matter of the strength of the case, says a judge presiding over a class action brought by superannuation holders against Commonwealth Bank of Australia and subsidiaries Colonial First State and Avanteos.
The Transport Workers’ Union has amended its case against Qantas challenging a decision to outsource 2,000 jobs, after a Federal Court judge urged the union to consider narrowing the lawsuit against the airline.
Lawyers for the lead applicant in a stayed class action against Bayer-owned Monsanto over its weedkiller Roundup cannot access discovered documents in a separate class action against the agricultural giant in advance of mediation next year.
Shareholders of collapsed vocational training company Vocation are poised to get about half of a $50 million settlement reached last month in a complex, long-running class action alleging the company failed to make adequate disclosures about its contracts with the Victorian Department of Education.
The Full Federal Court has tossed an appeal by Treasury Wine Estates claiming that Maurice Blackburn and barrister Guy Donnellan breached their obligations in preparing the pleadings in a current shareholder class action against the global winemaker.
BHP Group Ltd has appealed a ruling allowing foreign group members to be part of a shareholder class action against the mining giant over the Fundao dam failure in Brazil five years ago.
Neurim Pharmaceuticals can seek limited additional damages in a patent infringement case relating to its insomnia drug Circadin, after a judge granted a mid-trial bid to amend its pleadings against Generic Partners and Apotex.
ASIC will not appeal a Federal Court decision tossing the majority of its case against former Tennis Australia director Harold Mitchell and accusing the regulator of “confirmatory bias” in bringing the case, but has foreshadowed fresh claims related to allegedly inconsistent statements given during its investigation.