Practice Areas

A judge has approved a $300 million settlement in two pelvic mesh class actions against Johnson & Johnson and unit Ethicon — the largest settlement in the history of Australian product liability group proceedings — but a $100 million deduction for legal costs has yet to get the greenlight. 

Boston Scientific’s $105 million settlement of a class action over its pelvic mesh devices has secured court approval, but the costs billed by the law firm running the case will face further scrutiny.

A senior barrister acting for a class action over the use of allegedly toxic firefighting foam on military bases has slammed an upcoming mediation as a “solemn farce”, as the federal government has said it will not be ready to commit to a settlement. 

Former Liberal staffer Bruce Lehrmann has faced cross-examination over text messages to his girlfriend in which he said he received legal advice that he could get “millions” if he filed a defamation case against Network Ten over its airing of Brittany Higgins’ rape allegations, a court has heard.

A director at office leasing company Cushman & Wakefield who accepted a job with a competitor has lost a bid to lift an injunction keeping her on garden leave for three months, with a judge finding she was the “author of her own misfortune” for failing to read her employment contract.

IPH Limited, which owns IP firms Spruson & Ferguson and Griffith Hack, and lender Latitude Financial have become the latest victims of cyberattacks, with the latter revealing the personal data of hundreds of thousands of customers has been stolen.

Telecommunications giant Singtel Optus has been barred from promoting various products using the word ‘boost’ until an intellectual property suit brought by Boost Mobile is resolved.

The High Court has denied Clive Palmer leave to appeal successive court decisions which found his company Mineralogy’s royalties dispute with mining company Adani should be determined through a dispute resolution process rather than in court.

The reputation of a registered trade mark and its owner is not relevant in assessing the deceptive similarity of a challenged mark, the High Court has found, clarifying the test for infringement under a section of the Trade Marks Act.

A judge has ordered online bookmaker Entain and the Australian Hotels Association to hand over legal advice concerning their agreement to advertise digital wagering products in NSW pubs so that Tabcorp can decide whether to bring a case.