Notwithstanding a recent increase in competing shareholder class actions, on the whole, competing class actions have remained unusual, and courts have demonstrated that they are well equipped to apply appropriate considerations and principles on a case by case basis, employing a range of case management tools to ensure justice is done without the need for legislative intervention, writes Slater & Gordon class action associate Victoria Sparks.
The important decision by the Full Court of the Federal Court in Calidad Pty Ltd v Seiko Epson Corporation clarifies the position on an area of law that, surprisingly, is still developing in Australia, namely the scope of the implied licence issuing from the sale of a patented product, writes Duncan Longstaff and Roshan Evans of Shelston IP.