Appeals

The High Court has been asked to weigh in on whether online ads targeting Australian consumers can be the basis for a trade mark registration, in a long-running intellectual property spat between the maker of Mother Energy drinks and Vittoria Coffee over their respective 'mother' marks.

The High Court has agreed to hear the appeals of two former Dick Smith exes following judgments that awarded a total of $55 million in damages to NAB and the receivers of the defunct electronics retailer.

Cruise operator Scenic Tours is stuck with a $10 million damages bill but has avoided paying for disappointed traveller’s flights, after an appeals court mostly rejected its appeal of an award to travellers who were promised a “once in a lifetime cruise along the grand waterways of Europe” but were instead forced to take the bus.

The state of Victoria is trying again to stay a class action over the 2020 hotel quarantine debacle in light of a pending criminal action against the Department of Health, telling an appeals court the fundamental principles of the criminal justice system must be protected.

The builder of an allegedly defective Haymarket apartment building has lost an appeal of a decision which found that separate breaches of statutory building warranties do not create individual causes of action.

Car electronics company Directed Electronics has challenged a ruling that partially dismissed its case over the alleged misappropriation of trade secrets by a former manager, who was found to have pocketed $3.6 million in commissions through a secret agreement with rival Hanhwa.

The High Court has rejected dam services provider Sunwater's request that it weigh in on a dispute over insurance coverage for a $440 million class action settlement with victims of the 2010-2011 floods in Queensland.

The farmers leading a class action against Advanta Seeds over contaminated product has brought their case to the High Court, challenging an appeals court's holding that a disclaimer nullified the company's duty to protect growers against economic loss.

Beauty giant Mecca has succeeded in fending off a luxury cosmetics brand's appeal of a decision that found a term of an exclusive distribution agreement between them was not an unlawful restraint of trade.

A lawyer who represented murder suspect Henry Keogh has failed to secure payment of his professional fees out of an ex-gratia payment to Keogh from the South Australian government, after an appeals court found the contingency under his retainer never arose.