Rio Tinto subsidiary Technological Resources has successfully challenged a decision by IP Australia to reject a patent application for a method of separating mined material, with a judge finding the claimed invention was not a collection of mere working directions as a delegate had found.
Mining giant Fortescue Metals is seeking special leave from the High Court to appeal a ruling that granted native title to the Yinjibarndi people over a large section of land in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.
The Takeovers Panel has found that while a $2.5 million break fee included in a $470 million takeover offer lobbed during a bidding war for Western Australia power supplier Pacific Energy was not a “common market approach”, it was not anti-competitive or coercive.
Litigation funder Augusta Ventures has brought its promised appeal of a groundbreaking ruling that put it on the hook for paying security for costs in an employment class action over the classification of casual mine workers.
Two special purpose liquidators appointed to collapsed engineering and construction company Forge Group are investigating a potential lawsuit against KPMG, which audited the doomed business prior to its $800 million collapse in 2014.
Global chemicals giant SNF has dropped its case against rival BASF over a lucrative mining patent, the last of numerous Federal Court disputes between the companies.
A group of unsecured creditors of ‘Diamond Joe’ Gutnik’s mining firm Merlin Diamonds has launched a NSW Supreme Court bid to preserve their rights over security interests in the company as the clock ticks down to its impending liquidation.
Technology firm Globaltech Corporation has filed Federal Court proceedings against rival Reflex Instruments for selling two mining survey devices to drilling company Boart Longyear that allegedly infringe its patent.
A unit of staffing company Programmed has become the latest target of a litigation blitz over casual workers, with the company facing a $45 million class action for allegedly failing to pay workers accrued annual leave and other entitlements.
The Federal Government is considering reforms targeting litigation funders in response to what it has called a greater number of “increasingly politicised” class actions against companies in the mining and resources industry.