When US food giant Kraft faces off next week in its lawsuit against Aussie cheese company Bega for allegedly violating its peanut butter trade dress, the court will be faced with the thorny task of unraveling a complex corporate transaction that left both companies claiming rights to the iconic trade dress.
The timing of an email from a Herbert Smith Freehills solicitor alerting the Fair Work Commission to union contempt proceedings, which the firm argued early this year was grounds for halting the amalgamation of the CFMEU with two other unions, points to ‘a high level of collusion’ to block the merger, a judge said Tuesday.
Law firm Squire Patton Boggs is again on the losing end of a ruling by the judge presiding over a shareholder class action against GetSwift, a case now better known for infighting among lawyers than for the allegations levelled against the tech startup.
A judge has hit property manager Meriton with a $3 million penalty after finding the company misled consumers by manipulating negative TripAdvisor reviews, but the fine was well below the $20 million sought by the consumer watchdog.
Lawyers for two competing class actions against the Commonwealth Bank of Australia over breaches of anti-money laundering laws say the cases can happily co-exist, but whether the court will agree may well depend on the outcome of a closely-watched appeal in a separate battle over multiple proceedings.
Macquarie Bank is facing a fourth lawsuit by a group of former financial advisers alleging it breached the Fair Work Act by denying them regular wages.
Aristocrat Technologies is pushing on with its bid for four innovation gaming patents, after a delegate for IP Australia revoked the patents because they amounted to nothing more than ‘games and game rules’.
A judge has found an arbitration proceeding between Eastern Goldfields Ltd and GR Engineering Services over a $12.5 million gold mine contract can proceed despite the involvement of Squire Patton Boggs and another party in the dispute.
A judge on Friday will hear arguments in a bid by BHP Billiton to halt a class action over the mining giant’s Brazilian mine disaster, a sweeping case filed on behalf of investors who held the company’s shares in Australia, the UK or South Africa.
The litigation funder underwriting a class action against Myer will have to fork over another $950,000 in security ahead of what will be a rare shareholder trial starting next Wednesday, a court has ruled.