The Indian government has lost a bid to register a trade mark for the word ‘Basmati’, after an IP Australia delegate found rice growers outside of India had an “equally valid claim” to use the term.
A Victorian barrister has been found guilty of contempt of court for representing her sons despite an order barring her from legal practice, but a judge dismissed a call by the legal watchdog to record a criminal conviction, saying the lawyer had not been deliberately defiant.
The Fair Work Ombudsman has brought its first-ever court proceedings against a franchisor, alleging it is legally responsible for its franchisees’ underpayments of nine workers.
Ashurst has bolstered its Sydney tax practice with the addition of two senior taxation lawyers from Deloitte.
Melbourne craft beer producer Brick Lane Brewing has lost its lawsuit accusing three companies behind the zero carb Better Beer of ripping off its packaging in breach of the Australian Consumer Law.
Stock broker Fortrend Securities has secured an order prohibiting two former advisors from contacting their old clients while they litigate a dispute alleging the advisors conspired with Shaw & Partners to poach customers.
UGL Limited has agreed to pay $438,000 to settle a class action accusing the engineering company of underpaying casual aluminium construction and manufacturing workers over a three year-period.
Crown Melbourne has lost a bid to patent a modified roulette game intended to bridge the gap between the European and American versions of the game, with IP Australia finding the invention does not constitute a manner of manufacture.
The family of late pastoralist Thomas Brinkworth can’t get security for costs from a landowner bringing a bushfire class action in South Australia, with a court ruling security was unnecessary under the class action rules in the state, which can bind all group members to an adverse costs order.
Uber has won a strike-out bid in a lawsuit by drivers challenging their classification as independent contractors, with a judge finding the pleading was “self-evidently, uncommonly and irretrievably deficient.”