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The High Court has ruled that a patentee's rights to control what can be done with a patented product after it is sold are "exhausted" upon sale.

That a first filed case should be the presumptive winner in a competition between class actions seemed a losing argument before the High Court on Tuesday as the justices weighed a challenge to a ruling picking one among a group of class actions against AMP, but the court also appeared skeptical of the power to hold wide ranging inquiries into the merits of competing cases.

The High Court will hand down its highly anticipated decision in a patent dispute between printer giant Seiko Epson and ink cartridge reseller Calidad on Thursday, a ruling expected to provide clarity on the the rights of businesses to modify patented goods.

Will we see an increase in class actions and funded litigation following the COVID-19 financial crisis similar to that following the global financial crisis? If there is an onslaught of corporate failures, including failed managed investment schemes, then such litigation seems likely to ensue. However, in the last year, Parliament and the courts have taken steps which might slow such litigious activity, says Susan Goodman of Holding Redlich.

The eyes of class action lawyers will be on the High Court Tuesday as it hears arguments over a judge's power to choose a single class action among competing proceedings and what, if anything, should be made of a case's funding structure and likely returns to group members when picking a winner.

A nursing home in Melbourne's Western suburbs may be hit with a class action over a COVID-19 outbreak at the facility that resulted in the deaths of 11 residents.

The High Court has unanimously rejected a constitutional challenge against the Victorian government over its COVID-19 lockdown measures.

Aircraft engineers for Qantas are challenging a ruling that the airline had no "genuine choice" when it stood them down in March during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Billionaire Clive Palmer has lost his challenge to Western Australia's COVID-19 border lockdown, with the High Court tossing the case after finding the state's measures were constitutionally valid.

The High Court has declined to take up Mylan's challenge to a Full Court ruling upholding the invalidity of three patents for its blockbuster cholesterol drug Lipidil.