Food and Beverage

The applicants in a shareholder class action against the former Freedom Foods have failed in a bid to cross-examine Noumi's inhouse counsel on affidavits swearing to the legal professional privilege of 3,000 documents, including material containing advice from accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers.

The costs billed by Nando's Australia's law firm for work on a "straightforward" judgment debtor examination of a franchisee -- totalling almost a fifth of the debt -- have been slashed, with a court finding the costs manifestly excessive.

A consortium of parmigiano reggiano producers has lost its opposition to registration of a parmesan trade mark in Australia by an international group dedicated to protecting common names from being monopolised.

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.

Coffee brand Vittoria can't transfer a case over the trade mark for rival Moccona's instant coffee jar from one Federal Court registry to another, with a judge reminding the company that the court was "well into the 21st century" and could livestream hearings without the need for interstate travel.

Monster Energy has been sued by an inventor who claims that the beverage giant infringed his patent for laser etched pull tabs like those used to package its energy drinks.

Moccona's instant coffee jar shape trade mark should be cancelled because the mark is functional and can't distinguish the company's goods, the owner of coffee brand Vittoria argues in a trade mark infringement cross-claim.

Baby food producer Bellamy’s has hit back at a $400,000 lawsuit by its former chief executive officer, saying she was sacked because of “poor financial performance” and not because she complained about sex discrimination. 

A judge overseeing a $129 million underpayments class action against hospitality giant Merivale has rejected a bid for a second round of opt out notices, finding that even if the first round went straight to employees’ junk or spam folders, it did not follow that they had not been read.

Artisanal chocolate brand Koko Black has brought legal action against rival chocolate maker Kokopod and its owner, alleging they are infringing on Koko Black's trade marks.