Food and Beverage

Muffin Break franchisor Foodco has defeated a franchisee's challenge to a ruling that put it on the hook for money owed under a rental agreement after the lease for the store at the Bayside Shopping Centre in Frankston was not renewed.

The competition regulator has signed off on Woolworths' acquisition of chilled ready meals supplier Beak & Johnston, finding rival retailers would still have plenty of options for supplying ready meals.

A unit of Capital Property Group, which owns the Denman Prospect shopping centre in Canberra, has won its bid for subpoenas from lease holders that are fighting its opposition to their plans to sell their businesses.

The Albanese government has vowed to ban price-gouging by supermarkets if reelected, despite the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission's supermarkets inquiry finding no evidence of excessive pricing.

The IP rights holder of The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings franchises has appealed its loss in a trade mark battle with vegan burger chain Lord of the Fries.

Vittoria Cantarella has taken the fight to revive its ‘Oro’ trade marks to the High Court, arguing the Full Court should have found it was an honest concurrent user of the marks, which were first used by another coffee maker.

The former managing director and CEO of food company Noumi may give evidence at trial in the corporate regulator's case next year.

Fonterra, which has taken cheese maker Bega to court to resolve a dispute over the dairy company's plans to exit the Australian market, is resisting a bid for discovery in the case.

The IP holder of the The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings franchises has lost its challenge to registration of a trade mark by vegan burger chain Lord of the Fries.

Wine producer Accolade has won a dispute with Pernod Ricard over interim arrangements to distribute wine after it bought the French winemaker’s Australian and New Zealand businesses.