After a first failed attempt, two class actions against 7-Eleven are trying again to restrict communications between the convenience store giant and franchisees ahead of a settlement approval hearing with ANZ, the bank that loaned money to store owners.
A subsidiary of Coca Cola has won its bid for removal of Sunraysia Natural Beverages’ Honest Kids trade mark for non-use, with IP Australia finding only “minimal and isolated” uses of the disputed mark.
The law firm running the first Australian cancer case against RoundUp weedkiller producer Monsanto has questioned whether victims would get the “true value” of their claims if a class action was launched.
The former chief executive officer of Hastie Services has admitted to asking staff to make up for a shortfall between forecast and actual profits at the firm, but claims he made the order with the expectation it would be done legally, the jury hearing a criminal case against him was told.
Noting the relevant three-year limitations provision was “quite unusal”, the judge overseeing a consumer class action against horse vaccine manufacturer Zoetis has given the class a chance to add a second applicant to the case, after it was revealed that part of the lead applicant’s claim was out of time.
Melbourne-based Carbone Lawyers has filed the first Australian lawsuit against agribusiness giant Monsanto linking the company’s popular weedkiller RoundUp to cancer.
The Federal Court has granted Treasury Wine Estates costs of a stayed class action filed against it by a firm owned by solicitor Mark Elliott, despite a settlement in a related class action barring TWE from seeking remedies from class members.
NSW Ports is facing a new lawsuit over an allegedly anti-competitive agreement entered into with the NSW state government for the privatisation of Port Botany and Port Kembla, which is the subject of a separate case brought by the competition regulator.
Veterinary pharmaceutical companies Norbrook Laboratories and Merial have launched twin appeals of two IP Australia decisions allowing Bayer to amend a proposed patent for a treatment for mammary gland infections.
The former chief financial officer of a unit of collapsed Gold Coast finance company Octaviar Investments is facing fraud charges for allegedly misappropriating more than $4.6 million in company funds for his personal use.