Special

The Full Federal Court is set to hear appeals in four class actions in the August sitting, giving the court a chance to address important issues, including cost-capping in joint class actions and security for costs in unfunded cases. Here, we give you the run-down on each of the upcoming challenges.

The Australian federal government’s proposed legislation to abolish the innovation patent system, Australia’s second tier patent system, was introduced into parliament on July 25. Here, Griffith Hack's Dr Malcolm Lyons and Dr Justin Sweetman tell you what you need to know about the Intellectual Property Laws Amendment (Productivity Commission Response Part 2 and Other Measures) Bill 2019.

A judge has signed off on the walkaway settlement reached in one of four St Patrick’s Day bushfire class actions filed by Maddens Lawyers, noting that the plaintiff faced a “very real risk of not succeeding” in some of its primary claims.

Consumer giant Unilever has dropped its challenge to a ruling that found competitor Beiersdorf did not make misleading claims about its Nivea clinical strength deodorant products.

Notwithstanding a recent increase in competing shareholder class actions, on the whole, competing class actions have remained unusual, and courts have demonstrated that they are well equipped to apply appropriate considerations and principles on a case by case basis, employing a range of case management tools to ensure justice is done without the need for legislative intervention, writes Slater & Gordon class action associate Victoria Sparks.

The ABC and Fairfax have lost their appeal seeking to revive a truth defense in a defamation case brought by Chinese businessman Dr Chau Chak Wing over a Four Corners program accusing him of espionage and links to the Chinese Communist Party.

The important decision by the Full Court of the Federal Court in Calidad Pty Ltd v Seiko Epson Corporation clarifies the position on an area of law that, surprisingly, is still developing in Australia, namely the scope of the implied licence issuing from the sale of a patented product, writes Duncan Longstaff and Roshan Evans of Shelston IP.

Australian coal miner Moreton Resources has won a Full Federal Court appeal over tax offsets it claims are owed over a failed pilot project testing underground coal gasification, a process which was ultimately banned in Queensland.

Rural supply giant Landmark's has offered to sell three stores to win Australian Competition and Consumer Commission approval for its proposed $469 million takeover of competitor Ruralco, a move that would consolidate two of the three largest players in the rural merchandise market.

A judge has discontinued a class action brought against a Queensland law firm over allegedly non-compliant conditional costs agreements, after finding no evidence that anyone other than the lead plaintiff was interested in bringing a claim.