It is entirely possible that the first effective SARS-CoV-2 vaccine is developed in Australia, with an Australian firm securing patent rights to the vaccine. If that occurs, it is important to remember that a patent is not an impenetrable fortress. Patent laws already contain mechanisms to enable “special access” to patented pharmaceuticals and other technologies, including (perhaps especially) in times like this, say James Neil and Richard Hoad of Clayton Utz.
The Commonwealth Bank of Australia has refused to provide sought-after documents to the lead applicants of a joint class action against it until AUSTRAC grants permission, citing concerns over possible criminal breaches if it hands over the material without the agency’s approval.
Insurance giant Allianz is facing a class action over allegedly “poor value” or worthless car and motorcycle insurance products.
A hearing on the validity of border closures by Western Australia and Queensland should be pushed off while WA’s expert responds to an urgent request by Victoria’s health authorities to help that state deal with its coronavirus outbreak, the Federal Court has been told.
A Virgin Australia unsecured bondholder has launched legal proceedings to uncover confidential details of the sale of the embattled airline to Bain Capital, with the administrators now facing three disputes in the wake of the administration.
The liquidators of Clive Palmer’s Queensland Nickel are appealing a win for the billionaire in their case over the collapse of the refinery in 2016, which centred on $102 million in loans allegedly paid by Queensland Nickel to Palmer’s Mineralogy.
Global law firm White & Case LLP has lured the former general counsel of Lendlease Construction Australia to join the firm’s Sydney office.
A judge has appointed special purpose liquidators to investigate the affairs of failed VET provider Phoenix Institute and its directors after the Commonwealth complained of “a difficult working relationship” with the training company’s current liquidators.
LG Electronics has lost its opposition to Samsung Electronic’s registration for its ‘Samsung QLED’ trade mark despite IP Australia acknowledging that Samsung’s phones did not contain QLED technology.
The ACCC is challenging a ruling that dismissed the watchdog’s claim that property investment company Quantum Housing Group engaged in unconscionable conduct in misleading investors in the National Rental Affordability Scheme, saying the legal test for finding unconsionability under the consumer law needed clarifying.
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