The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has opened a formal review into whether Google’s $3 billion acquisition of fitness device company Fitbit will harm competition, including the potential impact of the search giant’s increased access to user data.
ASIC has notched up a win against derivative issuer AGM Markets and two of its authorised representatives, with a court finding they engaged in misleading, deceptive and unconscionable conduct that caused investor losses of over $30 million.
The lead applicant in a class action over allegedly combustible cladding has been ordered to immediately pay the defendants’ costs that were thrown away by amended pleadings that bring a “substantially new case”, over a year after the high-stakes case was filed.
Medtronic owned Covidien and two other medical device manufacturers have been hit with a class action on behalf of thousands of women who claim to have suffered lifelong complications from the devices, the third class action over pelvic mesh implants brought in Australia.
The head of Racing NSW has hit the ABC with a defamation lawsuit over a ‘7:30’ segment that revealed racehorses were being slaughtered in violation of industry rules.
A settlement has been reached in three class action against the Commonwealth of Australia over the use of allegedly toxic firefighting foam at government military bases.
Deloitte has lost its appeal of a ruling in a shareholder class action over the collapse of Hastie Group that compelled the production of audit files taken by a partner from the accounting giant’s litigation room, in a ruling that described the actions of the partner as “bordering on contempt” and slammed Deloitte for “cynically” exploiting the situation.
Supermarket chain Woolworths, which is facing a class action over its staff underpayments, has admitted the amount owed to workers is at least $315 million, far higher than the company’s initial estimate of $200 million to $300 million.
An Australian burger chain launched as a tribute to the popular American burger franchise In-N-Out has lost a trade mark infringement lawsuit, with a judge finding its name choice was “deceptively similar” and “cheeky”.
A judge overseeing patent litigation over the painkiller Dynastat has urged the parties to narrow any issues in dispute, saying the excessive amounts of money spent in these types of cases could harm public perception.
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