The Fair Work Ombudsman has dropped its contempt of court case against the owner of a Cairns tour company after an appeals court set aside the tour operator’s conviction and panned the sentencing judge for his “egregious” conduct.
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 applicants in the Radio Rentals class action have won access to the company’s excess layer insurance policies, amid concerns that group members’ losses from the allegedly misleading ‘Rent, Try, $1 Buy’ program could surpass $100 million.
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, which is fighting the legality of a police raid on its Sydney headquarters, has urged the Federal Court to order the Australian Federal Police to hand over a document it produced as rationale for obtaining a search warrant.
While the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has set out to rein in the market power of Google and Facebook, the sweeping proposals in the regulator’s final digital platforms report would affect a large number of businesses and could have a detrimental effect on smaller companies and innovation, lawyers say.
Japanese shipping company K-Line has been hit with a $34.5 million penalty for criminal cartel conduct, the largest consumer criminal fine in Australian history.
Australia’s largest potato wholesaler Mitolo Group will pay a penalty of $240,000 to resolve the consumer regulator’s case alleging its contracts with growers were unfair.
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.
Former Tennis Australia director Harold Mitchell has told a court that the corporate regulator had to be dragged “kicking and screaming” to produce documents in its enforcement action over alleged breaches of directorial duties involving negotiations for the Australian Open broadcast rights.
A judge has warned the parties in The Cosmetic Institute class action over allegedly botched breast implants to ensure group members’ rights are prioritised, following a push for an early class closure amid doctor-patient confidentiality concerns.
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