Repipe Pty Ltd v Commissioner of Patents [2019] FCA 1956
Patent validity – manner of manufacture – whether methods and systems for providing and receiving information for risk management in the field are patentable
Homepage Blog
BlueScope Steel Limited v Dongkuk Steel Mill Co., Ltd (No 2) [2019] FCA 2117
Patent infringement and validity – failure of experimental proof to establish infringement – lack of best method – refusal to amend patent to address lack of best method
Derrimut Health & Fitness Pty Ltd v Revival 24:7 Gym Pty Ltd [2019] FCA 1988
Practice and procedure – mandatory interlocutory injunction – no evidence of quantifiable loss – little inconvenience to respondent
High Court considers whether trust property vests in trustee in bankruptcy
The High Court has unanimously held that property held by a bankrupt on trust for third parties in which property the bankrupt had a beneficial interest vested in the trustee in bankruptcy.
The Pacific National Case – Current Issues in Non-Horizontal Mergers
This note examines current issues in the application of competition law to non-horizontal mergers, with particular reference to the recent decision of the Federal Court in the Pacific National case, and the arguments raised in the appeal to the Full Court.
Canary in the coal mine: will unfair contract terms be outlawed?
For ACL buffs, Treasury’s current Consultation Regulation Impact Statement is a doozy. Reading between the lines, it seems to suggest that unfair contract terms may soon be outlawed once and for all.
Update on Victorian petroleum moratorium
The Court of Appeal recently decided a case about the interpretation of the moratorium on petroleum exploration under the Petroleum Act 1998 (Vic).
Premature Statutory Payment Claims
The Supreme Court of Victoria has held that payment claims under the Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 2002 (Vic) served before a “reference date” are invalid, notwithstanding a contractual deeming provision to the contrary.
The limitation period under s 14(4)(b) of the Security of Payment Act
An item of work in a payment claim which has not been paid may be claimed again and again as a component of successive payment claims provided the payment claim itself is valid. The limitation period in s 14(4)(b) of the Security of Payment Act only applies to the payment claim.
Interlocutory or final relief? The interpretation of recourse provisions in injunction proceedings
The Court of Appeal has found that a judge’s exercise of the discretion to construe a recourse provision on an ‘as if final’ basis on an application for an interlocutory injunction to restrain recourse to performance securities miscarried.
Fraud in a public law context: less bloody than its common law cognate
A majority of the Full Court of the Federal Court has found that fraud by an agent can stultify the function of a tribunal. The fraudulent conduct need not be of the ‘red blooded’ species proscribed by the common law.
Injunctions to restrain a third-party pending the remaking of an administrative decision
Can a court issue an injunction to restrain a third-party from taking action that would threaten the subject of judicial review proceedings after it has set aside a decision and ordered that it be remade according to law?
Uncommon evidentiary hurdles arise in enforcing historical, complex tail-end ‘Great Southern’ loans
A combination of years’ delay in enforcement and complex loan documentation created an evidentiary ‘perfect storm’ for the lender, which found itself saddled with documentation that did not tell a coherent story, leaving even the identity of the lender in dispute.
Aggravated damages in Wagner v Nine Network Australia Pty Ltd
The Wagner brothers, who sued the publishers of a 60 Minutes broadcast regarding the 2011 Grantham floods, have been awarded considerable damages, including aggravated damages. The judgment reminds publishers of the importance of appropriate pre-publication steps.