Australia - Mallesons Pulse Blog

Cooperation in a Crisis: The ACCC’s New Streamlined Authorisation Pathway for Exceptional Circumstances

11 June 2026

Explores the Competition and Consumer Amendment (Responding to Exceptional Circumstances) Act 2026, implementing a streamlined pathway for the ACCC to authorise conduct during exceptional circumstances.

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ACL Compliance is not a nap: Takeaways from the Emma Sleep penalty and unfair trading reform

5 May 2026

By Tamara Hunter, Ruiteng Liu

The Federal Court has ordered Emma Sleep to pay $15 million in penalties for false or misleading representations under the Australian Consumer Law (ACL).

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Bad intentions: Can you copy elements of a competitor’s design?

27 April 2026

By Kate Hay, Cate Nagy, Jacob Flynn, Bianca Terlato

The recent decision of the Federal Court of Australia in Bodum AG v H.A.G Import Corpn (Australia) Pty Ltd [2026] FCA 238 illustrates that even deliberate copying of a competitor’s design elements does not necessarily breach the Australian Consumer Law or amount to passing off.

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Digging too deep: When patent amendments become an abuse of process

24 April 2026

By Kate Hay, Suzy Madar, Sarah Huang

This is a short note to report on a successful interlocutory application seeking a declaration that a patent amendment amounted to an abuse of process.

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Supercharging section 40: Full Court confirms date for assessing best method for divisional patents

17 April 2026

By Matthew Swinn, Danielle Sharplin, Sarah Huang

In The NOCO Company v Brown and Watson International Pty Ltd [2026] FCAFC 44, the Full Court of the Federal Court has affirmed previous decisions that the relevant date for assessing a patentee’s disclosure of the best method under s 40(2)(aa) of the Patents Act 1990 is the date of filing the patent in suit, not any earlier priority or parent document.

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Having it both ways? Reflections on conflicts and recoverability of after the Event insurance premiums in Janssen v Onepath

24 March 2026

By Moira Saville, Alexander Morris, Chris Andrews

To get off the ground, a class action requires a representative applicant. Unless indemnified, the representative applicant is exposed to any adverse costs order in the proceeding – potentially millions of dollars.

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Australian Government Pumps Up Competition and Consumer Law Penalties in Response to Fuel Price Gouging Concerns

19 March 2026

By Brian Wu, Tamara Hunter

The Australian Government plans to double competition and consumer law penalties in response to recent fuel price gouging concerns.

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Federal Court grants urgent interlocutory injunction in dapagliflozin dispute

24 February 2026

By Kate Hay, Suzy Madar, Jacob Flynn, Lily McCubbin

On 16 February 2026, the Federal Court of Australia granted an urgent interlocutory injunction restraining Pharmacor from launching and listing generic dapagliflozin products on the PBS.

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Sexual Harassment Claims in Victoria

19 February 2026

By Caroline Hayward, Alexandra Kemp

Caroline Hayward and Alexandra Kemp dissect the new restrictions in Victoria – a first for any Australian jurisdiction – in relation to non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) in workplace sexual harassment cases.

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Setting the table straight: High Court draws the line between trade mark infringement and misleading or deceptive conduct

17 February 2026

By Cate Nagy, Maggie Chan, Brooke Smith, Damien MacRae

The High Court has clarified that even in the face of a finding that trade mark infringement does not arise due to lack of deceptive similarity, the conduct of a party in using that trade mark may still amount to misleading or deceptive conduct under the Australian Consumer Law.

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