Browse Federal Court Judgments (Single & Full Court)

Published last 7 days

A listing of judgments published in the last 7 days, with the most recently received listed at the top.

Commercial
SunshineLoans Pty Ltd v Australian Securities and Investments Commission (No 2) [2025] FCAFC 60
PERRAM, BROMWICH AND COLVIN JJ,  24 Apr 2025
COSTS - indemnity costs sought by respondent - where appellant's appeal substantively unsuccessful - where respondent alleged unreasonable conduct by appellant in bringing the appeal, formulating appeal grounds and failing to engage with findings of primary judge - whether full indemnity as to costs justified in the circumstances - held appellant's conduct unreasonable in two substantial but not all respects - appellant ordered to pay percentage (90%) of respondent's costs as assessed on an indemnity basis

Administrative
TGRN v Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs [2025] FCA 405
DOWLING J,  10 Apr 2025
MIGRATION – application for extension of time for filing of application for judicial review – error in Tribunal’s decision conceded – no appearance by the applicant – application dismissed for non-appearance

Commercial
Keenan, in the matter of Prospero Markets Pty Ltd (In liq) [2025] FCA 390
MOORE J,  24 Apr 2025
CORPORATIONS – application for directions under s 90-15 of the Insolvency Practice Schedule (Corporations) – application for judicial advice under s 63 of the Trustee Act 1925 (NSW) – whether liquidators should use company’s general funds or client money held on trust to pay liquidators’ remuneration and costs – whether liquidators justified in pooling client money from company’s four bank accounts – whether liquidators justified in converting USD denominated client funds into AUD – whether liquidators justified in treating clients who traded on an offshore platform as having nil entitlement – whether liquidators justified in treating clients with entitlements of $100 or less as having nil entitlement – approval of distribution process

Administrative
PLCP v Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs [2025] FCA 398
HORAN J,  24 Apr 2025
MIGRATION – application for judicial review of decision of Administrative Appeals Tribunal affirming decision under s 501CA(4) of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth) not to revoke cancellation of visa – whether legally unreasonable to defer assessment of non-refoulement obligations to subsequent protection visa application – whether failure to consider applicant’s representations regarding impediments to her removal to South Sudan – application dismissed

Employment
Health Services Union v Asmar (No 4) [2025] FCA 403
DOWLING J,  22 Apr 2025
PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE – leave to amend concise statement and originating application – nature and purpose of concise statement – whether events occurring after proceedings filed are relevant to question under s 323 of the Fair Work (Registered Organisations) Act – where amendments refer to affidavit material previously filed – leave to amend granted

Intellectual property
Sanofi v Amgen Inc. (No 3) [2025] FCA 387
NICHOLAS J,  23 Apr 2025
PATENTS – appeal from decision of Delegate of Commissioner of Patents holding oppositions to patent applications unsuccessful – applications for patents including claims to isolated monoclonal antibodies that bind to epitopes on PCSK9 that include one or more specified amino acid residues and which block binding of PCSK9 to LDLR and claims to isolated monoclonal antibodies that bind to at least one specified amino acid on PCSK9 and which block binding of PCSK9 to LDLR – where opposition based on (inter alia) alleged failure to meet requirements of s 40 of the Patents Act 1990 (Cth) in the form it took before amendment by the Intellectual Property Laws Amendment (Raising the Bar) Act 2012 (Cth) – whether claims would be clearly invalid if Applications proceeded to grant – whether claims fairly based on the matter described in the specifications – whether claims fail to define the invention – whether claims fail to describe the invention fully –whether claims to a single invention comprising a class of antibodies or a multiplicity of different inventions not fully described – whether claims for a manner of manufacture – whether claims entitled to priority date of 23 August 2007 based on provisional application filed on that date – whether claims involve an inventive step – whether notional skilled team would have been directly led to try to generate antibodies in the expectation that they may well block binding between PCSK9 and LDLR – consideration of state of the art at the priority date PATENTS – whether claims to isolated monoclonal antibodies that compete with specified reference antibodies for binding to PCSK9 lack clarity by failing to specify a numerical value or otherwise failing to provide a workable standard with respect to such competition Held: Appeal dismissed

Commercial
Ward, in the matter of Platinum Quest Pty Ltd (in liq) v OJMAC Pty Ltd as trustee for the Cheree Leanne Family Trust (No 2) [2025] FCA 401
DERRINGTON J,  24 Mar 2025
CORPORATIONS – liquidators – company once a trustee – application made for remuneration – remuneration to be paid from trust assets for work done in capacity as court appointed receiver – application allowed

Administrative
Wilson v Secretary, Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (No 2) [2025] FCA 394
GOODMAN J,  24 Apr 2025
PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE – application by applicant for further discovery following the filing of an amended pleading and service of evidence by both parties – application resisted by the respondent on various bases – application allowed – application by the respondent to set aside a notice to produce – application not allowed – application by the applicant for leave to issue a subpoena to a third party – application allowed

Taxation
Commissioner of Taxation v White (No 3) [2025] FCA 392
KENNETT J,  11 Apr 2025
PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE – objection to tendency evidence – where applicant seeks to admit evidence for non-tendency and tendency purposes – where evidence is directly relevant to a fact in issue and the applicant also seeks to rely on the evidence for tendency purposes – whether the evidence can be admitted for tendency purposes

Commercial
Australian Securities and Investments Commission v DOD Bookkeeping Pty Ltd (in liq), in the matter of DOD Bookkeeping Pty Ltd (in liq) (No 2) [2025] FCA 395
GOODMAN J,  24 Apr 2025
CORPORATIONS – where the defendant as the holder of an Australian financial services licence, contravened: (1) s 961K(2) of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) by reason of its representatives contravening ss 961B and 961G of the Act; (2) s 963E(2) of the Act by reason of the provision to, and acceptance by, representatives of the defendant of conflicted remuneration in the form of bonus payments – consideration of declarations to be made and penalties to be imposed

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