The judgment of Anderson J in United Petroleum Pty Ltd v Perth Airport Pty Ltd (No 2) [2026] FCA 620 has provided a recent and detailed account of the law of misleading and deceptive conduct which reiterates the inability for a contravening party to contract out of contravention in any manner. The Federal Court’s decision is another critical reminder of Australia’s strong consumer protection laws that extend to prohibiting what can arguably be described as overselling in reg

Australia has two mechanisms available for fast-tracking patent examination – the Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) and IP Australia’s expedited examination program. Australia is part of the Global PPH (GPPH), and has a PCT-PPH and an IP Australia-EPO PPH program. On 2 June 2026, Australia joined the PPH eXtra initiative, which aims to provide clearer timeframes for examination under the PPH. However, IP Australia’s expedited examination program remains a viable option for acc

The Heavy Vehicle National Law (HVNL) has fundamentally changed the way heavy vehicle safety is regulated in Australia. Gone are the days when legal responsibility for a road transport incident rested solely with the driver behind the wheel. Today, every party in the transport supply chain ( referred to as the chain of responsibility) has a role to play in ensuring safety, and where that responsibility is ignored, significant penalties can follow. One of the most important re

In an era when family law property pools increasingly include start-up equity, offshore entities and illiquid founder interests, Charis & Charis [2026] FedCFamC1A 92 (17 June 2026) is a significant Full Court decision on post-separation wealth creation. The case involved a technology founder whose shares and options in a United States quantum computing company grew dramatically after separation, yet the Full Court upheld an equal division of net assets of approximately $127.8

Since 1990 Australia has broken away from the mainstream common law approach in jurisdictional disputes (forum conveniens) and set a high bar for declining jurisdiction and the release of disputes to other sovereign jurisdictions. Australian Courts will retain jurisdiction unless it is clearly an inappropriate forum (adopting a forum inconveniens test). Mere inconvenience is inadequate – it must be oppressively so often with an element of abuse of process. This low comity app

Lessons from Australian organisations from United States v Heppner The challenge (and promise) of generative AI continues apace – including for lawyers, clients and courts, particularly in the context of privileged communications. While privilege is “an important common law right or, perhaps, more accurately, an important common law immunity”,[1] where conduct occurs that is inconsistent with privilege, legal professional privilege can be lost. And it is here that the use of