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Predatory pricing: reforms foreshadowed |
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Jenifer Varzaly, |
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Predatory pricing has for some time been a difficult concept for courts to assess, legislators to adequately deal with and for plaintiffs to succeed in proving. The inherent difficulty of section 46 of the Trade Practices Act involves distinguishing lawful from unlawful price cutting, as the conduct needed to found a claim looks like competitive behaviour. This paper analyses the different competition law policy objectives of the legislation and how they have been influenced by leading Australian and US decisions on predatory pricing. It then draws conclusions on the policy direction which the law in Australia should take. |
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Assignees of confidential information may claim relief for breach of confidence ... but is this a pyrrhic victory? |
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Caroline Woo, |
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Two recent Australian cases show that assignees of confidential information can claim relief for breach of confidence against third parties, at least on the basis of an assignment of a chose in action. This, however, may be a pyrrhic victory since, in circumstances where the relevant breach occurs after the assignment and the assignor has suffered no loss, the assignee will be denied damages. This paper suggests that in such circumstances, in the context of litigation, legal practitioners acting on behalf of assignees should consider submitting that there is no doctrinal impediment to assessing damages by reference to an assignee's loss provided that damages are capped by the loss which the assignor would have suffered as the result of the breach of obligation. |
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Duties of a bailee for reward |
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John Tarrant, |
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The purpose of this paper is to examine the duties of a bailee in relation to bailments for reward and highlight the proactive and practical steps that a bailee should undertake to avoid being liable for the theft of, or damage to, bailed goods. The focus of the paper is on cases involving storage, agistment, the sale of goods on consignment and bailments for the services and repair of goods. Bailments for the carriage of goods by common carriers and private carriers involve the consideration of additional matters that are beyond the scope of this paper and will not be considered. |
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The significance of the commercial jurisdiction of the Federal Court of Australia |
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Justice Steven Rares, |
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The Constitution envisaged that the Commonwealth Parliament would make laws with respect to many aspects of the nation's commercial life. And the Constitution provided that 'in any matter arising under' such laws the judicial power of the Commonwealth was exercised. The Federal Court of Australia is a court of general federal civil jurisdiction. It is a myth that it is necessary to make a claim under s52 of the Trade Practices Act 1974 (Cth) if one wants to bring commercial proceedings in the Federal Court. A great many commercial disputes arise under laws made by the Commonwealth Parliament and are thus within the Federal Court's jurisdiction. |
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