Business Law Library & Tracker
Selected Business Law Cases
Short explainers for court decisions that change how Australian businesses handle contracts, staff, customers, IP and company duties.
Sources last reviewed 9 Nov 2026
Main law guides
297
Acts, regulations and codes worth reading first
Topics
22
Plain-English clusters
Published case explainers
519
Selected cases with a business lesson
Tracked updates
137
New, amended & reviewed
Plain-English explainers, not legal advice. Use the linked official source for section-level detail, and get advice for your situation.
Get legal helpPerry v NetRatings Australia Pty Limited
The practical lesson is to separate suspicion, investigation and disciplinary action. If your business suspects that a staff member has moved sensitive files...
Pigozzo v Mineral Resources Ltd (No 3)
The main lesson is procedural but commercially important. Once information goes into pleadings, affidavits or other court documents, your ability to claw it back...
Preston, in the matter of Grays.Com Pty Ltd (Administrators appointed)
If your company is approaching administration, this case is a reminder that rescue funding needs to be structured for insolvency reality, not just ordinary...
Quach v Registrar of Trade Marks
Read this case as a procedural warning, not a ruling on the strength of the brand. If your business is involved in a trade mark opposition, check early who the...
Reiche v Neometals Ltd (No 3)
If your business is in Federal Court, do not treat filed evidence as automatically private once it is used in open court. This case shows that affidavits and...
Reurich v Savills (SA) Pty Ltd
Business owners should read this case as a process and evidence case. The Court accepted that disability protections were engaged and that assistance-animal...
Roberts-Smith v Fairfax Media Publications Pty Ltd (Admission of Recording)
The practical reading for business owners is narrow but important. This was not a court endorsement of secretly recording or circulating private conversations. Nor...
Rock Solid Industries International (Pty) Ltd v Ozi 4X4 Pty Ltd
If your business sells products that are visually close to a competitor’s registered design, this case is a strong warning to act early and carefully. The Court...
Ron Crouch Transport Pty Ltd, in the matter of Ron Crouch Transport Pty Ltd
If your business enters voluntary administration, leased premises can become one of the most urgent issues almost immediately. Under the usual statutory position,...
Roohizadegan v Technology One Ltd (No 6)
Businesses should read this case as a reminder that courts closely examine the real decision-maker, the timing of the decision, the surrounding communications and...
SCL AUS Limited v Kirkalocka Gold SPV Pty Ltd
Business owners should read this case as a reminder that urgent procedural applications can matter almost as much as the final hearing. If your position depends on...
Scott v SV Partners SA Pty Ltd, in the matter of Scott
If your business is enforcing a debt, this case shows the importance of building the file properly from the start. Keep the signed engagement terms, invoices,...
Shaoxing Newtex Imp & Exp Co Ltd, in the matter of Mosaic Brands Limited (in liq) v Strawbridge
Business owners should read this as an insolvency governance and process case, not as a general contract or unfair contract decision. The main lessons are...
Shearman v Techin MBS Pty Ltd
Business owners should read this case as a contract discipline case first and a marketing case second. If you are selling a premium product, keep records showing...
Shearman v Techin MBS Pty Ltd (No 2)
If your business is dealing with a deposit under a contract, do not assume that leaving the money with a stakeholder solves the commercial problem. This case shows...
Simpson v Taylors Business Pty Ltd (No 2)
Read this case as a warning about both customer property systems and litigation discipline. If your business takes possession of goods under a contract, be precise...
Singhal v Finsure Finance & Insurance Pty Ltd
The main takeaway is procedural. This judgment does not establish that Finsure or BOQ were substantively correct about the suspension, termination, withheld...
Southern Cross Industrial Group Pty Ltd v Mickala Mining Maintenance Pty Ltd (Costs)
If your business is in a patent dispute, do not treat settlement offers as a one-off event. Reassess them as the case develops, especially after pleadings change or...
Sozou (liquidator) v Touchline Pty Ltd, in the matter of Touchline Pty Ltd
Read this case as a records and exposure case, not as a final ruling on liability. The court was only deciding whether the liquidators should have more time to...
Spyrou v Thorn, in the matter of IAZ Logistics Pty Ltd
The application succeeded, but the judge made it clear that the plaintiff came very close to failing because of the way the case was prepared and presented. The...
Stanford v Depuy International Pty Ltd (No 9)
If your business ever settles a large multi-party dispute, runs a compensation program, or manages a structured refund or remediation process, the administration...
Sunflower Care Services Pty Ltd v Commissioner of the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission (No 2)
Business owners should read this case as a warning about governance discipline, not as a sign that banning orders are easy to overturn. The Court’s orders show that...
Tasmanian Salmonid Growers Association Limited v Director of Biosecurity
Read this case as a process case, not a final ruling on whether the underlying biosecurity settings were right or wrong. The Tasmanian salmon industry participants...
The Game Meats Company of Australia Pty Ltd v Farm Transparency International Limited (Costs)
Business owners should read this case as a reminder that litigation strategy and settlement discipline matter just as much as the underlying legal claim. If your...
The Game Meats Company of Australia Pty Ltd v Farm Transparency International Ltd
If someone enters your premises without permission and records video, the legal response may include much more than suing for trespass. This case indicates that a...
The Pops Group Pty Ltd as trustee for The Pool Shops Trust v Pro Pool Services Pty Ltd
A registered trade mark is valuable, but it does not guarantee that a court will stop another trader immediately. If the other business is using a different sign...
Thomas v Monsoon Group Pty Ltd
If your trade mark is not yet actively trading in Australia, do not assume the registration is safe and do not assume this case gives you a simple defence. The...
Torc Solutions Pty Ltd v Unex Corporation doing business as Hytorc
The practical message is not that phone calls and commercial discussions never matter. It is that they may not be enough if the parties are still saying they will...
Twinza Oil Limited (Receivers and Managers Appointed), in the matter of Twinza Oil Limited (Receivers and Managers Appointed) (No 2)
If your company is planning a court-approved restructure, do not treat the approval hearing as a formality. Where the proposal affects existing equity but only...
Tzaros v ServiceNow Australia Pty Ltd
Read this decision as a process case with a strong operational message. If your business is recruiting, be careful about what recruiters, managers and interviewers...
Universal City Studios LLC v Telstra Limited (No 2)
If your business depends on the value of digital content, this case is a reminder to think beyond the first infringing domain or URL. In practice, infringing...
VGW Holdings Limited, in the matter of VGW Holdings Limited (No 2)
Read this case as a process case as much as an approval case. If your business is proposing a scheme, keep the record clean: dispatch materials on time, keep...
Vouris, in the matter of Rapid Response Revival Research Limited (Administrators Appointed) (No 2)
Read this case as a lesson in structure, control and sale readiness, not as a patent law ruling. The Court accepted that appointing the administrators as receivers...
Watson Webb Pty Ltd v Comino
If your business receives drawings, marked-up designs, CAD files or prototype specifications from a supplier or collaborator, do not assume you can reuse them for...
Watson Webb Pty Ltd v Comino (No 2)
If your business is the real commercial driver of a dispute, but another entity ends up named as the applicant or appellant, do not assume the Court will sort it...
Wealth Trail Pty Ltd (in liq) v Del Vecchio
If your business may face customer or investor claims because someone inside the business allegedly acted without authority, your loss may emerge in stages rather...