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 helpTse v Evans as trustee in bankruptcy for Ngo (No 2)
If your business is litigating against someone who becomes bankrupt, do not assume you can later recover the extra court costs from that person personally just...
Vitaco Health IP Pty Ltd v AFI Cosmetic Pty Ltd (No 3)
For business owners, the practical lesson is to clear branding properly before launch and to respond quickly if a dispute escalates into court proceedings. A basic...
Australian Competition and Consumer Commission v Honda Australia Pty Ltd
The practical lesson is to separate network status from real-world trading status. A former authorised dealer may no longer be part of your official network, but...
Colbran, in the matter of Balsub Pty Ltd (in liquidation)
If your business uses a company as trustee, but the same company also signs contracts, employs staff or incurs tax liabilities in its own name, you need clear...
Court House Capital Pty Ltd v RP Data Pty Limited
If your business is using a commercial litigation funder, do not assume the downside sits only with the claimant on the court record. This case shows that a funder...
Davaria Pty Limited v 7-Eleven Stores Pty Ltd (No 13)
If your business is involved in a funded class action, do not focus only on the settlement total. You need to understand the distribution model, the categories of...
Hardingham v RP Data Pty Limited (Third Party Costs)
Read this case as a practical warning about risk allocation, not just funding mechanics. A commercial funder cannot assume it is insulated from adverse costs merely...
Higgins v JSS Logistics Pty Ltd (in liq) (No 2)
If you are buying or selling a business, document exactly what is being transferred, what is excluded, what stock is on hand, and what happens if items are missing...
Karpik v Carnival plc
An overseas governing-law or jurisdiction clause does not automatically switch off the Australian Consumer Law for a business operating in Australia. Standard terms...
Kilimanjaro Consulting Pty Ltd v MYOB Australia Pty Ltd
If your business relies on a supplier for recurring fees, commissions, licence renewals or access credentials, review that arrangement before a dispute starts....
McD Asia Pacific LLC v Hungry Jack's Pty Ltd
If you are launching a new product that sits close to a competitor’s flagship offering, do not assume the legal risk is a single trade mark question. This case...
Metal Manufactures Pty Limited v Morton
Being owed more money than you recently received does not neutralise an unfair-preference claim. Suppliers should manage credit risk before insolvency, because a...
Qantas v TWU
Major workplace restructures need a clean decision record. If preventing employees from exercising future workplace rights is a substantial and operative reason for...
Real Estate Tool Box Pty Ltd v Campaigntrack Pty Ltd
Commissioning software does not make a client automatically liable for a developer's hidden copying. However, a clear no-infringement instruction is only a starting...
Roberts-Smith v Fairfax Media Publications Pty Limited (No 42)
If your business is paying for someone else's court case, treat that arrangement as a serious governance and risk issue. This decision shows that a court may allow...
Self Care IP Holdings v Allergan
Brand strategy should be checked before launch. Businesses need to consider registered marks, packaging, product naming and the overall impression created for...
Sharif v Vitruvian Investments Pty Ltd (No 3)
If your company believes an equity deal was induced by false information, do not try to fix it by board resolution and immediate changes to the register. This case...
United Petroleum Franchise Pty Ltd v Istanikzai (No 2)
Read this case as a litigation management decision, not a ruling on franchise rights. The court was concerned with whether it could sensibly assess overlap between...
4th Dimension Transport Pty Ltd v Australian Couriers Pty Ltd
Read this case as a warning about drafting and network control. The dispute turned on a franchise deed that was accepted to be poorly drafted, especially clause...
Australian Competition and Consumer Commission v BlueScope Steel Limited (No 5)
Business owners should read this case as a warning about pricing conversations and market coordination efforts. If your staff are discussing future prices, common...
Edwards v Nine Network Australia Pty Ltd (No 2)
If your business is defending a claim, this decision shows the cost of leaving major pleading decisions too late. A court may permit some late amendments, but it...
Personnel Contracting
A contractor label will not save a labour-hire or contractor model where the legal rights and obligations point to employment. Businesses should draft for the real...
ZG Operations v Jamsek
Long-running contractor relationships can still be genuine contractor arrangements where the contracts and business structure support independence, but businesses...
ACCC v Employsure
Read this case as a warning about the whole structure of a paid search campaign. The legal risk did not come only from one phrase in isolation. It came from the...
ACCC v Google
Businesses collecting location or behavioural data should make privacy and consumer disclosures match the real product settings. Privacy wording can also be...
WorkPac v Rossato
Employers should use clear casual contracts, but should not treat WorkPac as the whole answer. Casual employment rules changed after the case, so documents,...
ACCC v HealthEngine
Data-sharing and review systems need to be designed honestly. A privacy disclosure problem can also become misleading conduct where users are not clearly told how...
ACCC v Jayco
Warranty wording and customer service scripts must not understate consumer guarantee rights. Even where a business wins much of a case, one wrong statement about...
ACCC v Kogan Australia
Sale pricing must be real. If a business raises prices before a promotion and then advertises a discount, the legal question is whether customers are actually...
ACCC v Trivago
Read this case as a decision about what an ordinary consumer would take from a digital comparison service. If your website or app highlights a result as top,...
Australian Securities and Investments Commission v King
Responsibility follows real influence. Founders, group CEOs, shadow decision-makers and senior advisers cannot assume that the absence of a director title keeps...
Calidad v Seiko Epson
A patent owner may not control every downstream use after first sale. Businesses refurbishing, repairing, importing or reselling patented products need to...
Kraft v Bega
Treat get-up, packaging and product presentation as transaction assets. In this case, the Court's summary of the primary judgment was that the rights to the Peanut...
Mondelez v AMWU
Employers should calculate personal/carer's leave through ordinary hours and payroll rules, not informal notions of a calendar day. Shift patterns and enterprise...
ACCC v Geowash
Franchise sales claims and upfront payments need hard controls. Money collected for site establishment, fit-out or setup should be used consistently with the...
ACCC v Ultra Tune Australia
Read this case as a first instance Federal Court warning on franchise basics. If you run a franchise network, treat disclosure updates, marketing fund reporting,...