Native Extracts Pty Ltd v Plant Extracts Pty Ltd (No 2) [2024] FCA 106

Native Extracts Pty Ltd v Plant Extracts Pty Ltd (No 2) [2024] FCA 106

Information about the extraction machine was not confidential information owned by Native Extracts or the Trust: it was not secret, was acquired on an unrestricted basis, and was publicly available. The contractual confidentiality clause did not extend to non-confidential, commercially available information. Claims for breach of confidence, fiduciary and statutory duties, and contractual confidentiality, so far as relating to the extraction machine, failed. The Fifth Respondent was not shown to have the necessary knowledge for accessory liability. Plaintiffs were entitled to account of profits or damages for admitted breaches of confidence (excluding claims about the extraction machine),...

Jurisdiction
Australia
Judgment Date
23 February 2024
Procedural Posture
Commercial and Corporations / Post Trial Judgment on Liability and Relief; Further Orders Pending
Outcome
Claim against Fifth Respondent dismissed; First Respondent to pay additional copyright damages; further orders pending form of agreed orders.
Legal Topics
['breach of Confidence' 'confidential Information' 'restraint of Trade' 'copyright Infringement' 'account of Profits' 'lost Profits' 'knowing Assistance' 'statutory Duties of Directors' 'assessment of Damages']
['intellectual Property' 'contracts' 'corporations Law' 'copyright' 'damages'] ['breach of Confidence' 'confidential Information' 'restraint of Trade' 'copyright Infringement' 'account of Profits' 'lost Profits' 'knowing Assistance' 'statutory Duties of Directors' 'assessment of Damages']

Case Brief

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Procedural Posture

Commercial and Corporations / Post Trial Judgment on Liability and Relief; Further Orders Pending

Legal Issues

  1. 1 ['Whether information about extraction machine was confidential information owned by Native Extracts or the Trust' 'Whether confidentiality clause extended to information about commercially available product' 'Assessment of account of profits and lost profits for misuse of confidential information' 'Whether Plant Extracts infringed copyright in scientific documents and if additional damages warranted' 'Whether Jordan Macdougald was accessorily liable for breaches']

Ratio Decidendi

Information about the extraction machine was not confidential information owned by Native Extracts or the Trust: it was not secret, was acquired on an unrestricted basis, and was publicly available. The contractual confidentiality clause did not extend to non-confidential, commercially available information. Claims for breach of confidence, fiduciary and statutory duties, and contractual confidentiality, so far as relating to the extraction machine, failed. The Fifth Respondent was not shown to have the necessary knowledge for accessory liability. Plaintiffs were entitled to account of profits or damages for admitted breaches of confidence (excluding claims about the extraction machine),...

Court Disposition

Claim against Fifth Respondent dismissed; First Respondent to pay additional copyright damages; further orders pending form of agreed orders.

Orders

  • ['The claim against the Fifth Respondent be dismissed.' 'Pursuant to s 115(4) of the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth), the First Respondent pay to the First Applicant the sum of $157,198 as additional damages.' 'Parties to confer on form of remaining orders, including on costs; procedures set for finalising any other orders.']