Dire Straits Overseas Ltd & Ors v South Seas Bubble Company Pty Ltd & Ors [1986] FCA 57

Dire Straits Overseas Ltd & Ors v South Seas Bubble Company Pty Ltd & Ors [1986] FCA 57

The second order should not be vacated or varied because disclosure orders of this kind may properly be used to identify persons who might otherwise be infringing the applicants' rights, the respondents filed no evidence showing particular difficulty in compliance or undermining the applicants' prima facie case, and confidentiality concerns could be addressed by undertakings. The order was clarified by defining "the Design" by reference to annexure W to the affidavit of Garry van Egmond and exhibit CLS 1 to the affidavit of Colin Laird Seeger.

Jurisdiction
Australia
Judgment Date
01 July 1986
Procedural Posture
Interlocutory Application Concerning Ex Parte Restraining and Disclosure Orders / Application by the First, Second and Third Respondents to Discharge or Vary the Second Order Made by Wilcox J.
Outcome
The respondents' application to discharge or vary the second order was rejected, subject to confidentiality undertakings and clarification of the definition of "the Design".
Legal Topics
['passing Off' 'restraining Orders' 'anton Piller Orders' 'discovery and Disclosure' 'confidentiality Undertakings' 'interlocutory Relief']
['intellectual Property' 'trade Practices' 'civil Procedure'] ['passing Off' 'restraining Orders' 'anton Piller Orders' 'discovery and Disclosure' 'confidentiality Undertakings' 'interlocutory Relief']

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Procedural Posture

Interlocutory Application Concerning Ex Parte Restraining and Disclosure Orders / Application by the First, Second and Third Respondents to Discharge or Vary the Second Order Made by Wilcox J.

Legal Issues

  1. 1 ['Whether the second order requiring affidavits about garments bearing the Design should be discharged or varied.' 'Whether the purpose of identifying infringers and sources justified the disclosure order despite denied liability and alleged commercial confidentiality concerns.' 'Whether the wording of the order should be clarified by defining the expression "the Design".']

Ratio Decidendi

The second order should not be vacated or varied because disclosure orders of this kind may properly be used to identify persons who might otherwise be infringing the applicants' rights, the respondents filed no evidence showing particular difficulty in compliance or undermining the applicants' prima facie case, and confidentiality concerns could be addressed by undertakings. The order was clarified by defining "the Design" by reference to annexure W to the affidavit of Garry van Egmond and exhibit CLS 1 to the affidavit of Colin Laird Seeger.

Court Disposition

The respondents' application to discharge or vary the second order was rejected, subject to confidentiality undertakings and clarification of the definition of "the Design".

Orders

  • ["The applicants' solicitor undertook that names and addresses supplied pursuant to orders 2(c) and (d) would not be divulged to any person other than the applicants or their officers for the purpose of obtaining instructions in relation to legal proceedings instituted or to be instituted on their behalf or...