Hong Kong Case Law: Decisions & Judgments

Topic

Severance of contractual clauses

Legal area

Court

16 Jun 2006

NATUZZI SPA v. DE CORO LTD

Citation

NATUZZI SPA v. DE CORO LTD
Court

Court of First Instance
Case number

HCA4166/2003

Plaintiff failed to prove on balance that the Defendant employed the former employee during the prohibited period; the Non-competition Agreement was unenforceable under Hong Kong law because the 18-month restraint went beyond any legitimate protectable interest (manufacturing process methods were general trade knowledge and new design confidentiality would not justify 18 months); no misuse of confidential information was established; accordingly Plaintiff's claims were dismissed and costs ordered nisi in favour of the Defendant.
16 Sept 2004

GUANGZHOU GREEN-ENHAN BIO-ENGINEERING CO LTD AND ANOTHER v. GREEN POWER HEALTH PRODUCTS INTERNATIONAL CO LTD AND OTHERS

Citation

GUANGZHOU GREEN-ENHAN BIO-ENGINEERING CO LTD AND ANOTHER v. GREEN POWER HEALTH PRODUCTS INTERNATIONAL CO LTD AND OTHERS
Court

Court of First Instance
Case number

HCA2802/2003

The court refused leave to amend because the application was made late without adequate excuse, the defendants had chosen earlier to confine their challenge to PRC law despite knowledge of the PRC judgment, and granting the amendment would cause unfair prejudice and delay to the plaintiffs that could not be compensated by costs; although the offensive part of the covenant may be severable in principle, that fact did not justify allowing a late amendment where prejudice and delay dominated the discretionary balance.
6 Jul 1989

HANG TUNG TRADING CO v. CHINA BUILD DEVELOPMENT LTD AND ANOTHER

Citation

HANG TUNG TRADING CO v. CHINA BUILD DEVELOPMENT LTD AND ANOTHER
Court

Court of First Instance
Case number

HCA8415/1987

Plaintiff failed to prove on the balance of probabilities that the bales in the godown were the goods supplied under the contract and therefore failed on liability; the court found the defendant had conditioned acceptance of return within two weeks; the written contract between defendant and third party superseded any prior oral understanding and the third party must be treated as having assumed principal responsibilities; clause 9 was incoherent and unenforceable, clause 11 validly excluded consequential damages; accordingly plaintiff's claim and defendant's third party claim were dismissed.

Hong Kong Case Law

NATUZZI SPA v. DE CORO LTD

GUANGZHOU GREEN-ENHAN BIO-ENGINEERING CO LTD AND ANOTHER v. GREEN POWER HEALTH PRODUCTS INTERNATIONAL CO LTD AND OTHERS

HANG TUNG TRADING CO v. CHINA BUILD DEVELOPMENT LTD AND ANOTHER