ERA Polymers Pty Limited v Pacific Urethanes Pty Limited

ERA Polymers Pty Limited (ERA) and Pacific Urethanes Pty Limited (Pacific) were the parties involved in this dispute before the Court of Appeal of New South Wales. The core of the disagreement concerned the application of a deed of settlement and release to certain intellectual property rights. Specifically, the issue was whether rights arising from a deed attached to the deed of settlement and release, which purportedly conferred a licence to manufacture a product using confidential information, were governed by the terms of the deed of settlement and release.

The Court of Appeal was required to determine whether the deed of settlement and release extinguished or otherwise affected the rights conferred by the attached deed. This involved construing the language of both deeds to ascertain the parties' intentions regarding the scope of the settlement and release. The central legal question was whether the intellectual property rights, including the licence to manufacture, were captured by the general release provisions within the deed of settlement and release.

The Court of Appeal considered the construction of the deed of settlement and release and the attached deed. It applied principles of contract interpretation, focusing on the plain meaning of the words used by the parties and the overall context of the agreements. The Court concluded that the rights in issue were indeed governed by the deed of settlement and release. Consequently, the summons seeking leave to appeal was dismissed with costs.